Taught

Researchers used an AI technique called reinforcement learning to help a two-legged robot nicknamed Cassie to run 400 meters, over varying terrains, and execute standing long jumps and high jumps, without being trained explicitly on each movement. Reinforcement learning works by rewarding or penalizing an AI as it tries to carry out an objective. In this case, the approach taught the robot to generalize and respond in new scenarios, instead of freezing like its predecessors may have done.  “We wanted to push the limits…

From the first time I heard about The Holdovers, I knew that Alexander Payne reteaming with Paul Giamatti for the first time in 20 years was going to be one of the best movies of 2023. And I was right. Like several of my colleagues who couldn’t get enough of the Oscar-nominated film about a teacher, a student, and a school cook reluctantly spending the holidays together, I was floored by the humor, drama, and overall superb emotional tone of the touching dramedy.Though Giamatti and newcomer Dominic Sessa, who played Paul…

One device I didn’t expect to see at MWC 2024 in Barcelona was the Humane Ai Pin that was announced a few months ago. After all, Humane’s AI-powered gadget will only launch in the US and will also require a subscription to the company’s own MVNO wireless service.But this is a wearable device. It features built-in cellular service, and it’s built around AI. What better place to show it off than the biggest mobile show in the world?  I accidentally found the Ai Pin at Qualcomm’s booth while checking out the chip…

I was wondering why Google came out with the big Gemini rebrand and Gemini Advanced subscription last week. The announcements seemingly came out of the blue. To be fair, this is the norm with AI product launches and upgrades these days. I said at the time they felt like the kind of announcements Google would make at I/O 2024. But Google didn't want to wait three more months for the big Gemini rollout. A week later, I now have my answer. Google just unveiled Gemini 1.5, the next-gen large language model from Google…

Children gathered at First Nations University of Canada in Regina Thursday watched in awe as astronaut Jeremy Hansen unveiled the patch, designed by an Indigenous artist, that he will wear as the first Canadian to fly to the moon.Hansen, who is from London, Ont., is one of four crew members set to travel around the moon during the Artemis ll mission, which is expected to embark as soon as September 2025.He spoke at Thursday's event about how time he has spent with Indigenous elders has shaped his beliefs and…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Managing menstruation in public can be challenging at the best of times, but imagine being eight years old and having to deal with your period at school. You might need to change your pad during class and explain to your friends why you are not going to the swimming carnival. You might be scared you will bleed through your uniform because there aren't any sanitary bins in the junior years' bathroom.…

, an all-you-can-eat buffet of tasty learning goodness. Also: I turned my laptop into a desktop PC and I've never been more productiveUdemy offers a 30-day free trial, so if you're not in the mood to pay for your AI learnings, you can binge as many courses as you want within those 30 days and cancel before the renewal date. Since most courses are between three and 15 hours, a dedicated student can get in a lot of learning during that free trial period. Of course, you may decide you like the service enough to continue…

How many of us recall having to calculate our body-mass index (BMI) as children at school, prompting comparisons of our weight with that of our peers? Or perhaps we remember references to calories and diets in the classroom.Now, the Australian curriculum is changing how children and young people are educated about their bodies and what they eat, in a bid to prevent eating disorders.Hundreds of references to terms including BMI, weight, calories and diets have been removed from school resources by the Australian…

Da'Vine Joy Randolph may have become a household name for her devastating turn as a grieving school cook in the acclaimed Alexander Payne dramedy The Holdovers, for which she already won a Golden Globe and is arguably the frontrunner to scoop up the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress this year. But the performer has been turning out stellar performances for years, including opposite frequent co-star and veritable comedy icon Eddie Murphy in films like Dolemite Is My Name and On the Come Up.In a recent interview…

By the time most children are two years old, they can understand about 300 words. By the age of four, the average vocabulary has ballooned to more than 1,000 words. Our species’ incredible capacity to quickly acquire words isn’t fully understood. Some cognitive scientists and linguists have theorized that people are born with built-in expectations and logical constraints that make this possible. Now, however, machine-learning research is showing that preprogrammed assumptions aren’t necessary to swiftly pick up word…