Game theory approach describes how social networks produce “six degrees of separation”
"Six degrees of separation” refers to a long-held notion about social networks—namely, that any two people in a social network…
Writings
The Unpredictable Abilities Emerging From Large AI Models
Large language models like ChatGPT are now big enough that they’ve started to display startling, unpredictable behaviors. What movie do…
Secret Messages Can Hide in AI-Generated Media
In steganography, an ordinary message masks the presence of a secret communication. Humans can never do it perfectly, but a…
Can Laws be Medicines?
During a 5-year span between 1970 and 1975, 29 states in the United States lowered the legal age for drinking…
Explore the 10 nearest stars
If you want to study the stars, there’s no better place to start than close to home. After all, the…
Peering inside the black box of AI
Five years ago, computer scientist Alan Fern and his colleagues at Oregon State University, in Corvallis, set out to answer…
Should We Be Testing Everyone’s DNA?
Kelly Kashmer credits genetic testing with saving her life. In 2014, during a routine medical appointment, a physician’s assistant began…
Space trash could kill satellites, space stations — and astronauts
Seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station woke to unwelcome news on the morning of November 15, 2021. NASA, the…
Virtual reality helps shape and respond to artistic impulses
In February 2020, weeks before the pandemic made such a thing nearly impossible, the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, UK,…
The 100-Day Vaccine
The first vaccine for COVID-19 broke records: Only 342 days passed between the virus being sequenced and an FDA-authorized vaccine.…