A Chinese robot reporter produced 450 Olympic news items over the 15-day sporting event, mostly about China’s dominant sports, like badminton and table tennis. While its prose was criticized for being somewhat rote, the coverage certainly was speedy, appearing minutes after events ended. The “AI writing robot” Xiaomingbot (link in Chinese) produced 30 to 40…
via A Chinese news outlet used an incredibly efficient “robot reporter” to cover the Olympics — Quartz
An earthquake with a magnitude around 6.0 shook central Italy at 3:36am local time today (Aug. 24), according to Italy’s emergency management department. Some local media reports (link in Italian) suggest that at least 20 are dead. The center of the quake was near the towns of Amatrice and Accumuli, in the province of Rieti.…
via A strong earthquake has hit central Italy, and several are feared dead — Quartz
In English, stashing away food for times of need is “squirreling.” In German, it’s “hamstern.” Hamster pictures, tweets, and jokes are everywhere in Germany this week, since the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung (link in German) revealed that the government is asking citizens to stockpile food and water in case of a national emergency. It’s the first…
It can be found in everything from toothpaste to margarine, listed as vegetable oil or a whole host of other more complex names. Palm oil and its byproducts are in high demand these days, as food manufacturers move away from trans fats and biofuels become more popular. India imported over $6 billion worth of palm…
via Orangutans will be wiped out by 2026, thanks largely to fast food and face wash — Quartz
Batteries, at least the type you buy at the drugstore, are toxic and absolutely not meant to be ingested. But researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are creating batteries that are not only safe if they’re swallowed—they’re meant to end up inside your body. A team led by Christopher Bettinger, an assistant professor in the school’s…
via Edible batteries could make ingestible medical devices and targeted drug delivery safer — Quartz
Batteries, at least the type you buy at the drugstore, are toxic and absolutely not meant to be ingested. But researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are creating batteries that are not only safe if they’re swallowed—they’re meant to end up inside your body. A team led by Christopher Bettinger, an assistant professor in the school’s…
via Edible batteries could make ingestible medical devices and targeted drug delivery safer — Quartz
Batteries, at least the type you buy at the drugstore, are toxic and absolutely not meant to be ingested. But researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are creating batteries that are not only safe if they’re swallowed—they’re meant to end up inside your body. A team led by Christopher Bettinger, an assistant professor in the school’s…
via Edible batteries could make ingestible medical devices and targeted drug delivery safer — Quartz
The Italian government has a nice present for the teens in the country celebrating their 18th birthday this year—€500 ($566) to spend at theatres, concerts, and museums. The scheme starts on Sept. 15 and will benefit around 575,000 teenagers. It was first announced last year in response to the deadly Paris terrorist attacks. The government…
via To stop them becoming terrorists, Italy is giving teens €500 to spend on high culture — Quartz
The Italian government has a nice present for the teens in the country celebrating their 18th birthday this year—€500 ($566) to spend at theatres, concerts, and museums. The scheme starts on Sept. 15 and will benefit around 575,000 teenagers. It was first announced last year in response to the deadly Paris terrorist attacks. The government…
via To stop them becoming terrorists, Italy is giving teens €500 to spend on high culture — Quartz
Sometimes the most prodigious research institutions in the world need to study something obvious: Talking is faster than typing on your phone. In tests by Stanford University and Chinese search giant Baidu, speech recognition on phones was three times faster than typing the same message on the stock iPhone keyboard. Of course speaking is faster…
via We’ll talk to our phones in the future because our fingers are puny and slow — Quartz
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