Wild mushrooms, roasted onions and a quick, silky sauce give these comforting cutlets the chef treatment.

gotta catch 'em all Niantic uses Pokmon Go player data to build AI navigation system Visual scans of the world have helped Niantic build what it calls a "Large Geospatial Model." Benj Edwards Nov 19, 2024 3:34 pm | 10 Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLast week, Niantic announced plans to create an AI model for navigating the physical world using scans collected from players of its mobile games, such as Pokmon Go, and from users of its Scaniverse app, reports 404 Media.All AI models require training data. So far, companies have collected data from websites, YouTube videos, books, audio sources, and more, but this is perhaps the first we've heard of AI training data collected through a mobile gaming app."Over the past five years, Niantic has focused on building our Visual Positioning System (VPS), which uses a single image from a phone to determine its position and orientation using a 3D map built from people scanning interesting locations in our games and Scaniverse," wrote Niantic in a company blog post.The company calls its creation a "Large Geospatial Model" (LGM), drawing parallels to large language models (LLMs) like the kind that power ChatGPT. Where language models process text, Niantic's model will process physical spaces using geolocated images collected through its apps.The scale of Niantic's data collection reveals the company's sizable presence in the AR space. The model draws from over 10 million scanned locations worldwide, with users capturing roughly 1 million new scans weekly through Pokmon Go and Scaniverse. These scans come from a pedestrian perspective, capturing areas inaccessible to cars and street-view cameras.First-person scansThe company reports it has trained more than 50 million neural networks, each one representing a specific location or viewing angle. These networks compress thousands of mapping images into digital representations of physical spaces. Together, they contain over 150 trillion parametersadjustable values that help the networks recognize and understand locations. Multiple networks can contribute to mapping a single location, and Niantic plans to combine its knowledge into one comprehensive model that can understand any location, even from unfamiliar angles."Imagine yourself standing behind a church," Niantic wrote in its blog post. "The closest local model has seen only the front entrance of that church, and thus, it will not be able to tell you where you are. But on a global scale, we have seen thousands of churches captured by local models worldwide. No church is the same, but many share common characteristics. An LGM accesses that distributed knowledge."The technology builds on Niantic's existing Lightship Visual Positioning System, which lets players place virtual items in real-world locations with centimeter-level precision. A recent Pokmon Go feature called Pokmon Playgrounds demonstrates this capability, allowing users to leave Pokmon at specific spots for others to find.Niantic suggests the technology could support augmented reality products, robotics, and autonomous systems, with additional applications in spatial planning, logistics, and remote collaboration.Did Niantic's millions of players have any idea their scans would be fed into an AI system? Judging from this Reddit thread reacting to the 404 Media article, it seems that many are not surprised. "Definitely wasn't unwittingly," wrote one Redditor. "Most of us knew their business model didn't revolve around supporting the actual players."No doubt the process was covered by Pokmon Go's data collection terms of service, but the larger reaction to this news will likely be a developing story over time.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a widely-cited tech historian. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 10 Comments Prev story

slow down Automatic braking systems save lives. Now theyll need to work at 62 mph. Regulators have ordered an expansion of the tech, but the auto industry says the upgrade wont be easy. Aarian Marshall, WIRED.com Nov 19, 2024 2:45 pm | 82 At a test site, the driverless, electrically powered Cube minibus drives toward a man looking at his smartphone. (The minibus stopped.) Credit: Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images At a test site, the driverless, electrically powered Cube minibus drives toward a man looking at his smartphone. (The minibus stopped.) Credit: Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe world is full of feel-bad news. Heres something to feel good about: Automatic emergency braking is one of the great car safety-tech success stories.Auto-braking systems, called AEB for short, use sensors including cameras, radar, and lidar to sense when a crash is about to happen and warn driversthen automatically apply the brakes if drivers dont respond. Its a handy thing to have in those vital few moments before your car careens into the back of another. One industry group estimates that US automakers' move to install AEB on most carssomething they did voluntarily, in cooperation with road safety advocateswill prevent 42,000 crashes and 20,000 injuries by 2025. A new report from AAA finds these emergency braking systems are getting even betterand challenges automakers to perfect them at even higher speeds.AAA researchers tested three model year 2018 and 2017 vehicles versus three model year 2024 vehicles, and found the AEB systems in the newer cars were twice as likely as the old systems to avoid collisions at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. In fact, the new systems avoided all of the tested collisions at speeds between 12 and 35 mph. The majority of the newer cars avoided hitting a non-moving target at 45 mph, too.The systems are headed the right way, says Greg Brannon, the director of automotive research at AAA.Now new regulations will require AEB systems to get even more intelligent. Earlier this year, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which crafts the countrys road safety rules, announced that by 2029, it will require all cars to be able to stop and avoid contact with any vehicle in front of them at even faster speeds: 62 mph. The Feds will also require automakers to build AEB systems that can detect pedestrians in the daytime and at night. And automakers will have to build tech that applies brakes automatically at speeds up to 45 mph when it senses an imminent collision with a person, and 90 mph when it senses one with a car.The rule will require automakers to build systems that can operate at highway speeds. As a result, it should do more good; according to the NHTSA, if manufacturers deploy auto-braking systems that work at higher speeds, it would save at least 360 lives each year and prevent 24,000 injuries.But no story can be all good news. Auto industry officials argue that meeting that 2029 target will be really very hard. Thats practically impossible with available technology, John Bozzella, the president and CEO of the auto industry lobbying group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, wrote earlier this year in a letter to Congress. The government estimated that installing more advanced AEB systems on its cars would cost an additional $350 per vehicle. The auto lobbying group estimates prices could range up to $4,200 per car instead, and it has filed a petition to request changes to the final federal rules.In response to WIREDs questions, a spokesperson for NHTSA said that more advanced AEB systems will significantly reduce injury or property damage and the associated costs from these crashes. The spokesperson said the agency is working expeditiously to reply to the groups petition.Auto safety experts say that if automakers (and the suppliers who build their technology) pull off more advanced automatic emergency braking, theyll have to walk a tightrope: developing tech that avoids crashes without ballooning costs. Theyll also have to avoid false positives or phantom braking, which incorrectly identify nonhazards as hazards and throw on the brakes for no apparent reason. These can frustrate and annoy driversand at higher speeds, give them serious cases of whiplash.That is a really big concern: That as you increase the number of situations in which the system has to operate, you have more of these false warnings, says David Kidd, a senior research scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), an insurance-industry-funded scientific and educational organization.Otherwise, drivers will get mad. The mainstream manufacturers have to be a little careful because they dont want to create customer dissatisfaction by making the system too twitchy, says Brannon, at AAA. Tesla drivers, for example, have proven very tolerant of beta testing and quirks. Your average driver, maybe less so.Based on its own research, IIHS has pushed automakers to install AEB systems able to operate at faster speeds on their cars. Kidd says IIHS research suggests there have been no systemic, industry-wide issues with safety and automatic emergency braking. Fewer and fewer drivers seem to be turning off their AEB systems out of annoyance. (The new rules make it so drivers cant turn them off.) But US regulators have investigated a handful of automakers, including General Motors and Honda, for automatic emergency braking issues that have reportedly injured more than 100 people, though automakers have reportedly fixed the issue.New complexitiesGetting cars to fast-brake at even higher speeds will require a series of tech advances, experts say. AEB works by bringing in data from sensors. That information is then turned over to automakers custom-tuned classification systems, which are trained to recognize certain situations and road usersthats a stopped car in the middle of the road up ahead or theres a person walking across the road up thereand intervene.So to get AEB to work in higher-speed situations, the tech will have to see further down the road. Most of todays new cars come loaded up with sensors, including cameras and radar, which can collect vital data. But the auto industry trade group argues that the Feds have underestimated the amount of new hardwareincluding, possibly, more expensive lidar unitsthat will have to be added to cars.Brake-makers will have to tinker with components to allow quicker stops, which will require the pressurized fluid that moves through a brakes hydraulic lines to go even faster. Allowing cars to detect hazards at further distances could require different types of hardware, including sometimes-expensive sensors. Some vehicles might just need a software update, and some might not have the right sensor suite, says Bhavana Chakraborty, an engineering director at Bosch, an automotive supplier that builds safety systems. Those without the right hardware will need updates across the board, she says, to get to the levels of safety demanded by the federal government.Bosch and other suppliers advise automakers how to use the systems they build, but manufacturers are ultimately in charge of the other AEB secret sauce: algorithms. Each automaker tunes its safety system, using its own calculations to determine how and when its vehicles will automatically avoid collisions.Whats nextEven the US Feds 2029 rules dont fulfill all road safety advocates dreams. The regulations dont require safety systems to recognize bicyclists, though some automakers are already building that into theirs voluntarily. And unlike European vehicles, US AEB systems wont undergo tests that determine how well they work when theyre turning. The European New Car Assessment Program started testing AEB for turning effectiveness last year, and has for several years required automakers to build systems that totally avoid crashes at higher speeds. Some automakers are already building systems that pass these tests, says Kidd, the IIHS scientista good sign that theyll be able to pull it off on US roads too.I dont think theres any doubt that these will make the roads safer, Kidd says. A good news story after all.This story originally appeared on wired.com.Aarian Marshall, WIRED.com Wired.com is your essential daily guide to what's next, delivering the most original and complete take you'll find anywhere on innovation's impact on technology, science, business and culture. 82 Comments

Heart cockles come in many colours and host photosynthetic algae inside their shellsDakota McCoyA heart-shaped mollusc has evolved tiny windows that work like fibre-optic cables, the first known example in nature.Heart cockles (Corculum cardissa) are bivalve molluscs a bit like clams that have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that live inside them. The algae have a safe home, get light to photosynthesise and provide nutrients for their hosts. AdvertisementUnlike other bivalves, heart cockles dont open their shells up wide, yet they somehow funnel light to their interior even while staying shut.Now, Dakota McCoy at the University of Chicago and her colleagues have found that there are transparent calcium carbonate crystal structures in the heart cockle shells that function like fibre-optic bundles, letting light inside to bathe the algae. If you dont have to open and can just have a transparent window, thats a very safe way to irradiate your algae, says McCoy.The researchers examined fragments of different heart cockle shells and the transparent structures within them, as well as the intensity and colour of light that gets through. They found that the windows were made from long, thin fibres of a mineral called aragonite a form of calcium carbonate which lets twice as much of the photosynthetically useful light through as it does harmful ultraviolet light. We put on sunblock because UV causes mutations and cancer. The heart cockles are using these windows as a sunblock, says McCoy. The latest science news delivered to your inbox, every day.Sign up to newsletterHeart cockle shells illuminated from within to show the transparent windows in their shells, which can be little triangles (left) or stripes (right)Dakota McCoyWhile the aragonite threads look similar to manufactured fibre optics, they lack a protective, insulating sheath, called cladding, yet transmit light just as effectively. This could serve as an inspiration for cladding-free fibre-optic cables, which would be cheaper to manufacture.The natural, UV-blocking properties of the shells could also be used to help protect corals, which, like the cockles, host photosynthetic algae inside them, but are more susceptible to environmental stresses like light and heat, says McCoy.Journal referenceNature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53110-xTopics:

Lasers in a quantum computing set-up at Atom ComputingAtom ComputingUseful quantum computers are one step closer. Microsoft and Atom Computing announced that they have set a new record for the most entangled logical qubits, which are crucial for developing quantum computers that can correct their own errors.We are co-designing and building the worlds most powerful quantum machine, says Krysta Svore at Microsoft.Over the past decade, quantum computers have rapidly increased in size, there are more and more experts who can program themand

Nature, Published online: 19 November 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03796-2The University of Rochester has confirmed that it no longer employs Ranga Dias, who was found by investigators to have committed data fabrication.

Nature, Published online: 19 November 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03782-8Heroic interference should not be the endgame of coral-reef restoration

PM Benjamin Netanyahu offered $5 million to anyone in Gaza who handed over hostages to Israel.He also offered safe passage out of the war-torn territory to those Palestinians who cooperate.In Israel, there is mounting pressure on Netanyahu to free those remaining in captivity in Gaza.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that Palestinians in Gaza who turn over Israeli hostages will be offered $5 million as a reward, as well as an exit route out of the war-torn territory.During Hamas' terror attack across the Israeli border on October 7, 2023, 251 Israeli and foreign hostages were taken, according to Israeli figures.To date, some 117 of them have been freed or released, and 37 were brought back dead, leaving close to 100 that are thought to still be in Gaza.It's unclear exactly how many of those hostages remain alive, as well as their precise whereabouts. But there is intense and growing pressure within Israel, led by the families of the hostages, to bring the captives home. Negotiations have been at a standstill for months.Netanyahu said Tuesday, while touring a section of the Gaza Strip, that Israel is doing everything it can to locate and return the hostages, per The Times of Israel. He added, "Whoever dares to harm our hostages he is a marked man. We will pursue you, and we will get you."The $5 million pledge builds on earlier reports of a generous but unspecified reward from Israel to those who cooperate.The New York Times reported that Netanyahu also offered a "safe way out for himself and his family" to whoever returns hostages to Israel.Leaving Gaza remains a major challenge for Palestinians. Exiting through Israel requires an Israel-issued permit, and according to reporting by several media outlets, departure via Egypt often involves exorbitant fees.However, remaining in Gaza amid Israel's invasion remains incredibly dangerous.The Israel Defense Forces has sought to destroy Hamas and free the hostages, but with that has come devastating destruction.Humanitarian groups, such as the Red Cross, have put the death toll at more than 43,000 Palestinians, with over 100,000 people injured.

Elon Musk's DOGE is considering developing a mobile app for tax filing, per the Washington Post.The news sent shares in tax service providers Intuit and H&R Block tumbling.Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tasked with slashing government spending under Trump.Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency reportedly has its first target the US tax system.Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's cost-cutting agency has discussed developing a mobile app that would let Americans file their taxes for free, two sources told The Washington Post.The news sent the stock prices of H&R Block and Intuit, which sell tax-filing services such as Turbotax, tumbling on Tuesday. Shares were down8%and5%, respectively.The launch of an app would see Musk and Ramaswamy, who have been die-hard supporters of Donald Trump's successful election campaign, follow in the footsteps of Joe Biden.The outgoing president's Inflation Reduction Act introduced Direct File, a free IRS tax-filing system that rolled out in February.The legislation, which attempted to break the stranglehold held by private companies on tax filing, was strongly opposed by Republicans at the time but has been used by over 100,000 taxpayers this year, according to the Treasury.When Trump announced that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead the organization, he said they would be tasked with cutting regulation and government spending "from outside of government," with a deadline of July 2026.Musk and Ramaswamy have suggested they could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget and "delete" entire government departments, although political experts previously told Business Insider that these goals are unrealistic.Since its announcement last week, DOGE has been active on Musk's social media platform, X, with an account for the organization posting that it was seeking to hire "super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries," and Musk proposing an online leaderboard for "the most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars."Musk and DOGE did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside normal working hours.

Vox reader Jen Hawse asks: Why do hotels pump in very strongly smelling perfume into their lobbies and sometimes their guest rooms?What we think of as a nice hotel often comes down to a certain je ne sais quoi. Sure, it has all the amenities a luxe restaurant and bar on the premises, hotel room beds with soft Egyptian cotton sheets, perhaps a decadent spa but beyond all that, it should have an ineffable ambience thats both welcoming and sensual, cozy and yet exotic.Scent can be what helps clinch this vibe. You might have noticed an alluring aroma wafting through the air as you enter a hotel lobby, or even a hotel room; this is likely a custom fragrance that hotels diffuse into the air. While some use mass-market scents available to consumers, many use their own signature scent developed by a master perfumer.Scent marketing, as the practice is called, isnt just limited to the hospitality scene, but pervades the retail sector. Just think of the thick miasma of cologne that used to radiate from every Abercrombie & Fitch store. Its (usually) a more subtle marketing tool than a giant light-up billboard, calling back to happy memories and altering your mood so you feel more satisfied in a space which, in turn, can nudge you to stay there longer, spend more money, book a room again, and recommend the experience to someone else. Some companies are even spritzing smells in the office to make the return-to-office more pleasant. In so many of the places we spend time in, an appeal is being made to your nose.Whats the psychology behind scent marketing?Scent marketing has been around for decades, with Las Vegas casinos being some of the earliest pioneers to use it. In the 1990s and early 2000s, though, its purpose wasnt just to invite a pleasant aroma to an otherwise neutral space it was to counteract a lingering, distasteful odor.There was a while there where most resorts were drawn to environmental scenting because they wanted to do something about the cigarette smoke, Jim Reding, CEO of the environmental scenting company Aroma Retail, says. Sign up for the Explain It to Me newsletterThe newsletter is part of Voxs Explain It to Me. Each week, we tackle a question from our audience and deliver a digestible explainer from one of our journalists. Have a question you want us to answer? Ask us here.A growing number of companies outside hospitality are developing ambient scents for their retail spaces, says Caroline Fabrigas, CEO of Scent Marketing Inc. Recently, Fabrigass firm helped create a custom scent for Wayfairs new Chicago store that smells like linen and fresh-cut grass. In food and drink establishments, focusing on smell makes immediate sense: You smell pizza, you think of pizza, you crave pizza. Starbucks works hard to keep its coffee aroma from being sullied by food and other smells in its stores employees arent even allowed to wear fragrances.For other spaces, the basic theory is that a distinctive smell becomes something customers immediately associate with a brand our sense of smell is connected to the part of the brain related to memory, like a certain laundry detergent taking you straight back to being wrapped up in blankets when you were home sick from school. Using an ambient scent can cement brand recognition, and improve how well customers remember aspects of a product or service.A nice smell also puts you in a good mood. A 2021 study by researchers from the Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality, and Gastronomy conducted a trial in a four-star hotel by comparing guest experiences in rooms scented with lavender and rooms without any scent; guests who stayed in scented rooms appeared to show higher happiness levels when in the room than those in the neutral room. Studies have also shown that a scented environment can make customers stay longer in a restaurant (while underestimating the length of their visit), thus spending more money time flies when youre enjoying yourself. An experiment an automaker conducted in the early 90s even tried to determine if spraying certain scents on salespeople would make them more likely to be perceived as trustworthy, though its unclear what the outcome of this trial was. How do hotels decide on a signature scent?Hotels and resorts spend a lot of time matching up their brand image to a signature scent, especially today. (Although it might be very similar to a popular fragrance.) One of the trends in hotel design right now is to play up how distinct a space feels.Everything has become hyper-local now, says Lori Mukoyama, a global leader of hospitality practice at the architecture and design firm Gensler. Gone are the days where were stamping out the same brand, exactly the same, in 50 different cities across the world. Having a tailor-made scent is key to building the feel of a personalized hotel lobby, according to Mukoyama.I totally feel like its a logo in the air, says Fabrigas, whose company develops ambient scents for businesses. Its a backdrop against which all else plays. For some brands, having one signature scent isnt enough. The now-closed Mirage hotel in Las Vegas, for example, used two separate fragrances for two separate spaces. In the lobby, it used a buttery coconut vanilla scent, Reding says, to evoke a tropical theme that matched the giant aquarium behind the front desk. It gives us a feeling of warmth and safety, he says. But then the casino used something more energizing a tropical cocoa mango to give it a party-feel that might encourage exciting risk-taking rather than relaxation.One reason why environmental scenting is so commonplace in hotels is that its a place where the perception of cleanliness is sacrosanct. Reding says hotels often tell him they want something that smells fresh and clean, but tend to eschew anything that might remind people of cleaning products. It goes back to how we associate smells with certain contexts a whiff of lemony Pine Sol is going to make you think of a bathroom, or a mop, rather than the luxurious, crisp cleanliness that hotels strive for.For some, hotel fragrances are an olfactory delight they want to recreate in their own homes. Several online retailers sell hotel and resort scents for consumers or at least, an approximation of their bespoke scent and Reding says this is the bulk of his business today. But not everyone is a fan of scent marketing. Whats a good or bad smell is highly subjective, and people with sensitive noses in particular might bemoan not being able to escape a headache-inducing fragrance.Thats what really makes it tricky that youre diffusing in public spaces without the publics consent, Reding says.This story was featured in the Explain It to Me newsletter. Sign up here. For more from Explain It to Me, check out the podcast. New episodes drop every Wednesday.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: