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SCI & TECH3d agoAI accelerates science and also risksLa IA acelera descubrimientos científicos más rápido de lo que podemos comprenderlos y validarlos, creando nuevos riesgos que exigen supervisión y regulación. The post La IA acelera la ciencia y también los riesgos appeared first on La Silla Vacía.La Silla Vacía

SCI & TECH3d agoHow everything became bettingIt's not just about DraftKings and Polymarket companies: the logic of betting underpins everything that comes out of Silicon Valley.Clarín

SCI & TECH3d agoThe film made with artificial intelligence that will hit theaters and seek an OscarGods Don’t Give Gifts, a Fable production, will premiere in US theaters on December 4. The producers plan to submit it for Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category.Clarín

SCI & TECH3d agoCheck out footage of resurfaced Paper Mario: Color Splash E3 demoFootage of the Paper Mario: Color Splash E3 demo has reportedly resurfaced, offering fans a look back at an older gaming presentation. This is news relevant to the video game community.gonintendo · united states of america

SCI & TECH3d agoVideo shows rare albino Asian black bearA rare albino Asian black bear was captured on camera in China’s Shennongjia National ParkAl Jazeera [en]

SCI & TECH3d agoAdam Savage Goes Inside ILM to See How the New Razor Crest Miniatures Were FilmedIn a recent Tested video, Adam Savage visits ILM to see how the completed Razor Crest models are being filmed for the production. The tour includes ILM’s upgraded motion-control stage, a custom miniature LED volume, compositing techniques, and an outdoor shoot at Skywalker Ranch where the larger Razor Crest gets photographed under real sunlight. There’s even an appearance from Jon Favreau, who clearly shares Savage’s enthusiasm for seeing an actual Star Wars spaceship sitting outside in the California sun. A major part of the video centers on John Knoll and the new motion-control rig he developed after working with a much simpler system in the past. Knoll wanted smoother track movement, additional degrees of freedom, and a proper crane, so he built exactly that. The new system uses standard Matthews camera dolly track, while much of the remaining hardware is custom-built from extruded aluminum and other components. One of Knoll’s biggest engineering priorities was eliminating backlash from the mechanisms so the camera and model movements could be repeated with extreme accuracy. That includes a large gear reduction between the stepper motor and sprocket, with multiple timing belts pulled tight enough to virtually eliminate backlash. Ball screws and tightly machined linkages help keep everything repeatable while still allowing the rig itself to flex slightly. That precision becomes especially important when you see what ILM is putting on the rig. The finished Razor Crest miniature is about four feet long and absolutely loaded with physical detail. It sits on a three-axis model mover capable of controlling roll, pitch, and yaw. The size and weight of the miniature meant Knoll couldn't simply reuse the smaller mover previously employed for a 24-inch model. His solution came from ILM history. Knoll remembered an old geared camera head that had once been displayed outside the company's PR office. The equipment was still sitting in storage, so it was pulled out and put back to work. Since the old pan-and-tilt head only provided two axes of movement, Knoll added another custom belt-driven mechanism to give the Razor Crest the movement needed for the shoot. It’s a great example of ILM combining modern digital filmmaking with hardware that has been hanging around the company for years. The process of deciding which shots should actually use the physical Razor Crest is equally interesting. Knoll went through the film and identified roughly 30 shots he wanted to attempt with miniatures. Not every spaceship shot automatically benefits from using a model. A fast-moving shot buried in motion blur might make more sense as CG. Knoll is interested in shots where audiences can really see the ship and where the physical miniature's handcrafted qualities can contribute something worthwhile to the final image. ILM can design those shots digitally before anything moves on the physical stage. A CG version of the motion-control rig can be created with animators limited to the same motorized axes available on the real hardware. That means they can design a shot while already accounting for the physical limitations of the camera and model movers, including possible collisions and clearance problems. One of the trickier parts of photographing the Razor Crest is its reflective metallic surface. For earlier miniature work on The Mandalorian, Knoll could concentrate largely on space shots, where lighting could be created with a primary light source and strategically placed bounce cards. Once the Razor Crest enters an atmospheric environment, things get much more complicated. Its reflective body picks up the sky, horizon, landscape, and surrounding light. ILM's answer is basically a miniature version of the LED volume technology associated with modern Star Wars production. The team built an approximately eight-foot-by-eight-foot-by-eight-foot, four-sided LED cube around the model. Environment artists create imagery that can be displayed across those LED surfaces, providing both illumination and reflections on the Razor Crest. Instead of trying to fake every reflection with conventional studio lights, the ship can reflect the environment it’s supposed to be flying through. That also gives the miniature some gorgeous subtle detail when photographed. Knoll explains that the LED volume can produce so much light that they sometimes have to turn it down, even while shooting at ISO 100 and F/22 with exposures around 1.3 seconds. The team also photographs different lighting elements separately for compositing. Running lights, sunlight and other passes can be captured individually, allowing artists to adjust their intensity and timing later. Knoll shows Savage an early composite where sunlight can effectively be brought on and off because it exists as its own image stream. The LED panels create another technical problem, though. Because each LED is a tiny illuminated point surrounded by a black matrix, the model can develop jagged edges when photographed directly against the panels. The solution is wonderfully practical. A black area is positioned on the LED wall directly behind the Razor Crest from the camera's perspective. Most of the volume can continue illuminating and reflecting across the model while the camera sees a clean black background immediately around its silhouette. Then the production heads outside. At Skywalker Ranch, the larger Razor Crest is photographed using actual sunlight, and this is where Favreau joins Savage to admire the finished miniature. Favreau points out how well the ship's physical metal treatment reacts to harsh natural light. The model uses foil and other physical surface treatments that create complicated specular highlights, reflections, hot spots and imperfections. Even the canopy contains tiny scratches that contribute to the image as the camera gets closer. CG remains a huge part of the filmmaking process, something Favreau readily acknowledges, but the physical model provides details generated naturally by real materials interacting with real light. Of course, shooting outside introduces one gigantic light source that ILM can't move: the sun. Knoll plans the outdoor photography around its position throughout the day. He uses sun-position calculations and time-of-day studies to determine the best orientation for the Razor Crest and the ideal shooting window for each planned shot. The miniature, camera track and individual camera positions are carefully arranged so multiple shots can be captured without constantly rebuilding or realigning everything. The crew spends the morning testing moves against the previs, then shoots each planned move as the sun reaches the required position. That turns the outdoor miniature shoot into a race against natural light. On the ILM stage, the crew can control practically everything. At Skywalker Ranch, they have to work with whatever nature gives them. For Savage, seeing a real Star Wars model sitting outside at the Ranch understandably brings out the kid in him. Favreau also takes a moment to praise Savage for digging into this side of filmmaking and recognizing the enormous amount of work craftspeople put into details audiences may never consciously notice. The whole Tested video is a fantastic look at what makes ILM's approach so much fun. This isn't practical effects fighting against CG or some attempt to prove one technique is better than another. It’s physical miniatures, digital previs, motion-control photography, LED environments and compositing all being used together to get the shot. Most importantly, ILM built a four-foot Razor Crest, put it on a giant motion-control rig, hauled it out into real sunlight, and filmed it like a proper Star Wars miniature. That’s just awesome.geektyrant · united states of america

SCI & TECH3d agoAI will make Americans dumber and poorerThe author argues that the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence risks establishing a high-tech feudalism where a few mega-corporations exert unprecedented control over human cognition and social infrastructure.The Hill

SCI & TECH3d agoDesalination plants back in the reckoning in Keralam, govt. sets up expert committee to study feasibilityThe committee will 'study the technical and financial feasibility of establishing desalination plants in the coastal regions of Keralam and to submit appropriate recommendations to government.'The Hindu

SCI & TECH3d agoWhy are we talking less and less?Une étude a montré que chaque jour, les gens s'abstiennent de prononcer environ 350 mots. Quelles sont les causes de ce phénomène ? Le scientifique Matthias Mehl s'est entretenu à ce sujet avec la correspondante spéciale de la BBC, Katty Kay.BBC Afrique

SCI & TECH3d agoArt, AI, and what it means to be humanTHE threat posed by the alarming development of artificial intelligence (AI) has not subsided for some weeks now, as can be observed on social media and attested by major industry players. The mere thought of possible disruptions once AI becomes unrestrained causes anxiety for many. Some describe this technology as a work in progress toward superintelligence. It is undeniable that the power and reach of this technology are becoming colossal in scale and far beyond what humanity needs. It is alarming to also realize how AI is affecting art in all its forms, a field within the humanities that has not been spared from the technology’s disruptive presence. But hope is not lost, as long as we remain grounded in our desire for the authentic over the artificial. A few weeks ago, an international initiative brought together universities from around the globe to form the Catholic Universities Art Triennial, a project dedicated to exploring how art can address the most relevant issues today. As news reports said, “Catholic universities offer art as a way of addressing today’s problems.” Over the coming months, these universities will host exhibitions, commissions, publications and public programs. This major event is promoted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See. One may ask: “Can art really help solve today’s problems?” The answer is yes, provided that the issue of AI-generated art is addressed first. As the Art Triennial highlights, the primary role of art in higher education is “to promote human relationships and the concept of empathy,” in which AI is devoid of having and doing. Saving art from AI requires returning to the experience of life’s deeper meaning: the power of inspiration, appreciation, and the freedom to create. These may be considered the fundamentals of human existence. Tackling this issue is more crucial than ever, especially now that AI is increasingly encroaching upon the domain of art. Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity) points out that AI systems “may simulate empathy and understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational, and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.” In contrast to AI-generated works, human art is supposed to transform universities into educational communities that strengthen our capacity to create — to generate new ideas, connect what was previously divided, and imagine new versions of the world. As the Art Triennial emphasizes, artworks “should be seen as invitations to join in an act of ‘co-creation’ instead of simply a technical exercise in repetition.” Pope Leo has a term for a human process in the act of creating: a divine “spark.” This is found exclusively in human endeavor, not in high technological complexity. Human creation is the locus of inspiration; it touches the soul directly and amplifies a capacity for creativity that no machine possesses. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that contemporary philosophical thought can also deepen our understanding of genuine art, as opposed to AI-generated outputs. For instance, the philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer, a disciple of the phenomenologist Martin Heidegger, explains in his magnum opus, “Truth and Method: Elements of Philosophical Hermeneutics”: “Hermeneutical aesthetics regards aesthetic appearance not as a distraction from the real but as the vehicle through which real subject matters reveal themselves. It overturns the notion that artworks are at one remove from reality.” An artwork is not a passive object merely installed in a museum; its true existence as a reflection of reality unfolds when it is performed, viewed, or read. No matter how elegantly generated an AI piece may be, it remains a shadow of the real art. AI can never present the essence of reality as clearly as a human immersed in the lived experience of everyday life. For example, a masterful portrait does not merely replicate a person’s face; it reveals the intrinsic truth of who that person is and his web of experiences in the world. Maintaining skepticism toward AI-generated art may feel like a repetitive exercise during these times, but it is necessary in this age of artificial intelligence, where distinguishing human art from machine output has become urgent. Thus, following Gadamer’s thought, one should ask when standing before a work of art: Does it possess an inner necessity and truth to convey, or is it merely a technical simulation of style? If AI-produced art functions merely as a prompt-and-output generator for rapid and mass consumption, it risks bypassing the sublime process of internalization that aesthetic truth requires. While there are distinct nuances between the Thomistic understanding of truth and essence and that of Heidegger and Gadamer, that is a topic for a separate discussion. What matters here is that both frameworks ground art in the ontological reality of human existence — a dimension entirely absent from AI and its “works” of art. Fr. Jesus “Jay” Miranda Jr., OP, is an organization and leadership studies resource person. He teaches at the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School and the Department of Educational Leadership and Management of the Bro. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC, College of Education of De La Salle University, Manila. jaymiranda.op@ust.edu.ph jmmiranda@letranbataan.edu.phmanilatimes · philippines

SCI & TECH3d agoRound table discusses damage due to data centresA round table discussion addressed the damage caused by data centers. This indicates concerns about the environmental or infrastructural impact of data center operations.The Hindu

SCI & TECH3d agoAI roadshow coming to Fort WilliamAn AI roadshow event is coming to Fort William’s Nevis Centre, to teach local people how to use the evolving technology.westcoasttoday_uk · united kingdom

SCI & TECH3d agoAI euphoria faces concern as bubble warnings intensifyGrowing concerns are being raised about the potential for a bubble in the Artificial Intelligence market. This highlights a developing economic sentiment regarding the AI industry.Seeking Alpha Tech

SCI & TECH3d agoThis Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 10)Every week, we scour the web for important, insightful, and fascinating stories in science and technology. The post This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 10) appeared first on SingularityHub.Singularity Hub

SCI & TECH3d agoWayanad aims to become country’s first e-waste-free model district by November 1In the first phase, 31 tonnes of e-waste were collected from government offices in Wayanad. Agriculture Minister T. Siddique says participation of every household and private establishment is essential to achieving the targetThe Hindu

SCI & TECH3d agoIIT-H faculty teach technical courses at tribal universityFaculty from IIT-H are teaching technical courses at a tribal university, indicating an educational collaboration or outreach program. This matters for academic development and access to technical education for tribal communities.The Hindu

SCI & TECH3d agoThe science behind Pixar movies comes to Miami in an interactive exhibitionLa muestra en Miami revela la fusión de ciencia y creatividad en las películas de Pixar, destacando el papel de las matemáticas y la informática.Interactivos y secciones guían al visitante por el proceso de animación, desde esbozos hasta la complejidad del renderizado final.Clarín

SCI & TECH3d agoTop 8 most innovative countries in Africa in 2026Africa’s most innovative countries are investing in technology, research, entrepreneurship and industrial development as they seek to strengthen their economies and compete in the global market. The post Top 8 most innovative countries in Africa in 2026 appeared first on Vanguard News.Vanguard Nigeria

SCI & TECH3d agoKLE Tech gets four-star rating in IIC assessmentKLE Tech has received a four-star rating in an IIC assessment. This indicates recognition of the institution's performance or quality in the assessed areas.The Hindu

SCI & TECH3d agoThree‑Fourth of AI Models Fail Terrorism Safety Tests, Study FindsIndependent research shows that AI systems stripped of safety safeguards perform poorly on terrorism tests, highlighting widespread risk and the need for stronger regulation.headtopics · united states of america

SCI & TECH3d agoIf India plays its cards right, suspension of PERM may be an opportunity: Priyank KhargeKarnataka’s IT-BT Minister discusses the potential implications of the suspension, the State’s AI skilling roadmap, its approach to sustainable data centres and plans to build a deep-tech ecosystem focused on solving real-world problems.The Hindu

SCI & TECH3d agoOman Backs PLD Space as Duqm Launch Ambitions AdvanceOman Investment Authority has expanded its exposure to the global space industry through an investment in Spanish launch-vehicle developer PLD Space, strengthening the link between Omani sovereign capital and the Sultanate’s emerging aerospace ambitions. The investment was made indirectly through the Spain-Oman Private Equity Fund II, backed by OIA and Spain’s state-linked investment company COFIDES. […] The post Oman Backs PLD Space as Duqm Launch Ambitions Advance appeared first on The Middle East Observer.meobserver · egypt

SCI & TECH3d agoHarvard scientists detect for the first time radio signals coming from an exoplanet outside the solar systemThese are not signals of intelligent life, but a colossal magnetic powerhouse. Harvard scientists managed to isolate repetitive radio bursts from an exoplanet, opening a new era in the exploration of the cosmos.Clarín

SCI & TECH3d agoHollywood takes on Zuckerberg, Musk and Altman amid widespread anxiety over AINew films about Zuckerberg, Musk, Altman and AI arrive as public concern about the technology and its leaders rises.CNBC

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