Jeremy Hsu

Notre Dame fire revealed cathedral’s innovative use of iron

The 2019 fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris unexpectedly led to discovery of the building’s use of iron staple reinforcements throughout its structure. It’s the first Gothic cathedral known to have used such a method When a fire destroyed the…

GPT-4: OpenAI says its AI has 'human-level performance' on tests

The AI behind popular chatbot ChatGPT has been updated to a new version known as GPT-4 – and many people have already been unknowingly exposed to the newest AI’s supposedly improved capabilities for weeks prior to the announcement. OpenAI, the…

World’s largest office building with 'passive house' design to open

On a cold winter’s day in February, the drone of a powerful fan filled the cavernous office space on the 17th floor of a new skyscraper in downtown Boston. A group of building developers wearing hard hats and orange safety vests stood around as the…

A massive power transformer shortage is wreaking havoc in the US

A nationwide shortage of power grid transformers is causing delays across the US for everything from infrastructure for electric vehicles to new homes Across the US, new houses sit unfinished – construction can’t be completed until they are connected…

US president could get power to ban TikTok nationwide

A possible US ban on TikTok took a step forward after a US House committee advanced a bill that would empower the president to prohibit the popular social media app along with other apps owned by companies based in China. The bill known as the…

Artificial intelligence training is powered mostly by fossil fuels

Artificial intelligence training is powered mostly by fossil fuels, according to one of the largest studies of its kind. Less than 25 per cent of AIs use low-carbon energy sources such as hydroelectricity and nuclear power during training. “People…

US freight trains are getting longer – is that safe?

Freight trains are getting longer in the US. Thousands of such trains, often more than a kilometre long, run safely every day. But a recent derailment and resulting chemical spill in Ohio has raised questions about whether longer trains are at a…

Ohio train derailment: Investigators outline facts of the accident

The freight train derailment in eastern Ohio involved a failing wheel bearing that overheated without initially triggering the alert threshold set for the railroad’s defect detectors, according to a preliminary report by federal safety investigators.…

US will catalogue unidentified flying objects, says Biden

Just days after US fighter jets shot down three unidentified aerial objects over North America, president Joe Biden announced plans to boost US capabilities for detecting and keeping track of uncrewed objects in its airspace to better distinguish…

Ohio chemical spill: What could have caused the train to derail?

After a train carrying hazardous chemicals partially derailed and set fire in Ohio on 3 February, questions are being asked about what could have gone wrong A long freight train carrying hazardous chemicals partially derailed and set fire near East…

Stuffed dead birds made into drones could spy on animals or humans

Flapping-wing drones camouflaged with the bodies of taxidermy birds could help study flocks of wild birds or enable military spy missions, but they’re not yet the most efficient flyers A project for incorporating dead birds into flapping-wing drones…

Unidentified objects: What's behind the rise in aerial shootdowns?

A spate of shootdowns involving balloons and other flying objects over North America comes as the US military is becoming more sensitive to unidentified aerial phenomena The rise in US fighter jets shooting down unidentified aerial objects over North…

China, UK and US are all boosting their spy balloon programs

Military interest in balloon surveillance had been increasing even before a Chinese-launched balloon wandered across the continental US Surveillance balloons are having a moment – even beyond the recent Chinese spy balloon fiasco. The US and UK…

How high-tech spy balloons became so popular for aerial surveillance

Surveillance balloons are having a moment – even beyond the recent Chinese spy balloon fiasco. The US and UK militaries are increasingly funding projects to build high-tech surveillance balloons that operate at nearly 20 kilometres up in the air. And…

Unidentified object shot down over Alaskan waters, US Pentagon says

A US fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over icy waters near Alaska on 10 February. This comes a week after the US shootdown of a suspected surveillance balloon from China. The unidentified object was first detected and tracked by North…

AI is listening in on gamer chat for toxic and abusive language

AI has entered the gaming chat – and it’s listening for hate speech. Some of the world’s most popular games are now using artificial intelligence to detect verbal harassment or hate speech in some of the world’s most popular games. The service,…

Vikings brought horses and dogs to England, cremated bones confirm

Archaeologists have uncovered the first physical evidence that confirms some Vikings shipped their own horses and dogs from Scandinavia to England. The animal bone evidence comes from a burial mound at the only known Viking cremation cemetery in the…

Net-zero aviation needs up to $1 trillion in carbon offsets by 2050

Growing demand for air travel is counteracting the aviation industry push to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Carbon offsets will be necessary – or fewer passengers Surging global demand for air travel and air freight transport means that the…

The US government is suing Google – again

A new US government lawsuit alleges that Google has harmed innovation and raised costs for internet users by attempting to monopolise the digital advertising industry Google is facing a new antitrust lawsuit from the US Department of Justice that…

Largest plane yet tested with hydrogen-powered engine

A plane with an experimental hydrogen-electric engine on its left wing successfully completed a test flight this week. It is the largest such craft to be powered with the help of a hydrogen engine yet. The UK and US-based company ZeroAvia conducted a…