Movies like “The Terminator,” in which an artificial intelligence system goes rogue and tries to wipe out humanity, depict our worst fears about AI.

But outside of science fiction, there’s no need to be afraid of the technology becoming self-aware like the AI in the movies anytime soon, said Dr. Sriraam Natarajan, a professor of computer science in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas.

“I want to reassure everyone that AI-driven Armageddon is not happening,” Natarajan said. “‘The Terminator’ is a great movie. ‘The Matrix’ is great, but they are fiction and are not going to happen in reality.”

At the age of 12, Dr. Bei Zeng was already the top chess player in her province in China and a prodigy in a family deeply rooted in the game. By the time she turned 17, after witnessing IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer defeat the world’s best chess player, her world — and her future career — would shift. Today, Zeng is a professor of physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at The University of Texas at Dallas, where she is at the forefront of quantum computing, quantum information science and artificial intelligence research.

Biologists from The University of Texas at Arlington are the first to discover an invasive frog—the greenhouse frog—in the Marshall Islands, a sprawling Pacific nation of volcanic islands and coral atolls located roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

1.6 billion animals are transported in the EU each year. From day-old chickens to pregnant cows, they vary in size, sensitivities and needs.

The current legislation on animal welfare during transport is almost 20 years old and no longer responds to modern realities or the latest scientific knowledge. The experts worry that the same can be said about aspects of the proposal currently on the table.  

The proposal was presented in 2023 and aims to “Ensure a higher level of animal welfare by bringing animal welfare requirements closer to the latest scientific evidence” and to “reduce animal welfare problems linked to long journeys and repetitive loading and reloading linked to several rest periods.”

As the legislation is currently being discussed, three leading experts in the field now join the debate, noting that there are potential problems with both of these statements.

In a virtually unprecedented alignment of efforts, Europe’s major fusion research experiments have simultaneously entered a high-intensity experiment phase, showcasing Europe's strong collaboration and leadership in the global quest to develop fusion as a sustainable energy source.

As measles cases rise across Texas and the nation, a team of researchers at Rice University and the Houston Health Department is leveraging wastewater surveillance to detect the virus in the community. This innovative approach is part of the Houston Wastewater Epidemiology system and offers public health officials a powerful early warning system to track outbreaks and mobilize targeted interventions.

Eleven governors and their state energy offices are putting out ready-for-business signs to advanced nuclear energy developers under an initiative that taps into experts at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Plastics are becoming more present in the seas and oceans around the world. The Mediterranean — a semi-enclosed marine basin — is one of the seas that accumulates more plastic waste from the continent, a situation that is endangering biodiversity and marine ecosystems. Now, the University of Barcelona is working on a citizen science project to better understand the origins and final destination of the plastics that reach the sea and thus improve the marine environment conservation strategies in the north-western Mediterranean.