An Osaka Metropolitan University team has developed an explainable AI model for automatic collision avoidance between ships.

The use of AI-generated testimonials with increasingly realistic human features is becoming widespread on social media platforms like TikTok, even when it comes to communicating scientific content. It’s now quite common to come across videos where icons like Albert Einstein or Marie Curie — realistically recreated — explain relativity or radioactivity. But how do viewers react to these avatars? Does realism generate discomfort and thus mistrust, or can it actually improve understanding and the transmission of scientific information? A study published in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) explored how the realism of AI-generated avatars influences perceived trustworthiness in science communicators, also examining the role of avatars’ gender.

Salk Institute plant biologists discover new plant molecule, CLE16, as well as a fungal CLE16 mimic, that encourage the beneficial symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. CLE16 supplementation in crop fields could help reduce harmful chemical fertilizer use by replacing it with sustainable, long-lasting symbiotic plant-fungus relationships for important crops like soy, corn, and wheat.