Delayed air passengers, disgruntled phone customers and even hungry people craving a slice of pizza increasingly find their pleas to private companies being answered by artificial intelligence. Soon Canadians who need to reach out to the federal government could also find themselves talking to an employee who’s been helped by non-human assistants. Ottawa is working … Read more
As It Happens6:19What bad karaoke tells us about the science of blushing When researchers set out to learn what happens to our brains when we blush, they faced a conundrum — how could they sufficiently humiliate their study’s subjects as they lay alone in a dark MRI machine? “We were thinking, well, what can we … Read more
The Current24:23K-Pop is experimenting with AI, but some are skeptical One of the biggest music genres is experimenting with the power of artificial intelligence after K-pop group Seventeen used AI to help promote the music video for its single Maestro. The song is a hit, but the use of AI in the multi-billion dollar industry has been … Read more
In a groundbreaking experiment aired during Shark Week, scientists released 200 gallons of synthetic blood into the ocean to attract a great white shark. This bold move was part of an effort to study the predatory behaviours of these magnificent creatures.The experiment, conducted off the coast of South Africa, aimed to gather new insights into … Read more
The Current16:06Decoding the sperm whale’s alphabet Scientists have examined thousands of hours of sperm whale calls — bursts of clicks known as codas — and discovered a kind of phonetic alphabet that the animals use to communicate. “What we’ve done here is really sort of expand … the library of potential codas that these animals … Read more
Last November, the Voyager 1 spacecraft began sending gibberish radio signals back to Earth. Engineers have now identified the problem, but trying to repair a 46-year-old device on a craft 24 billion kilometres from Earth is not easy. Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 were both launched in 1977 on a reconnaissance mission to … Read more
In his filmmaking career, Alex Garland has terrified us with zombies, infectious alien hybrids, murderous men and A.I. run amuck. Civil War, the writer and director’s latest film, is not only his most ambitious entry but also his most plausible. The press notes for Civil War describe the setting as “near-future America,” but it feels like … Read more
The moon’s newest arrival, a privately owned vessel not carrying people, was said to be “alive and well” a day after making the first U.S. landing in half a century, but flight controllers were still trying to get a better handle on its bearings. Intuitive Machines reported Friday that it’s communicating with its lander, Odysseus, … Read more
People who search for human remains in Alberta say a new study identifying predominant scavengers in the region will help them conduct their searches more efficiently. In August 2021 and August 2022, researchers placed pig carcasses at four locations — one near Edmonton, another near Calgary and two in more rural areas. The 200-pound pigs acted … Read more
I’ve been very fortunate as a documentary and adventure series filmmaker, having the opportunity to travel all over Canada and the world doing what I love. But my latest project sent me on a mission to a lunar landscape in Canada’s Far North — one of the most difficult places I’ve ever had to reach. … Read more
