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Ancient Herculaneum scrolls are now readable due to AI technology, scientists say

Ancient Herculaneum scrolls are now readable due to AI technology, scientists say

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At first glance, the Herculaneum scrolls look unremarkable, like pieces of coal. After surviving the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the nearly 2,000-year-old documents would crumble if anyone attempted to unroll them, and surviving pieces with writing were considered to be nearly illegible to the human eye — until now.

After two millennia, the first full word from one of the unopened ancient papyri has been decoded with the help of computer technology and advanced artificial intelligence, according to an announcement made by a team of researchers who launched the “Vesuvius Challenge,” a competition designed to accelerate the discoveries made on the scrolls.

The word, “πορφυρας” or “porphyras,” which is the Greek word for purple, was found first by University of Nebraska computer science

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How scientists discovered 7,000 humpback whale deaths using AI technology: Study

How scientists discovered 7,000 humpback whale deaths using AI technology: Study

The intersection of marine biology and artificial intelligence technology has led to a startling humpback whale population discovery.

Approximately 7,000 humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean died between 2012 and 2021 after the damaging effects of a yearslong marine heatwave, according to a study published Wednesday by Royal Society Open Science. It represented a 20% decline during this period.

The marine heatwave began in 2013 and lasted until 2021, steeply raising water temperatures and decreasing ocean productivity worldwide.

In the North Pacific, the study found the humpback whale population dwindled from 33,500 in 2012 to 26,500 by 2021.

View of the tail of a Humpback whale at the Gerlache Strait in Antarctica, Jan. 19, 2024.

Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images

The massive, international study gathered data and images from 46 organizations and 4,292 community science contributors and used AI technology to match and identify humpback whales around the

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Avi Loeb’s claims of finding possible alien technology are polarizing scientists

Avi Loeb’s claims of finding possible alien technology are polarizing scientists

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Sifting through spherules from the ocean floor isn’t your typical summer project, but for Harvard Prof. Avi Loeb, there’s nothing he’d rather be doing.

Spherules, he explains, are basically small metallic marbles. The Israeli theoretical physicist and former head of the Harvard astronomy department traveled a long way to find them — Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, where he and a research team researched from June 14 to 28.

Loeb posits that they come from the first interstellar object detected by humanity, a meteor that exploded in the Earth’s atmosphere, above Papua New Guinea on January 8, 2014. What’s more, he suggests, this meteor might represent extraterrestrial technology.

“The first thing to do is figure out whether the material identity looks different from solar system material,” Loeb told The Times of Israel over Zoom. “It would be the first time humans put their hands on material from

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