Science & Tech

Today- September 24, 2024

1. NASA's Artemis III Mission to Blast Off Next Week

NASA officials unveiled the long-anticipated Artemis III mission, targeting no earlier than October 1, 2024, that will send the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface. It also will mark the first to land at the lunar South Pole, a region believed to contain water ice deposits that will be crucial for future lunar habitats.

2. Fusion Energy Breakthrough: 'The Holy Grail of Cheap Clean Energy' as Sustained Power Output Achieved for First Time

What physicists are hailing as a historic breakthrough, their colleagues at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France have succeeded in nudging a nuclear fusion reaction to sustain power output for over five continuous minutes-a feat reviewed by scientists as one leading the world closer to tapping into fusion as a clean, almost limitless source of energy. Commercial fusion reactors could become viable within the next twenty years, researchers say.

3. 'AI tool may predict cancer risk with 99% accuracy'

A new AI-powered tool invented by Stanford University researchers is taking the medical world by storm. This tool, using machine learning to analyze genetic data, lifestyle, and medical records, attempts to predict the chances of cancer with 99 percent accuracy. This would be a sea change for early detection and prevention strategies and would save millions of lives in the bargain. For the time being, the AI system is utilized in clinical trials in collaboration with different hospitals worldwide. 

4. Apple Introduces New Features on iOS 18 w/ AI

Apple has introduced several AI-driven features in iOS 18. First, there is the Smart Assistant-which independently tasked with scheduling and managing emails, does real-time voice-to-text translations across over 50 languages. All that Apple is doing to integrate AI into itself will go on to make certain day-to-day tasks easier and more intuitive. It's announced that iOS 18 hits this coming month all over the world.

5. Teeming Microbial Life in Martian Soil Samples, Scientists Say A team of scientists said that the ground beneath what is now called the Jezero Crater on Mars has a whisper of microbial life burping up from it.

It would have indeed indicated that microbial life could have survived in the ancient Martian ecosystems billions of years ago, considering how the scientists studied the soil samples collected by Perseverance Rover on behalf of NASA and hauled all the way to Earth. A find so priceless gives new hope that future missions to Mars can yield much in the way of life on the Red Planet. 

6. Google Announces Quantum Computing Breakthrough: 10,000 Qubits Reached

Well, it is now official: Google announced that giant leap for quantum computing, its Sycamore 2 quantum processor reaching a record 10,000 qubits. That pushes us closer, in effect, to finding solutions to some of the most complex problems just out of grasp with conventional computing-from finding new medicines to cryptography and climate modeling. Indeed, the quantum revolution is pushing the boundaries of computing.