Vera C. Rubin Observatory
A powerful new telescope will be commissioned this year in a remote region of Chile and will begin a decade-long study of the southern sky. Inside is the largest digital camera ever designed for astronomy, which will take continuous photos for years to help astronomers study dark matter, explore the Milky Way, and unravel other unknowns cosmic.
AI generative search
Generative search promises to make finding what you’re looking for quick and easy. When you enter a query, an AI model summarizes information from many online sources to return a single answer. On your device, it can browse documents, photos and videos, recognizing objects and people to help you find them faster. This could signal the end of traditional search engines and the rise of AI personal assistants.
Small language models
Large language models can do amazing things because they contain hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of parameters (the values that determine their behavior) and have been trained on most of the Internet’s data. But smaller, cheaper, less power-hungry language models can now compete with the heavyweights in a range of specific tasks. Move over dinosaurs. The future belongs to smaller, more agile beasts.
Remedies for cattle burps
Cow burps are one of the largest sources of agricultural emissions and one of the most difficult to solve. A dietary supplement that significantly reduces the amount of methane emitted by cattle is now available in dozens of countries. Other products, which could prove even more effective, are probably on the way.
Robotaxis
Robotaxis has completed years of beta testing and is finally available to the public. In over a dozen cities around the world, riders can summon one whenever they want. Today, the biggest players are engaging in intense competition as they expand into new cities under the watchful eye of regulators.