Odysseus Moon launch explained - Tech & Science Daily Podcast

All the stories from Thursday’s episode of the Tech & Science Daily podcast.
AP
Jon Weeks15 February 2024

The Nova-C Odysseus lander is on its way to the Moon after a successful launch into space aboard Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket.

If all goes to plan, Odysseus could attempt a lunar landing on February 22.

Among the items it’s taking to the lunar surface is a radio receiver system that will study lunar plasma, which is created by solar winds and other charged particles raining down on the Moon’s surface.

If it completes a successful descent onto the Moon, Odysseus is expected to operate for roughly two weeks, or one lunar day.

The Mayor of London has warned there was nearly ‘serious disorder’ in the capital, after an AI-generated audio clip of his voice criticising Remembrance weekend events was shared on social media.

The deepfake voice mimicking Sadiq Khan said he didn’t care “about the Remembrance weekend” and suggested the commemorations should be postponed to allow for a pro-Palestinian march to go ahead.

Sadiq Khan told BBC Radio 4’s Why Do You Hate Me? Podcast that current legislation around deepfakes is not “fit for purpose” and said the audio creator “got away with it” after the Metropolitan Police said the material did not “constitute a criminal offence”.

Scotland Yard says officers ‘continue to review material and content related to this’ and they are ‘also consulting with colleagues from the CPS given this relates to very new and emerging technologies’.

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT has teased that the next version of the chatbot will be “a little better at everything.”

At the World Governments Summit in Dubai, he said the model will be ‘a little bit smarter’ than the current GPT 4 model.

The next version of ChatGPT will reportedly offer better personalisation, make fewer mistakes and handle more types of content, eventually including video.

For the first time scientists have grown beef cells inside grains of rice.

Researchers in South Korea are calling their creation, which looks like pink, clumpy rice, a “nutritious and flavourful hybrid food”, that could offer a more affordable protein food source, with a smaller carbon footprint.

They said their hybrid rice has 8% more protein and 7% more fat compared to regular rice, plus it’s estimated to release less than 6.27kg of carbon dioxide, while beef releases eight times more.

Sohyeon Park, of Yonsei University, who worked on the hybrid-rice, said “It could one day serve as food relief for famine, military ration or even space food.”

Also in this episode:

Robot surgeon in space performs first simulated procedure, Sony: No PS5 price cuts or major game sequels any time soon, why grey squirrels outcompete red rivals, and why women interpret emojis differently to men.

Listen above, find us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you stream your podcasts.

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