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Join us on this captivating exploration of AI's impact on both the present and the past!
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00:00Can we power spaceships using black holes?
00:03Kinda.
00:04Exploring our galaxy is a bit problematic.
00:07Our fastest spacecraft ever, NASA's Parker Solar Probe,
00:10only travels at about 0.06% the speed of light.
00:15So it would take around 7,700 years for us to reach even our closest neighbor star, Proxima Centauri.
00:24Therefore, we need to find a way to achieve super high velocity without wasting too much fuel.
00:30Why don't we consider powering spacecraft using radiation from black holes?
00:35Natural black holes are too massive for us to harness.
00:39However, during the early stages of the universe,
00:42there might have been very small black holes known as primordial ones.
00:47Perhaps we could attempt to recreate them.
00:49In order to do so, we would need to concentrate a massive amount of energy on a minuscule point.
00:56Imagine a mass of about a million tons with a radius of a few atom meters.
01:02Scientists have devised a method to accomplish this.
01:05By collecting a vast amount of the sun's energy using solar panels,
01:10directing it towards a single point,
01:12surrounding it with collectors to capture the emitted energy,
01:16and utilizing its radiation to power a spaceship.
01:19What a brilliant plan!
01:21As for the implementation, we'll have to wait and see how it unfolds.
01:27Scientists in Japan have developed artificial wombs that can nurture premature baby sharks.
01:32They help embryos to be prepared to be born properly.
01:36These artificial wombs can power little sharks for almost a year.
01:42This is much longer than their previous record of 160 days.
01:47The invention actually works.
01:49Some embryos grew from 1.2 to almost 6 inches, which is their natural birth size.
01:55Premature sharks are very vulnerable because the seawater is too salty for their little bodies.
02:01This is especially dangerous for viviparious sharks because their young ones are born without a protective shell.
02:08So what scientists did is they put them in these containers
02:12and started slowly decreasing natural fluids and gradually increasing the seawater
02:17until babies got used to the salt.
02:20The results are still not perfect, though.
02:23Out of 33 embryos, only 3 reached birth size.
02:27However, these three are healthy and now live like any normal baby shark.
02:31They munched on some minced mackerel and shrimp and behaved typically for their age.
02:36The end goal of all this research, of course, is to develop more universal systems for wider use.
02:44Sensing a hug over the internet might soon be possible.
02:48Using eSkin
02:50Researchers at City University of Hong Kong have developed a wireless, soft eSkin
02:56that can detect and deliver the sense of touch.
02:59This creates a touch network for multi-user interaction.
03:03The eSkin can both sense touch and imitate it.
03:07We had similar technologies like that before, with VR for example,
03:12but not both of them at the same time.
03:15Here's how it works.
03:16You press an actuator, and it generates an electrical signal.
03:20This signal is converted into a digital signal by an analog-to-digital converter.
03:25Then it's sent via Bluetooth to another eSkin.
03:29The receiving eSkin converts the signal back into an electrical current,
03:34and it recreates the touch sensation through vibrations.
03:38Finally, long-distance friends and family could use technology to feel each other.
03:44This technology might also help visually impaired people with directions and reading Braille messages.
03:52Now, imagine being able to 3D print literal bones.
03:56This is a new technology that helps us create synthetic bones with living cells.
04:02It uses a special ink that mimics natural bone.
04:05First, you create a model, like a custom bone design.
04:09Then, the printer uses ceramic ink in a gelatin bath, extruding it layer by layer.
04:15You 3D print this thing at room temperature.
04:18Then, the printed bone material hardens and integrates with existing bone tissue.
04:23And voila!
04:25Still, there are some problems left to solve.
04:27For example, make sure that there won't be any immune reactions, make the material stronger, and so on.
04:34By the way, in Mumbai, there's a startup that has created helpful 3D models of organs for over 1,200
04:41operations already.
04:43And the technology will only keep improving.
04:46The next goals are to add blood vessels to ensure nutrients and oxygen reach the tissue
04:52and develop smart materials that will change depending on the environment.
04:57In the future, you might have a digital copy of your body to track your health.
05:02A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object that not only looks like the object, but also
05:09behaves like it.
05:10To be fair, it doesn't have to be a full-blown copy of you.
05:14It can be something simple, like a copy of a heart.
05:16Unlike a simple 3D model, a digital twin must show how all parts of the object interact with each other.
05:24It will show all components and their interactions, not just the shape or appearance.
05:29Looking at them will help doctors understand and improve health outcomes better
05:34by tweaking random parameters and seeing how the condition changes.
05:39For example, recently, researchers created digital twins of patients' hearts.
05:44The model showed the heart's structure and damage, things like scars and all that.
05:50They also had a simulation of the heart's electrical activity.
05:53They tried sending signals through the digital twin, looked at how it behaved,
05:58and were able to predict issues, like arrhythmias.
06:02What if your walls could eat sunlight during the day and use the accumulated energy to power the building at
06:08night?
06:09Buildings literally powering themselves?
06:11Check out the energy-storing bricks.
06:14They can be built-in walls among regular bricks, capture extra-renewable energy,
06:19stabilize the power grid, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
06:23They use a type of concrete that can store electricity and power devices.
06:27These bricks can turn the red pigment in standard bricks into conductive plastic,
06:32which can store and release tons of charge.
06:35Pair them with solar panels, and voila, lots of clean energy,
06:40which also works even in case of power outage.
06:43And they're pretty affordable as well.
06:45People could also use them to create portable and flexible devices powered by these bricks,
06:51such as wearable electronics, sensors, or displays that attach to clothes and stuff.
06:58Potentially, these bricks could be 3D-printed and mass-produced.
07:02China has developed a groundbreaking car battery that can get fully charged in just 10 minutes.
07:08Moreover, it could power a car for hundreds of miles before needing to be plugged in again,
07:13all thanks to recent great advancements in chemistry.
07:17Chemists found a way to store much more energy.
07:20The latest batteries can enable cars to travel 250 miles on a single charge,
07:25and newer versions can achieve up to 600 miles per charge.
07:30In the future, this could make electric cars much more efficient and convenient.
07:35You'd think it sounds nice and dandy, but there's a catch.
07:38If there are any disruptions due to extreme weather, trade disputes, or anything else,
07:43people will be screwed.
07:44It's not like you can go and ask your neighbor to lend you gasoline.
07:48In the future, electric cars might not be able to get the batteries they need.
07:52Anyone who drives an electric car to work would be stuck,
07:55and the prices would skyrocket.
07:58There's also a weird type of battery that is made of sand.
08:02Finnish engineers filled a large steel container measuring 13 by 23 feet with 100 tons of sand.
08:10They then heated the sand using wind and solar energy.
08:14This method allows energy to be stored for months.
08:17In a battery like this, electricity used to heat air in a special system of pipes.
08:23The hot air then flows through these pipes to warm up the sand.
08:27This generated heat can be used as energy.
08:30This is called resistive heating.
08:34Sometimes, new technologies can be both amazing and a little creepy.
08:38That's definitely the case with necrobiotics.
08:41This involves turning things that passed away into robots.
08:45It might sound like a horror movie plot, but researchers at Rice University think it will be super useful.
08:53A team at Rice University has turned a deceased spider into a robot like Gripper that can pick up objects.
08:59They do this by injecting air into the spider.
09:03Spiders use hydraulics to move their limbs, forcing their version of blood into their legs to make them extend.
09:10These necrobiotic grippers could be used in delicate tasks where traditional robotic parts might be too bulky or rough.
09:19In 79 CE, the Vesuvius volcano erupted and burned down two beautiful cities of the Roman Empire, Pompeii and Herculaneum.
09:29Many of you have probably heard about this tragic story.
09:33However, few people know that in the middle of the 18th century, archaeologists discovered ancient scrolls from that time amongst
09:41the ruins of Herculaneum.
09:42For any scientist or historian, such a discovery is a treasure trove that offers insights into the thoughts and lives
09:50of people from over 2,000 years ago.
09:53However, the problem was that 1,800 scrolls were found in very poor condition.
09:59Singed by the heat of the volcano, coated in ash and soot.
10:03They had become hardened black lumps.
10:06Brittle as coal, any careless movement could destroy them.
10:10Scientists were aware that invaluable knowledge from an ancient Roman library was concealed within, and endeavored to decipher the texts.
10:20One method was to cut the scrolls in half and scrape off the thin layers of solid dust and ashes.
10:27Then, the researchers created a special machine that could slowly unroll the scrolls.
10:33They managed to read a few words, but unfortunately, such methods damaged and even destroyed some of the artifacts.
10:41In those instances, archaeologists could only wait for advancements in technology that would allow them to unfold and read the
10:48scrolls.
10:49And finally, this day has arrived.
10:53Artificial intelligence has now enabled researchers to decipher texts written 2,000 years ago, even though the inscriptions on the
11:01scrolls were charred and nearly illegible.
11:04Initially, scientists scanned the scrolls and created high-resolution digital models.
11:09This process allowed specialists to identify the areas where ancient ink had altered the texture and shape of the papyrus
11:16fibers.
11:18In the regions where ink was applied, the papyrus was slightly thicker and contained a higher level of carbon, the
11:25key component of the ink.
11:27The researchers developed a machine learning model capable of detecting these subtle details within the papyrus.
11:33They uploaded thousands of 3D images of the scrolls to the Internet, inviting people to collaborate with AI in decoding
11:41the text.
11:42During the early stages, the system occasionally made errors, making human assistance essential.
11:49To incentivize participation, scientists and investors from Silicon Valley offered $1 million to anyone who could successfully decode the texts.
11:58This initiative significantly accelerated the process, resulting in the deciphering of several passages from the ancient works.
12:07Fragments of the first transcripts are like a blog about how to enjoy life.
12:12The author of the scroll, Philodemus, was a follower of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who considered pleasure and luxury the
12:19highest goal in his life.
12:21So, Philodemus thought so too.
12:25We do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant.
12:31It feels as if it was written by some modern influencer talking about a detox program or a diet.
12:38It seems that people who lived 2,000 years ago were almost the same as modern ones.
12:44Philodemus was apparently a wealthy man, because he lived in a villa that may have belonged to Julius Caesar's father
12:51-in-law.
12:52In his works, the author criticized the Stoics, who couldn't say anything about pleasure at all.
12:59Philodemus was such an ardent fan of Epicureanism that one of the scientists compared him to a guy who collected
13:05albums from only one band and nothing else.
13:09Several hundred Herculaneum scrolls remain unread.
13:13Scientists believe that they may contain works by Aristotle, Homer, Sophocles, and the Stoics.
13:19Fortunately, with modern AI technologies, the decryption process will go on much faster.
13:26But how did historians and linguists decipher ancient texts in the past centuries?
13:32It was actually a very difficult mental job.
13:35Let's say you found an ancient slab in the 19th century somewhere in Greece.
13:40To understand what was written there, you'd have to compare it to several other deciphered plates with similar writings of
13:47that era, or similar languages.
13:49Letter by letter, symbol by symbol, you'd be deciphering ancient writings for several months, or even years, to figure out,
13:58say, the recipe for ancient mashed potatoes.
14:02Fortunately, with the development of computer technology, those days are long gone.
14:07Now, all ancient scrolls can be scanned and uploaded to a database on a computer.
14:13You may not even have to decipher the text for a long time if the computer finds a match of
14:18characters in other ancient manuscripts.
14:21But even if you have a perfectly preserved piece of papyrus, or an ancient book where all letters are visible,
14:28this doesn't mean that you and AI will be able to decipher it.
14:32One of the most famous encrypted texts is the Voynich Manuscript.
14:36This work, which consists of 240 colorful pages, was acquired by Polish bookseller in 1912.
14:45He found that book intriguing because of astrological symbols, unknown plants, and unusual human figures drawn on its pages.
14:55And all this was accompanied by handwritten texts.
14:59The author had beautiful, clear handwriting, but the language of the book is still unknown.
15:05Someone wrote this art book around the beginning of the 15th century and divided it into six sections devoted to
15:13botany, astronomy, biology, cooking, medicine, and cosmology.
15:18Many scientists and linguists have tried to decipher the mysterious drawings with inscriptions, but no one has gotten reliable results.
15:27Even AI couldn't help this difficult task.
15:31Some believe that this book is dedicated to science, and others believe that it contains knowledge about witchcraft.
15:37Perhaps it's a mix of science and magic.
15:41According to one version, the manuscript is a medical textbook that copied information from other scientific works from the Middle
15:48Ages.
15:49Before the invention of the printing press, people copied books and rewrote them by hand without worrying about copyrights.
15:56It's possible that the author of the manuscript outlined all their knowledge about herbal medicines and the influence of astrology
16:03on health.
16:04People in the past believed that the state of the body and stars in the sky were connected.
16:10The coolest thing is that the book has been scanned.
16:14You can download it in high resolution and try to decrypt it yourself.
16:18Who knows?
16:19Maybe you will succeed and get some ancient secret knowledge.
16:23An unknown language or poor text condition may not always be a problem for linguists.
16:29Imagine that you open some copy of classical literature dated to the 19th century.
16:34You read the pages carefully, and at the end of the day, you feel slightly unwell.
16:40You read the book every day and feel worse and worse.
16:43At some point, you go to the hospital, and doctors tell you that you've been poisoned.
16:49Yeah, sometimes working with old books can be literally dangerous for your health.
16:54There are even catalogs of poisonous books in the world.
16:58They are toxic not because someone intentionally sprayed them with poison to hurt the reader,
17:03but because people wanted to make books look more colorful.
17:08Recently, two such books have been withdrawn from the National Library of France because of their bright green covers.
17:14The pages were ordinary, but the hardcover could have been coated with arsenic.
17:20The mass production of books took place in the 19th century.
17:24Book publishers wanted to release as many copies as possible,
17:27so they used not expensive leather covers for them, but cheaper fabric options.
17:32To make a book attractive to customers, they painted them in bright green, yellow, red, and other colors.
17:39They got the green color of the cover thanks to the bright pigment created from copper and arsenic.
17:45It was a very cheap dye, but brighter than other dyes containing copper carbonate.
17:51An arsenic dye was used not only for books, but also to create candles and wallpaper.
17:57The problem was that the dye's pigment decomposed quickly and released toxic carcinogenic fumes.
18:05Arsenic caused severe health problems.
18:08People calmly lived in their homes and couldn't understand what was happening to them.
18:12The same thing happened to many readers of that time.
18:15It was only by the end of the 19th century that people stopped selling toxic items.
18:21Now, to read a poisonous book, if you want to do it that is,
18:25you have to wear gloves and a protective mask.
18:28And after work, wash your hands thoroughly.
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