Novel denoising method generates sharper photorealistic images faster

Monte Carlo computational methods are behind many of the realistic images in games and movies. They automate the complexities in simulating the physics of lights and cameras to generate high-quality renderings from samples of diverse image features and scenes. But the process of Monte Carlo rendering is slow and can take hours—or even days—to produce a single image, and oftentimes the results are still pixelated, or "noisy."

* This article was originally published here

UN-ish speeches cooked by artificial intelligence are quite credible

Those who worry about artificial intelligence being so good it spins out of control into making humans robo-victims of cooked lies posing as truth had best ignore the recent study which is sure to disturb their sleep. The paper looks at a successful implementation of AI-generated speeches.

* This article was originally published here

Hillwood wants to turn AllianceTexas into 'mobility innovation zone' for drones, autonomous vehicles

When Uber announced it would develop and test an urban air taxi service in Dallas, the Perot family's Hillwood was among the first companies to sign on as one of the ride-hailing company's business partners.

* This article was originally published here

Suit alleges Amazon's Alexa violates laws by recording children's voices without consent

A lawsuit filed in Seattle Tuesday alleges Amazon is recording children who use its Alexa devices without their consent, in violation of laws governing recordings in at least eight states, including Washington.

* This article was originally published here

Living and breathing while Black: Racial profiling and other acts of violence

Recently, Shelby McPhee, a young Black male graduate student presenting at the largest Canadian academic gathering, the 88th annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, hosted by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences and held at the University of British Columbia, was stopped by two white delegates and accused of stealing a laptop. He was photographed and followed. Congress volunteers called the police; both UBC campus police and the RCMP arrived on the scene.

* This article was originally published here

Why old-school climate denial has had its day

The Coalition has been re-elected to government, and after six years in office it has not created any effective policies for reducing greenhouse emissions. Does that mean the Australian climate change debate is stuck in 2013? Not exactly.

* This article was originally published here

Parched US Southwest gets reprieve as snowmelt fills rivers

A welcome surge of melting snow is pouring out of the Rocky Mountains and into the drought-stricken rivers of the southwestern U.S., fending off a water shortage but threatening to push rivers over their banks.

* This article was originally published here

Enhanced human Blood-Brain Barrier Chip performs in vivo-like drug and antibody transport

Like airport security barriers that either clear authorized travelers or block unauthorized travelers and their luggage from accessing central operation areas, the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) tightly controls the transport of essential nutrients and energy metabolites into the brain and staves off unwanted substances circulating in the blood stream. Importantly, it's highly organized structure of thin blood vessels and supporting cells is also the major obstacle preventing life-saving drugs from reaching the brain in order to effectively treat cancer, neurodegeneration, and other diseases of the central nervous system. In a number of brain diseases, the BBB can also locally break down, causing neurotoxic substances, blood cells and pathogens to leak into the brain and wreak irreparable havoc.

* This article was originally published here