Giving AI systems the ability to focus on particular brain regions can make them much better at reconstructing images of what a monkey is looking at from brain recordings

Google's Sycamore quantum computer was the first to demonstrate quantum supremacy – solving calculations that would be unfeasible on a classical computer – but now ordinary machines have pulled ahead again

Identical wording placing limits on the export of quantum computers has appeared in regulations across the globe. There doesn't seem to be any scientific reason for the controls, and all can be traced to secret international discussions

Large language models can be abused by malware to help them avoid detection and propagate by crafting realistic replies to emails

A 1.8-millimetre-wide silicon chip with over 1000 components could help quantum devices communicate without the need for wires or specialised fridges

An AI model learned to predict the choices made by monkeys and their eye movements while playing Pac-Man, hinting that a machine intelligence can “think” in a similar way to mammals

Taiwan’s first ever minister of digital affairs has transformed politics, using online platforms and AI to give power to the country’s citizens – with lessons for us all

An AI that can tell which chess moves are awe-inspiring is being used to make a chess computer that would play creatively, possibly making it more enjoyable to watch or compete against

ChatGPT-written exam submissions for a psychology degree mostly went undetected and tended to get better marks than real students’ work

Photographer Ignacio Evangelista's stark shots shine a light on the little-known VOR beacons, once key to aviation navigation but now being replaced by GPS

Deducing the correct pattern that links pairs of coloured grids is relatively easy for most people, but relies on skills that artificial intelligence models lack. A new $1 million prize hopes to encourage the development of an AI that can solve such puzzles

Researchers have developed an AI model that can translate text into sign language, but experts in Deaf culture and sign language say the translations range from semi-comprehensible to “really unintelligible”

A technique for attaching a skin made from living human cells to a robotic framework could give robots the ability to emote and communicate better

By representing data as folds in paper, the principles of origami can theoretically be used to compute anything imaginable

Reducing the size of the microphone in electronic devices would allow manufacturers to include more of them, increasing the capability for noise cancellation

Creating "walled gardens", much like TV channels do, would provide children better tools to navigate a lifetime of social media than banning smartphones altogether

Driverless cars seem to have fewer accidents than human drivers under routine conditions, but higher crash risks when turning or in dim light – although researchers say more accident data is necessary

There are many scary claims about excess time on digital devices for children and teenagers. Here’s a guide to the real risks - and what to do about them

There are so many Russian landmines across Ukraine that removing them could take 700 years. To prioritise areas for de-mining, the Ukrainian government has turned to an artificial intelligence model that can identify the most important regions

Extremely cold atoms that perpetually move in repeating patterns could be a promising building block for quantum computers