Author: Malavika Madgula

In season 6 of the long-running TV series Friends, one character tells the other that humanity will be able to download their memories and thoughts onto computers by 2030, living forever as machines. More recently, the much-beloved Black Mirror season 3 episode “San Junipero” showcased a simulated reality where the dead are “alive” and the elderly “visit” their younger selves in a time period of their choosing. The Friends episode, which aired in 1999-2000, might have sounded sci-fi, but we’re not so sure anymore. In fact, American computer scientist, futurist, and entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil believes that humanity will be able…

Even as I write this article, Bitcoin has already made history by reaching a new all-time high of USD 106,000, breaking its previous high that it reached on December 5th, 2024. Clearly, Bitcoin’s position in the fast-changing cryptocurrency world is being cemented like that of no other cryptocurrency. One of the factors being attributed to the crypto’s phenomenal surge to the USD 100K mark is the “Bitcoin Halving” event, which took place in April 2024. Basically, Bitcoin Halving, which takes place once every four years, slashes the rate of creation of new coins, often boosting their price. As the Bitcoin…

American computer scientist and professor Alan Perlis famously said that a year spent in AI (artificial intelligence) was enough to make one believe in God… It might be a little too (uncomfortably) close to the truth, considering that now questions are arising about the societal and ethical implications of AI. However, there is no denying that AI also has the potential to transform healthcare and well-being. We are talking specifically about the Safe Delivery App, a training and learning tool and a job aid, all combined into one, for midwives and other healthcare professionals. Backstory A major chunk of all…

What if Rick and Evelyn from the “Mummy” movie series or Indiana Jones had been able to use artificial intelligence (AI)? We imagine they would have spent a lot less time struggling to decipher texts, quickening their pace of discovering tombs, ancient sites, and whatnot… What if we were to tell you that AI is now being deployed to unearth buried truths and hidden secrets? For instance, a University of Basel team has been conducting landscape research, in collaboration with the Graubünden Archaeological Service, in the Crap Ses area of Switzerland since 2021. The objective? To unearth a Roman battlefield…

Technology and nature make for strange bedfellows, each seemingly divergent with respect to the other. However, nature conservationists have been employing technology to aid their vital work for a long time now… In 2022, a Wildlabs.net report identified artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the top three emerging technologies in the field of wildlife conservation, helping protect species globally. It might seemingly look like techno-solutionism, but its timing could not be better. We are in a very crucial era, facing increasingly complex ecological challenges to protect our biocultural heritage and the natural world. Species Distribution and Conservation Some of the…

In the last week of September 2024, millions of Instagram users posted certain text to their accounts. The idea? To avoid the plague of artificial intelligence (AI) online… “Goodbye Meta AI”, the message said, referring to the social media giant’s parent company, before continuing along the lines of users not giving Meta or anyone else permission to use any of their photos, profile information, or personal data, with everyone who was anyone posting and sharing it. However, in their eagerness to combat the so-called AI encroachment, they all seemed to forget the fact that merely sharing memes or messages would…

Everybody wants a piece of the pie – the Pi Network, that is. This decentralized cryptocurrency project, which was developed by a team of Stanford graduates in 2019, allows users to mine crypto on their very smartphones. The objective of the mobile-first concept is to make crypto more accessible and appealing to the masses, especially a broader audience that is new to the blockchain world. While the idea to democratize currency sounds exciting, how do you go about doing that? Are you eligible? Are there any risks? What do you do with your Pi coins? This article attempts to answer…

Even ahead of its public Mainnet launch, the Stanford-developed Pi cryptocurrency has been hailed for potentially revolutionizing mobile mining… With users directed to complete their migration to the beta Mainnet before November 30, 2024, the excitement is palpable as everyone gears up for the Mainnet launch. With its Pi cryptocurrency, the Pi network with its Pi cryptocurrency has risen at an eye-watering pace to disrupt the crypto landscape with its innovative, user-centric security and mobile mining model, sparking enthusiasm among millions. Looking at the ongoing craze, it would not be too far-fetched to claim that the network could very well…

Spending on cybersecurity increased exponentially in the past 10 years and is showing no signs of slowing… Spending in the cybersecurity industry was a whopping USD 80 billion in 2023 alone, with the number projected to cross USD 87 billion by the end of 2024. Despite this staggering investment, hackers are still exploiting vulnerabilities, and intercepting network, application, and device communications. In fact, cybercrime is expected to inflict damages worth nearly USD 10.5 trillion by 2025, according to a Cybersecurity Ventures report. Nowadays, attacks are state-of-the-art, outwitting all traditional security methods including cryptography, key management, authentication, and even privacy challenges.…

For years, we have played video games at home on our computers or consoles — and interruptions have been a part of our gaming lives… If you have ever been in a heated game of Halo and have had to pause the game or turn it off and then start over, then maybe it is time to get onto “Cloud Gaming”. The term might have seemed completely foreign a decade ago, but the premise is quite simple. Imagine if you could play any game on any device, wherever you want and whenever you want, as long as you have a…