'Toad-proofing' farms could help stop the march of invasive pest

To date, the main role of AI in scientific research has been to assist with narrow tasks such as discovering chemical structures, analyzing data or predicting protein shapes. But now, the technology has broken new ground with a fully AI-generated paper passing peer review at a major machine-learning conference workshop.

Many aromatic compounds, such as phenols, cresols and styrenes, are toxic to organisms and harmful to the environment. They can accumulate as a result of industrial processes and harm ecosystems. Soil bacteria can help to break them down.

A new Northwestern study surveying federal judges across the U.S. on their use and outlook on artificial intelligence in and outside of the courtroom found that more than 60% of judges who responded reported using at least one AI tool in their judicial work. While judges reported broad adoption of AI tools, only 22.4% of judges reported using AI tools on a weekly or daily basis.

In quantum technologies, everything depends on the ability to detect the properties carried by a single photon. But in the real world, that photon of interest is often buried in a sea of unwanted light—a true "needle in a haystack" challenge that currently limits the deployment of many applications, including secure quantum communication, quantum sensors used in telescope networks, as well as the interconnection of quantum computers to accelerate the development of new drugs and materials.