London’s Gatwick airport is disrupted by drones. Russian scientists can train AI to hear like a human. And what’s it like to play games on a transparent television?
Trending on Twitter, London’s Gatwick Airport was forced to halt flights after drones were spotted flying over the airfield. As of last night in London, Gatwick was still advising passengers not to travel to the airport as a result. A message from CEO Stewart Wingate apologizes to passengers for the inconvenience. He also says the drone flights were designed to close the airport and cause disruption with the busy Christmas season. Beyond this closure, the airline industry is going to have to find a way to deal with drones. The British Airline Pilots Association reports 117 near misses between manned aircraft and drones up to November of this year, which is a 58 per cent increase over last year. There are a lot of anti-drone solutions that other airports have come up with that Gatwick could consider, including trained eagles. I don’t know how effective that would be, but it would be pretty cool.
Trending on Google, Russian scientists want to give artificial intelligence the ability of human hearing. According to the Business Standard, a team from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University has developed a way for a computer to distinguish one voice among many in a crowded room. The technique models the auditory nerve of mammals and the nervous system process for filtering information. The research could lead to better medical devices that restore hearing. Or maybe it will just make Alexa better at hearing your commands when you’re having a party.
Trending on Youtube, gaming on LG’s transparent OLED display. In this video, sponsored by LG, we get a look at what Doom and Assassin’s Creed look like on this clear TV screen. It’s certainly a unique effect, but I’m not sure why anyone really needs their living room. Here’s what Linus had to say about it: