Tech Magic Around the World
SciTechDaily - 14.09.25
From Sci-Fi to Reality: New Breakthrough Could Bring Holograms to Your Phone
Researchers combined OLEDs with metasurfaces to project holograms. The method enables simpler, cheaper, and smaller displays. New research from the University of St Andrews is advancing holographic technology, with potential applications in smart devices, communication, gaming, and entertainment.
🌟 Holograms on Phones! Scientists found a way to make holograms, which are 3D images that float in the air, using tiny screens called OLEDs.
💡 Tiny Light Tricks They mix OLEDs with special layers called metasurfaces, which are super thin and bend light to make pictures appear like magic.
💰 Cheaper and Smaller This new method is easier, smaller, and cheaper than the old laser way, so one day phones and games could show cool 3D images.
🎮 Fun Uses Holograms could be used for gaming, virtual reality, phones, and even cool science tools like microscopes.
🖼️ One Pixel Magic A single tiny OLED pixel can now make a whole hologram, which was impossible!
🌟 Google’s new app Gemini became the most downloaded on the Play Store, beating ChatGPT, because of its super fun Nano Banana AI tool.
🍌 The Nano Banana AI lets kids and grown-ups create and edit pictures, turning them into cool 3D-like figurines or mixing styles like magic.
📱 Gemini connects with Google tools like Gmail, Docs, and Slides, making it easy to write, edit, and create right inside the apps people already use.
🎨 In just 2 weeks, people made and edited more than 500 million pictures with Nano Banana, making it go viral on social media.
💰 The app is free for up to 100 pictures a day, but subscribers paying monthly can make 1,000 pictures daily, giving even more creative power
Fun Fact:
The first hologram was created in 1947, but it took until 1971 for someone to make a hologram you could see with regular white light! And did you know that "Nano Banana" got its funny name because the AI can make pictures so small they're measured in nanometers,that's a billion times smaller than a meter!
Robots, Internet Highways, and Super Tech
👟 Robots raced, played football, and even tennis in Beijing, during the World Humanoid Robot Games, with 280 teams from 16 countries.
🌍 Robots came from all over the world, like the USA, Germany, Brazil, and China, making the games feel like a global event.
😂 Some robots made everyone laugh by tripping, tumbling, or collapsing mid-race, but others wowed the crowd by standing up again.
📊 The event wasn't just funny, it helped scientists learn more about robots, so they can be smarter, and more useful in the future.
🤖 These games show how fast technology is growing, and one day robots might play sports and help humans in everyday life.
🌊 Big internet cables under the Red Sea got cut, and this made the internet slower in parts of Asia and the Middle East.
🛰️ These cables are like giant undersea “highways” that help computers talk to each other, along with satellites and land cables.
⚓ Sometimes ships’ anchors or accidents can break the cables, but people also worry about them being attacked on purpose.
⏳ Fixing these cables takes a long time, because special ships have to find the broken parts deep under the water.
🌍 Even though the internet slowed down, most countries found other routes to keep people online, so everyone wasn’t completely cut off.
Fun Facts!
- The first robot competition ever held was the "Micro Mouse" contest in 1977, where small robot mice had to find their way through a maze. Today's robot competitions are much more advanced, with robots that can do backflips and even tell jokes!
- Undersea cables carry 99% of international data traffic, not satellites as many believe
- A single cable can cost up to £500 million to install and maintain
- Cable repair ships are specially equipped with robotic submarines for deep-sea fixes
BBC Newsround - 15.08.25
Giant new data centres to open across the UK
Have you ever wondered how the apps on your phone, the online games you play or the streaming services you watch movies on actually work? Well, the answer is data centres - giant warehouses full of powerful computers - and the UK is about to get a lot more of them.
🖥️ Data centres are giant warehouses full of powerful computers that store and send information for games, videos, apps, and websites.
🇬🇧 The UK has almost 500 data centres, and about 100 more will be built in the next five years because of AI.
💧 Computers get very hot, so data centres use lots of water and big fans to keep them cool.
⚡ They run all day and night, using huge amounts of electricity, which can make energy bills higher.
🌱 People worry about the environmental impact, so the government is investing in better water and energy systems.
🛠️ Engineers in China wanted to build underground tunnels and shops but needed to keep old, special buildings safe.
🤖 Tiny robots helped! They were small but super strong, lifting heavy buildings without breaking them.
📐 First, the team made a 3D map of the site to plan exactly how to move the buildings.
🚶♂️ 432 little "walking" robots slowly carried the buildings to a safe spot, moving only a few feet each day.
🏠 After the underground work was done, the robots carefully moved the buildings back, showing how tech can save history!
Fun Fact
The world's largest data centre is the China Telecom Data Centre in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, which spans over 10.7 million square feet—equivalent to about 185 football fields!
Growing Up With AI
🌱AI keeps changing, so you need to keep learning new things all the time. Be curious, ask questions, and practice every day.
🤝Big AI projects need lots of people working together. Share ideas, listen to others, and solve problems as a team.
⚖️ AI must be used in ways that are fair and safe. Make sure it doesn't treat people unfairly or use others' work without permission.
🛡️ Use AI tools the right way to protect secrets and important information. Don't use random AI programs that could be risky.
🚀 AI will be everywhere in jobs when you grow up. Learning about it now will help you do amazing things later.
🧠 Some people think A.I. like ChatGPT will ruin college classes because students can use it to write papers and skip learning.
🤖 Some teachers even use A.I. themselves, which can make it feel like robots are just talking to robots!
📚 About 100 professors from all over the country are changing how they teach so students actually learn and enjoy the work.
👩🏫 These teachers give more hands-on and in class activities so students can't just let A.I. do all the work.
💡 They believe A.I. is here to stay, so they're making creative lessons that help students think, work together, and build real life skills.
Fun Fact:
- The term "Artificial Intelligence" was first coined in 1956 at a workshop at Dartmouth College! The scientists who created the term were optimistic that machines could simulate every aspect of human intelligence, but it took over 60 years of research to get to the AI systems we have today.
- Before computers and AI, there was the "teaching machine" invented by psychologist B.F. Skinner in the 1950s! These mechanical devices presented questions to students and gave immediate feedback on their answers, an early form of the personalized learning that modern educational technology aims to provide.
Labla - 26.07.25
AI Humor Showdown: Grok, ChatGPT, or Gemini – Who Takes the Comedy Crown?
A lighthearted, yet highly anticipated, competition is underway in the world of artificial intelligence: which AI is the funniest? A recent informal “joke-off” pitted leading language models Grok, ChatGPT, and Gemini against each other, offering a glimpse into the evolving sense of humor of these advanced systems.
😀 A big funny contest happened between three smart robots: Grok, ChatGPT, and Gemini to see who tells the best jokes!
🤖 Grok told jokes about robots and computers, like ladders and clocks.
😂 ChatGPT made jokes about people, like jobs, bosses, and even flamingos!
😎 Gemini told silly jokes about the contest itself and made fun of the other robots.
🏆 No one really won they were all funny in different ways, and now robots are getting better at making us laugh!
🤖 A girl named Mia Zelu looks real on Instagram, but she’s not a real person, she was made by a computer using AI.
📸 AI can now make super real pictures and videos that trick people into thinking they’re real.
😲 Lots of people followed Mia online (over 165,000!) because they didn’t know she was fake.
🚨 Experts say fake AI pictures can cause problems, like spreading lies or making people go to places that don’t exist.
🏷️ Many people want AI pictures and videos to be clearly labelled so everyone knows what’s real and what’s fake.
Fun Fact:
- AI systems like these are trained on millions of jokes to understand humor, but they still sometimes create their own unique jokes that humans have never heard before!
- Some AI-generated influencers have even signed real advertising deals with big companies, earning money just like human influencers do!