Artificial Intelligence | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/artificial-intelligence/RSS feed for Artificial IntelligenceenWed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000See the Scientific and the Mundane Become Surprisingly Dazzling When Viewed Through a Microscope, From Neurons to Ballpoint Penshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-scientific-and-the-mundane-become-surprisingly-dazzling-when-viewed-through-a-microscope-from-neurons-to-ballpoint-pens-180989721/The Nikon Small World Competition has announced its photography winners for its 52nd annual contest. This comes weeks after its video winner was dethroned for use of generative A.I.Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-scientific-and-the-mundane-become-surprisingly-dazzling-when-viewed-through-a-microscope-from-neurons-to-ballpoint-pens-180989721/A Vast New Database Shows How Britain Built a Global Empire by Trading Goods Like Coal, Wine and Wood Closer to Homehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-vast-new-database-shows-how-britain-built-a-global-empire-by-trading-goods-like-coal-wine-and-wood-closer-to-home-180989717/Using AI to comb through hundreds of thousands of handwritten pages of port records, historians have constructed an interactive map of Britain’s maritime trading routes. Even as it expanded in Asia and the Americas, Britain's commerce with Europe remained overwhelmingTue, 20 Oct 2026 18:34:12 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-vast-new-database-shows-how-britain-built-a-global-empire-by-trading-goods-like-coal-wine-and-wood-closer-to-home-180989717/African Elephants Often Produce Choruses of Low-Pitched Rumbles. Now, Scientists Are Using A.I. to Decode the Joint Vocalizationshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/african-elephants-often-produce-choruses-of-low-pitched-rumbles-now-scientists-are-using-ai-to-decode-the-joint-vocalizations-180989620/New research suggests the animals' overlapping calls serve as coordinated group messages and may contain additional information beyond what’s encoded in individual rumblesThu, 08 Oct 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/african-elephants-often-produce-choruses-of-low-pitched-rumbles-now-scientists-are-using-ai-to-decode-the-joint-vocalizations-180989620/Google Wants to Send Data Centers to Space—and Just Launched an Experimental Satellite to Test Whether Its Ambitious Plan Will Workhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/google-wants-to-send-data-centers-to-space-and-just-launched-a-satellite-to-test-whether-its-ambitious-plan-will-work-180989613/The tech giant aims to use the near-constant sunlight available in low-Earth orbit to power data centers. The experimental satellite, launched October 1, holds four computer chips that can run Google’s Gemini A.I. for 15 minutes at a timeFri, 02 Oct 2026 20:01:40 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/google-wants-to-send-data-centers-to-space-and-just-launched-a-satellite-to-test-whether-its-ambitious-plan-will-work-180989613/Anthropic Says Its A.I. Discovered a New Enzyme System That Resembles the Revolutionary Gene-Editing Tool CRISPRhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/anthropic-says-its-ai-discovered-a-new-enzyme-system-that-resembles-the-revolutionary-gene-editing-tool-crispr-180989578/Experts at the company don't know what the newfound system does, so its potential utility in biology—if any—remains unclear. But the work marks a major advancement because the A.I. made this discovery mostly on its ownTue, 29 Sep 2026 18:16:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/anthropic-says-its-ai-discovered-a-new-enzyme-system-that-resembles-the-revolutionary-gene-editing-tool-crispr-180989578/