Latest news with #JayChang
South China Morning Post
11-04-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Denisovans first discovered in Russia reached Taiwan Strait, fossil gene evidence suggests
In a groundbreaking discovery that may rewrite the map of human prehistory, fossilised genetic evidence has revealed that Denisovans – an elusive sister species to Neanderthals – ventured far beyond their Siberian origins, reaching the subtropical shores of the Taiwan Strait. Advertisement Published in Science journal on Friday, the identification of a male Denisovan jawbone aged 130,000–190,000 years from the seabed in Taiwan's Penghu Channel marks the first direct proof of their presence in the region, shattering assumptions about their geographic limits. The fossil, dubbed Penghu 1, not only underscores these archaic humans' astonishing adaptability to diverse climates – from frigid Siberian caves to balmy Southeast Asian coastlines – but also strengthens the genetic link between Denisovans and modern Asian populations, who today carry a DNA legacy from these forebears. The fossilised mandible of a male Denisovan, an extinct archaic human, discovered at the Penghu Channel off the coast of Taiwan. Photo: Chun-Hsiang Chang and Jay Chang/Handout As the farthest-reaching Denisovan fossil ever found, Penghu 1 challenges classical migration narratives and shows how these ancient cousins shaped humanity's evolutionary story. Last year, National Science Review reporters posed a sharp and vital question to Svante Paabo, recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for groundbreaking discoveries in the field of ancient human genomes and human evolution: 'What could be the next breakthrough in ancient human genomics?' The professor's answer was very concise: Denisova hominin. Advertisement The Denisova hominin is an enigmatic relative of modern humans.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Google used the Gemini API and AI Studio to make the I/O 2025 puzzle
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Google revealed the date of I/O 2025 last week with an interactive puzzle game. Later, it shared that key parts of the game were made using the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. Google says leveraging AI to build the game saved time creating things that otherwise could've been done manually. By now, you probably know that Google I/O 2025 — the company's annual developer conference — is happening May 20 and May 21, 2025 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. The company announced as much last week, by way of a fun puzzle game with lasers, prisms, and mirrors. But you might not know that Google used the Gemini API and the Google AI Studio to make the "Save the date" puzzle for the first time this year. Google created secret levels for the puzzle game this year for the most passionate completionists out there. When a puzzle is loading, the Gemini API adds a secret tile on the game's board and presents a clever riddle to help players find it. You'll need to solve these Gemini-created riddles to unlock the bonus levels. Google says this kind of thing is something it could've manually coded, but the Gemini API and Google AI Studio helped it save time. "Google AI Studio helped us integrate the feature faster in a unique, creative way," said Jay Chang, a senior product marketing manager at Google, in a blog post. "We programmatically generated the prompts for Gemini 1.5 Flash, using code, and then let it get creative in how it crafted the riddles." It's a unique preview of what can be done with the Gemini API and Google AI Studio to save app developers time while creating new experiences. It's also very fitting for the Google I/O 2025, since the event's main focus is to help developers learn and try the new APIs and AI features Google introduces each year. That's what I/O is all about — it's not really for the average Android user. There's also a bit of deeper meaning behind Google's choice of lasers and mirrors, beyond looking like the "I" and "O" in Google I/O. 'Prisms and mirrors are integral tools in quantum computing, used to manipulate and analyze light and quantum states," explained Kacey Fahey, a Google senior product marketing manager. "This year's puzzle design was inspired by these concepts, challenging players to use reflections and refractions to solve complex puzzles." You can still replay the Google I/O 2025 puzzle game here, as you wait for the developer conference to start in late May. You can register for Google I/O 2025 here.
