Latest news with #maps
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Google launched an AI model that functions like a virtual satellite. Here's how it works
Satellites orbiting Earth to gather images and measurements of land, forests, cities, and coastal waters have helped scientists understand our planet. However, since these images come from many different sources, it can be difficult to combine them into a single picture. Google's artificial intelligence (AI) unit, DeepMind, recently announced an AI model called AlphaEarth Foundations that can create highly detailed maps of our world in nearly real time. AlphaEarth Foundations functions like a 'virtual satellite' that maps the world 'at any place and time,' Christopher Brown, a research engineer at Google DeepMind, said at a press briefing in July. Related OpenAI drops ChatGPT-5. Here's why it matters 'Whether they are monitoring crop health, tracking deforestation, or observing new construction, [researchers] no longer have to rely on a single satellite passing overhead. They now have a new kind of foundation for geospatial data,' Google DeepMind wrote in a statement last month. The system combines trillions of images from dozens of public sources, including satellite images, radar scans, laser-based 3D mapping, and climate simulations. It maps the entire planet's terrestrial land and coastal waters. Google said the model can generate accurate enough data about an ecosystem down to an area of 10 square metres. Data from AlphaEarth Foundations takes up far less storage space than similar AI systems, which makes large-scale analysis more practical, the company said. During AlphaEarth Foundations's initial testing of data from 2017 to 2024, it beat similar AI models in identifying land use and estimating surface properties, with an average error rate that was 24 per cent lower, according to a paper published by DeepMind. Google hopes it will help researchers study changes across the planet for food security, deforestation, urban expansion, and water resources. Related ESA successfully launches Biomass, the satellite set to unlock the secrets of the world's forests Why scientists want this level of detail and how AI can help AlphaEarth Foundations is part of a growing trend in environmental science where AI turns the constant stream of satellite observations into practical tools for studying the Earth. High-resolution, regularly updated data help researchers measure environmental changes precisely and understand what is driving them. They can be used to track the effects of climate change, plan conservation, and manage resources like water and farmland. For example, in 2020, scientists at NASA and the University of Copenhagen mapped 1.8 billion individual tree canopies in the Sahel and Sahara regions of west Africa, using AI trained to recognise trees in satellite images. Without AI, this would have taken millions of people years to complete, according to the study authors. Since 2022, NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite has been taking high-definition measurements of oceans, lakes, reservoirs, and rivers over 90 per cent of the world's surface. Related SpaceX delivers four astronauts to the International Space Station just 15 hours after launch NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said it could observe water on Earth's surface with 10 times greater resolution than existing technologies. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA)'s EarthCARE satellite launched in 2024. It is studying how clouds and airborne particles in the atmosphere impact the Earth's temperature. Much of Google DeepMind's data also comes from long-running missions from NASA and ESA, such as the Landsat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellites and the Sentinel fleet, all of which monitor vegetation, coastlines, water bodies, snow, and ice. Google says its model has already been tested by more than 50 organisations around the world for ecosystem monitoring and urban planning. For example, an environmental initiative in Brazil known as MapBiomas is using AlphaEarth Foundations' data to better understand agricultural and environmental changes, including in the Amazon rainforest. The model's annual datasets have given the team 'new options to make maps that are more accurate, precise and fast to produce, something we would have never been able to do before,' said Tasso Azevedo, the founder of MapBiomas, in Google's statement. Google says it is releasing the dataset through Google Earth Engine, Google's environment data platform, to encourage further research.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Tech expert breaks down Instagram's new maps feature
Kurt 'CyberGuy' Knutsson discusses Instagram's new maps feature and more on 'Fox & Friends Weekend.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsom Says He Plans to Redraw California Congressional Map
The redistricting battle is intensifying with California Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing he will retaliate against Texas' partisan redraw of the U.S. House district maps with bluer maps of his own state's districts. It comes as Texas Republicans are raising the stakes against the Democrats who left the state to break quorum and stall the map. NBC's Ryan Chandler reports for Saturday TODAY. Solve the daily Crossword
WIRED
13-07-2025
- WIRED
The Garmin Forerunner 970 Celebrates Your Race Finish With You
It has 15 new sport profiles compared to the Forerunner 965, including things like Backcountry Snowboarding, Pickleball, and even some motor sports. The list isn't as extensive as the Fenix 8, though, which can track surfing and now works as a full-on dive watch for recreational scuba and freediving. It really feels like the lack is just to differentiate between the Forerunner and Fenix lines, because a software update could do it. Fortunately, the map features have been cribbed from the Fenix 8, and they're excellent. It comes with extensive topographical maps installed. The maps are colorful, bright, and easy to navigate by pinching and tapping. A new feature is Round Trip Routing, with corrections (theoretically). If you're in an unfamiliar city, you can tell the watch that you want to do a 5-mile run and it will suggest a loop for you. If you accidentally take a wrong turn or see some pretty thing you want to go check out, it will fluidly reroute you to get you back to your hotel while hitting your goal distance (within reason, of course). It's such a great idea, but I could never get it to work. If I went off the route, the whole watch would crash, and I had to power cycle it. Hopefully this is something Garmin can fix in a future software update (the updates come roughly once a month). On the upside, I found GPS performance to be accurate, even among trees, cliffs, and tall buildings. A Lot of Competition Photograph: Brent Rose It's worth mentioning that Garmin also launched the new, midrange Forerunner 570. It has a shorter battery life, less-premium materials (Gorilla Glass 3 vs. Sapphire, aluminum bezel vs. titanium), less memory at 8 GB vs. 32 GB, no built-in mapping, and no flashlight. You get the speaker and mic though, and there's the option of a 42 mm display instead of just 47 mm, which is nice for those with smaller wrists. With all that said, a lot of these features are available on the Fenix 8. The Fenix 8 has more expensive materials, like a full titanium body; some of the same hardware, like the mic and speaker, and better battery life. There are some features that aren't currently available, like Running Tolerance, but those are coming via a huge new software update that Garmin just announced. The Fenix 8 is way more expensive than the Forerunner 970, but it's also much older. If the Fenix 8 goes on sale, as it occasionally does, it's a no-brainer to get it instead. The Forerunner 970 is a premium watch with advanced features that will give you a lot of insight and assistance if you're trying to go pro, but it might be overkill if you're not and you occasionally like to surf instead.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The world will fall apart. The WHO is planning a sinister takeover. And these two countries will rule. Chilling warning from Living Nostradamus who predicted Covid and Queen's death
The image was stark, sinister and all too clear. There, amid a kaleidoscope of military maps, explosions and flashes of radiation, were two words: Cobalt Storm. Instinctively, I knew what this phrase signified. I knew its impact was already unfolding all around me, unseen but with profound consequences.
