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Seeing used to be believing – but then came “deepfakes,” a method of using machine learning to create videos of people doing and saying things that never really happened. (You might have seen a recent deepfake of Barack Obama, voiced by comedian Jordan Peele.) Fortunately for those who still value objective reality, University at Albany computer scientist Siwei Lyu has found a weakness in deepfakes – and a way to identify them. He explains how it works, and, sadly, why it’s not a permanent fix.
As the cost of higher education continues to rise and colleges are called upon to do more with less, college presidents from Xavier University of Louisiana, Penn State and Colorado College weigh in with their top ideas on how to make college more affordable.
When sociologist Tey Meadow was interviewing parents for her new book about the challenges of raising gender-nonconforming kids, many expressed the same wish. They yearned for some foolproof way to tell if their child were trans, or simply growing into an adolescent gay identity. Some had read articles about kids who wanted to transition, only to change their minds. They worried the same thing could happen to their children. Meadow explains how this media coverage is misleading, counterproductive and damaging.
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It’s actually very hard to find photos of people with their eyes closed.
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Siwei Lyu, University at Albany, State University of New York
The new technology behind machine learning-enhanced fake videos has a crucial flaw: Computer-generated faces don't blink as often as real people do.
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Has the cost of higher education in the U.S. put college out of financial reach?
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Jill Tiefenthaler, Colorado College; Eric J. Barron, Pennsylvania State University; Reynold Verret,, Xavier University of Louisiana
As students head back to campus, the ever higher cost of a college education is once again top of mind. The presidents of Colorado College, Penn State and Xavier University weigh in on what's to be done.
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Self-knowledge rarely comes packaged in a single coherent narrative. Yet this is the expectation we have of the children in our lives.
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Tey Meadow, Columbia University
The signs might be there. But parents and clinicians will still wonder if there's some foolproof way to determine whether their children are actually trans. There isn't one – and that's okay.
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Luke Strotz, University of Kansas
Death is inevitable for individuals and also for species. With help from the fossil record, paleontologists are piecing together what might make one creature more vulnerable than another.
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Tim Logan, Texas A&M University
A weather expert explains where petrichor – that pleasant, earthy scent that accompanies a storm's first raindrops – comes from.
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Jessica Pierce, University of Colorado Denver
A growing body of evidence points to how animals are aware of death, can experience grief and will sometimes mourn for or ritualize their dead.
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