From a meatball made from woolly mammoth DNA to an AI robot that harvests tea, here’s this week’s news in 15 photos.
A meatball made from flesh cultivated using the DNA of an extinct woolly mammoth was presented at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam on March 28, 2023. The exhibit has sparked both curiosity and controversy, with some hailing it as a significant breakthrough in genetic engineering, while others criticize it as an unnecessary exploitation of extinct species.
The meatball is a result of a joint project by a team of scientists and food researchers who extracted the DNA from a well-preserved mammoth carcass discovered in Siberia. The DNA was then used to cultivate muscle cells grown into meat in a laboratory. The meatball has been touted as a potential solution to the growing demand for meat while reducing the environmental impact of livestock farming.
The exhibit has raised ethical concerns regarding the exploitation of extinct species and the creation of so-called "Frankenfoods." Supporters argue that the project is a vital step towards exploring new possibilities in genetic engineering, including the potential to bring back extinct species. The debate surrounding the mammoth meatball will likely continue, highlighting the growing intersection between science, technology, and ethics in the modern world.
Tragedy in Nashville
On March 27, three students and three adults were killed by a 28-year-old shooter at the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville. “Our community is heartbroken,” the Covenant School said in a statement Tuesday. “We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church.
Students from the nearby Harpeth Hall School pray while visiting a memorial at the entrance of the Covenant School in Nashville, on March 29, 2023.
Cheney Orr / Reuters
chAI
With AI being in the news for everything from impersonating Kendrick Lamar to a fabricated image of Pope Francis in a white puffer jacket, the technology can actually have some handy practical applications. In China, a solar-powered AI-operated robot has been used to harvest tea leaves. Using two robotic arms, the machine searches for tea buds and uses clippers and a suction attachment to collect the tea leaves. AI enables it to identify leaves that are ready for picking.
“The technology is called deep learning in artificial intelligence. We need to first take many photos to tell the machine which targets it can pick, and when the photos are enough, the machine will learn by itself. The technology is also constantly improving,” said one of the robot’s developers.
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The solar-powered robot uses AI technology to gather tea sprouts with automatic optical identification. |
More from around the world
At least 26 people were killed earlier this week by a tornado in Mississippi, which cut power and destroyed buildings. It also brought golf ball–sized hail and 170 mph winds. The town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, was basically leveled, with surreal images of the disaster being shared on social media. President Joe Biden toured the ravaged area on March 31, saying the federal government is “not leaving” until the area is stable.
March 30 marked Opening Day for the MLB, and in the Bronx, the Yankees crushed the San Francisco Giants 5–0. Before the game, the Yankees released a photo of rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe, who made his major league debut and greeted his team with a huge grin.
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