🚁 World’s first licensed autonomous air taxi takes flight in Saudi Arabia, China’s nuclear arsenal growing ‘faster than any other country’, GPT-4 fools people during online conversations

Plus: Voyager 1 rises from the dead                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 June 18, 2024 | [Read Online]( Explore more of our exciting channels [Interesting Engineering]( [Military Mechanics]( [Crafty Engineers]( Saudi Arabia initiated the trial of its first autonomous air taxi flight service to transport Hajj pilgrims. The tests, conducted using a Chinese firm EHang’s EH216-S pilotless electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, are claimed to be the ‘world’s first air taxi to be licensed by a civil aviation authority’. On June 12, EHang showcased its two-seat autonomous aircraft in Mecca. The event was organized in collaboration with the company’s new local partner, Front End. For more on this development, check out today’s [Must-Read.]( 🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on [jobs.interestingengineering.com](: >[Â]([Software Engineer - Rendering Engine, PICO]( > [EMSO Systems Interface Engineer]( Reading Time: 4 mins Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? [Subscribe here.]( MUST-READ 🚁 World’s first licensed autonomous air taxi takes flight in Saudi Arabia According to Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, the president of GACA, the trial “marks a major advancement in integrating[Advanced Air Mobility solutions]( into Saudi Arabia’s aviation landscape,” said a statement by Ehang. In May, Ehang carried out a similar demonstration in [Abu Dhabi](. In addition to EH216-S, the EH216-F (for high-rise firefighting) and EH216-L (for aerial logistics) demonstrated their debut flights during the trial run. The trial moves Ehang one step closer to realizing its plan to start [commercial services]( in Saudia Arabia. The initial step involves obtaining GACA’s validation of its type certificates. ☢️ China’s nuclear arsenal growing ‘faster than any other country’: Report China is expanding its nuclear arsenal [faster than any other country]( on the globe, as per a recent report. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launched its [annual assessment]( of the state of armaments, disarmament, and international security on Monday. The SIPRI Yearbook 2024 reveals that the number and types of nuclear weapons in development have [increased substantially]( in the past year. 🤖 AI or human? GPT-4 fools people during online conversations GPT-4 models have surprised users due to their innate ability to gauge written prompts and fetch suitable responses in several languages. This quality of the bot seems to perplex most people, so much so that they can [hardly distinguish between a bot and a human](. This increased pandemonium caused the researchers at UC San Diego to address this dilemma. They ran the well-known [Turing test,]( named after renowned scientist Alan Turing. The test aimed to determine the extent to which a machine could possess an intelligence level like that of a human. The researchers published their findings on Cornell University’s arXiv server and concluded that people find it rather [difficult to differentiate]( between the GPT-4 model and a human agent when they interact with a bot. Love what you're reading, but too many emails? Sign up to IE+ to get Blueprint Weekly, our exclusive weekly premium newsletter that gives all the insights you love in a more digestible weekly format– plus, enjoy an Ad-Free experience on our website. Try IE+ today for just $1 in the first month. [Subscribe here]( HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY SCIENCE > Homo sapiens and Neanderthals split over 500,000 years ago to reunite later on. In analyzing the DNA of both species, scientists found the same basic genetic code, except the Neanderthal Y chromosome, which doesn’t seem to appear in homo sapien DNA. ([More]() > The London Underground is the site of the development and testing of a quantum compass that could potentially serve as a reliable replacement for the global positioning system (GPS). ([More]() > The four instruments on NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft are returning science data for the first time since a computer malfunction last November, as scientists hope to keep the mission operating for up to another decade. ([More]() ENERGY > Researchers at Concordia University in Quebec have developed a way to harvest energy from algae’s photosynthesis process, aiming to offer a sustainable energy source. 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Gear up for future IE quizzes by following us on [Instagram]( and [Facebook!]( FROM THE WEB > Grizzly-polar bear hybrids extremely rare but predicted to rise with global warming, say [scientists]( > All the games of Super Mario Bros. are unsolvable, a recent study [says]( > A fully edible robot could soon end up on our plate if we overcome some technical hurdles, say scientists involved in RoboFood—a project that aims to marry robots and [food]( > Aliens might be living among us disguised as humans, claims a Harvard [study]( > A team of Chinese archaeologists has hauled up more than 900 artifacts from two ancient shipwrecks in the South China [Sea]( > Cases of a dangerous and highly fatal bacterial infection have reached record levels in [Japan]( Additional Reads --------------------------------------------------------------- [⚙️ Mechanical:](Explore the wonders of mechanical engineering. [🛩️ Aerospace:]( The latest on propulsion, satellites, aeronautics, and more. 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