2023-08-15 14:58:20
par Matthias Bertrand
posted on Tuesday August 15th, 2023 at 4:58 PM •
4 min read
Algorithms powered by artificial intelligence are still scary, but there are areas where they can make valuable allies. This is the case for example in astronomy, where their ability to take into account innumerable data can allow us to detect dangers that had slipped through the meshes of a first net.
Why is this important?
The current enthusiasm for AI is accompanied by a wave of fear about the possible negative consequences of such a technological revolution. These vary from a simple stock market crash to the real end of the world, depending on the whistleblowers you listen to. There has even been talk of the “Oppenheimer moment” in the development of artificial intelligence. But if the parallel with nuclear power is relevant, it is also to remind us that AI is a tool that we can also use wisely.
In the news : for the first time, an AI-fed algorithm has discovered a “potentially dangerous” asteroid for our planet.
The space pebble in question was baptized 2022 SF289, and it is a good size: 180 meters long. However, its trajectory passes about 225,000 km from our planet, which may seem like a lot, but it is equivalent to “grazing” us while passing between the Earth and the Moon. It was therefore classified as PHA: Potentially Hazardous Asteroid. It should be noted in passing that it is nearly three times larger than its congener which brushed past our planet last July and which was only detected later by NASA. 2022 SF289 does not pose a short-term danger to our planet, but it is worth keeping an eye on. Where it is special, however, is that it is the first asteroid discovered by an artificial intelligence.
The paternity of the discovery goes to HelioLinc3D, a program developed for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction in northern Chile. Its mission will be to probe the surroundings of our planet in search of celestial bodies, in particular PHAs. His AI auxiliary has obviously proven itself.
“By demonstrating the real effectiveness of the software that Rubin will use to search for thousands of yet unknown potentially dangerous asteroids, the discovery of 2022 SF289 makes us all safer. »
Ari Heinze, researcher at Vera C. Rubin, in a statement
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, once built, will embark on a 10-year mapping mission, and it is estimated that this new beacon in space will locate up to 3,000 as yet unknown PHAs. But this does not mean that the algorithm is out of work by then: it can train by sifting through old data, such as that of the ATLAS project at the University of Hawaii, funded by NASA and which already has four telescopes (two on the island and two in Chile), to serve as an asteroid warning system. The AI has therefore proven that it can still find positive results within older observations. And if none of the potentially dangerous asteroids identified are considered an immediate danger for the next 100 years recalls Space.comwe probably only know a part of their workforce.
1692112822
#warnings #impending #apocalypse #avoid #protecting #planet #Business