Photo Credit: GGD News
The GGD Hit List is a weekly, curated list of discoveries in tech and science. For this edition, we rounded up news in everything from a possible cure for HIV to a new time zone. Here are the top innovation headlines for this week:
1.Google Releases Imagen 3, a Free Image Generator
After publishing a research paper on it, Google has finally released Imagen 3, an AI text-to-image generator. The free tool is available to users in the United States via AI Test Kitchen, a lab that lets you experiment and preview Google’s latest creative AI tech. Go ahead, play around—write a prompt and create an image here.
Photo Credit: Imagen 3, Google
2. Milestone Moment: Doctors Cure Seventh Patient of HIV
A man in Germany has been cured of HIV, making him the seventh patient in the world to be healed of the virus. A team of doctors administered a stem cell transplant to the patient at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Europe’s largest university hospital. The anonymous patient first tested positive for HIV in 2009. He received the stem cell transplant in 2015 when he became diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). According to the medical team, since the patient stopped receiving antiviral therapy in 2018, he is considered cured. “The virus-free observation period of more than five years now indicates that the HIV virus has actually been completely removed from the patient’s body,” said Dr. Olaf Penack, senior physician at the treating hospital, in a statement. “We therefore consider him to be cured of his HIV infection.” The groundbreaking announcement comes just ahead of the International AIDS Conference.
Photo Credit: National AIDS Trust
3. OpenAI is Testing Voice Engine, a Synthetic AI Voice Tool
The makers of ChatGPT have created Voice Engine, an AI voice cloning tool. Voice Engine only requires a 15 second sample to generate natural-sounding, emotive speech. The replicated, synthetic audio has many applications; everything from assisting people with speech impairments or learning disabilities to expanding creative audio media like podcasts and books. OpenAI first developed Voice Engine in 2022, but has opted for a slow, cautious roll out due to ethical concerns. Currently, Voice Engine is being used with several organizations like Age of Learning, an education tech company. These “trusted” partnerships serve as both a preview and a sort of testing phase to see how synthetic voice technology works with diverse population segments.
Photo Credit: OpenAI x GGD News
4. Introducing CLT: A New Time Zone Created for the Moon
In April, the White House directed NASA to develop a standard time zone for the moon by the end of 2026. It is expected to be named ‘Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT).’ The moon is roughly 56 microseconds ahead of terrestrial Earth. This month, scientists in Colorado came up with a possible solution (floating clocks in space), published in Astronomical Journal. Official details for CLT have yet to be released by NASA, but the public directive is a clear indication of plans to expand commercial space travel and establish a more permanent presence on the moon.
Photo Credit: NASA
5. RealMe Develops ‘World’s Fastest’ Charger
In less than five minutes, the “320W SuperSonic” charger can fully refresh a phone battery. Chinese consumer tech giant RealMe, demonstrated exactly how their innovation powers up at their headquarters in Shenzhen. See the announcement here.
Photo Credit: RealMe x GGD News
Which tech/science update from the GGD Hit List makes you excited? Let us know in the comments below!
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