|
Global
Edition - Today's top story: AI scam calls imitating familiar
voices are a growing problem – here's how they work View
in browser |
|
Global
Edition | 13 July 2023 | |
|
|
|
|
We’ve
probably all received phone calls from scammers, who push for
sensitive details they can use to siphon money from us. Many
of us are now alert to these grifts. Now imagine the voice at
the other end was not a stranger, but your partner, or your
child. If they were asking for money in an emergency, would
you be confident enough to hang up on them?
Advances
in artificial intelligence mean that “deepfake voice scams”
are already a problem and could become much more serious. This
is where recordings taken from social media are used to
“clone” someone’s voice. Criminals can then say anything they
want and make it sound like the person in question. An expert
explains
how the scams work and whether there’s anything we can do to
avoid being caught out.
Meanwhile,
Nato leaders have been meeting in Lithuania to discuss
Ukraine’s future within the alliance. Can studying
Nato’s history help steer decisions as members grapple with
one of the alliance’s biggest challenges since forming in
1949? |
 |
Paul Rincon
Commissioning Editor, Science, Technology
and Business | |
Oliver Buckley, University of East Anglia
AI
can generate a synthetic voice that sounds just like a loved
one. |
Jan Ruzicka, Aberystwyth University; Gerald
Hughes, Aberystwyth University
An
aggressive Soviet strategy in Europe prompted the formation of
Nato. |
|
|
-
Alejandro Cearreta, Universidad del País
Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Crawford
Lake in Ontario contains the record that best
identifies the beginning of the Anthropocene, the
geologic epoch characterized by the global impact of
human activity.
-
David Armstrong McKay, Stockholm
University
The
Pacific Ocean is entering the hot phase of its
temperature cycle, an event that will turbo-charge
global warming.
-
Ed Turner, Aston University
Far-right
party Alternative for Germany is leading opinion polls
in parts of the country and could pose a major threat
in regional contests that lie ahead.
-
Nic Rawlence, University of Otago; Felix
Georg Marx, Te Papa Tongarewa; Ludovic Dutoit,
University of Otago
Our
new genomic research finally solves a 150 years of
scientific mystery about the unusual and ancient pygmy
right whale.
-
Frances Williams, King's College London
A
recent study found that among people who were
overweight or obese, taking metformin during a COVID
infection reduced the risk of developing long COVID by
40%.
-
Justin Pearce, Stellenbosch University
The
sites provide a rare tangible record of the
international solidarity that existed during the Cold
War.
-
Anna Andrianova, Université Laval
Mindfulness,
through focused attention meditation, can help
overcome repetitive negative thinking, thus improving
mental and physical
health. | |
|
|
Juan Pérez Fernández, Universidade de Vigo;
Roberto de la Torre Martínez, Karolinska Institutet
Are
holidays really necessary, and why do we need them? And, above
all, what are the benefits of a few days off? This is what
science says. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
