31 October 2019: An AI masters the video game StarCraft II, and measuring arthropod abundance
Nature Podcast
podcast@nature.com
4.5 • 893 Ratings
🗓️ 30 October 2019
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, a computer beats the best human players in StarCraft II, and a huge study of insects and other arthropods.
In this episode:
00:45 Learning to play
By studying and experimenting, an AI has reached Grandmaster level at the video game Starcraft II.
Research Article: Vinyals et al.; News Article: Google AI beats experienced human players at real-time strategy game StarCraft II
10:08 Research Highlights
A record-breaking lightning bolt, and identifying our grey matter’s favourite tunes
Research Highlight: Here come the lightning ‘megaflashes’; Research Highlight: Why some songs delight the human brain
12:24 Arthropods in decline
Researchers have surveyed how land-use change has affected arthropod diversity.
Research article: Seibold et al.
18:30 News Chat
Young Canadians file a lawsuit against their government, an Alzheimer’s drug gets a second chance, and South Korean efforts to curb a viral epidemic in pigs.
News: Canadian kids sue government over climate change; News: Fresh push for ‘failed’ Alzheimer’s drug; News: South Korea deploys snipers and drones to fend off deadly pig virus
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Transcript
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