A team from the University of Exeter is bringing A.I. into the fight against Asian hornets, which prey on native species, threatening agriculture. Researcher Thomas O'Shea-Wheller says unlike traditional trapping, the AI system is a monitoring station which identifies the species with more accuracy and without harm.

Exeter

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

A research team at the University of Exeter is incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in the battle against invasive Asian hornets, which pose a significant threat to native species and agriculture. The Asian hornets are notorious for preying on indigenous species, thereby creating an imbalance in the ecosystem and potentially harming agricultural productivity. The team, including researcher Thomas O'Shea-Wheller, is deploying an AI-based monitoring station specifically designed to identify these invasive hornets more accurately.

Unlike traditional methods of combating invasive species, which often involve trapping and potentially harming non-target species, this AI solution aims to identify Asian hornets without causing damage to other species. The technology focuses on precise identification, thus minimizing the impact on the environment and native wildlife. This innovation represents a significant step forward in the use of technology for environmental protection and agricultural safety.



A.I. joins the fight against invasive Asian hornets

This is the invasive Asian hornet, but would you be able to idea it from a glance? The species has been wreaking havoc across the globe, preying on native pollinators like honeybees. And they've been getting away with it because they're often misidentified for other species. That's where the University of Exeter's new AI-driven system comes in. It allows users to spot the hornets with remarkable accuracy, and helps save local species along the way. The system is called VESP-AI. The way VESP-AI works is, it's not so much a trap as it is a sort of passive bait or monitoring station. Thomas O'Shea Weller is one of the researchers behind it. It has this liquid hornet attractant, which is made with sugar and fermented fruit compounds, which attracts hornets, wasps, and there's even a camera mounted above it, which takes images of these insects so that then the AI can watch all of these images and identify what insects it's seeing with a specific lookout for Asian hornets. Once the hornet is identified, whoever is operating the system is sent an email or text alert. The team says catching the hornet's arrival early is crucial to prevent an invasion. If this narrow window is missed, the production of new queens can occur, and a population will likely establish. Currently, the UK relies on the public to report Asian hornets. It's a laborious and limited method. Agencies have to manually validate thousands of images each year, most of which are misidentified. Traditional hornet trapping also ends up killing a lot of native insects. Hornet traps, although they're designed to attract hornets, tend to kill more native pollinators than they do catch hornets, whereas VespAI is just a camera and some food, so it's not harming anything and having no ecological impact as it searches for the hornets. So far, VespAI has been tested on the island of Jersey off the coast of France, where it's successfully distinguished between Asian and European hornets, as well as other insects. As more and more sightings in the UK occur, the team says they plan on deploying additional prototypes. So what we're trying to do with the VespAI system is really bring a completely automated process, so a monitor that can be awake the whole time, vigilant the whole time, and that doesn't require human input to be constantly checking for incursions of the hornets.

Budget airline Bonza has gone into voluntary administration cancelling flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. The low-cost carrier only began flying last year.

Sunshine Coast

Budget airline Bonza goes into administration causing chaos

A 17-year-old girl charged with the stabbing murder of her 10-year-old sister in a suburb of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales will remain in custody.

Lake Macquarie

Teenager faces court over murder of 10-year-old sister

A major investigation is continuing after a 32-year-old man was arrested over the death of a 19-year-old woman. The woman's bod was found at a unit on Hardy St, North Bondi.

Bondi

Man arrested after woman found dead in North Bondi

Columbia University began suspending pro-Palestinian activists who refused to dismantle a tent encampment on its New York City campus after the Ivy League school declared a stalemate in talks seeking to end the polarizing protest.

New York

Columbia University suspends pro-Palestinian protesters

The debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, United Nations sanctions monitors told a Security Council committee in a report seen by Reuters on Monday (April 29).

Kharkiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.N. experts say North Korea missile landed in Kharkiv

Columbia University's president said that talks with pro-Palestinian activists over a protest encampment on the Ivy League campus in New York City had reached an impasse and urged demonstrators to voluntarily disperse or face suspension.

Protesters defy deadline to leave Columbia encampment

Spain's Prime Minister said he has decided to stay in office after days of publicly weighing his future, generating relief amongst leftist allies, exasperation among the public and ridicule from his opponents. Sanchez said last week that he was retreating from public duty to decide whether to quit.

Madrid

Pedro Sanchez stays on as Spain's prime minister

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is hopeful Hamas will accept an “extraordinarily generous” offer, as U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron says it will include a 40-day ceasefire. But the sticking points remain: Israelis want a truce while Hamas demands a cessation of all hostilities.

Riyadh

Israel-Gaza War

U.S., U.K. urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal

G7 environment ministers have gathered in Turin for two days of talks, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the city, some burning photos of the G7 leaders who they accuse of failing future generations over the climate crisis.

Turin

Climate Crisis

Protesters call for climate action ahead of G7 meeting in Turin

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is in the Lebanese capital Beirut for talks aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. After meeting Lebanon’s influential Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, and the head of the Lebanese army, Joseph Aoun, Sejourne said there had been “a lot of progress” over the French proposals.

Beirut

French FM says ‘a lot of progress’ in Lebanon talks

At least four people are dead, including an infant, after a series of tornadoes swept across Oklahoma. The weather system is threatening the region with more twisters, heavy rain and large hail in a band stretching from Missouri to Texas.

Sulphur

At least four dead in Oklahoma tornadoes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she would stand in upcoming European Parliament elections, a move apparently calculated to boost her far-right party, although she would be forced to resign immediately under EU rules.

Pescara

Italian far-right PM Meloni says will stand in EU elections

At least four people died, including a four-month-old baby, in Oklahoma this weekend, after dozens of twisters swept the U.S. Southern Plains. The White House said, President Joe Biden has pledged federal support for Oklahoma as well as other states hit by severe storms.

Oklahoma

Deadly tornadoes rip through Oklahoma

The Sydney Bishop targeted in an alleged terror-related attack a fortnight ago has made a surprise appearance before his congregation in Western Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel saying he forgives his attacker, who is facing terrorism charges.

Wakeley

Sydney bishop returns to pulpit after stabbing

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed by protest leaders for his involvement in a protest against gendered violence in Canberra at the weekend. Organisers hitting out at the Labor leader on social media, calling him a 'liar'.

Canberra

Protest leaders hit out at Prime Minister over power 'abuse'

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "reiterated his clear position" on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah, the White House said.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Biden tells Netanyahu U.S. doesn't support Rafah assault

Ukraine's top general says his troops have been forced to retreat as fighting on the country's eastern front intensified. Kyiv's forces have fallen back to new positions in at least three places along the front, west of the Donetsk region.

Donetsk

Ukraine troops retreating on eastern front

Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on an unannounced visit, to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Shanghai

Elon Musk makes surprise visit to China

Hamas's armed wing released video of two men held hostage in Gaza who are seen alive and urging Israeli authorities to strike a deal for the release of all the remaining captives.

Rafah

Hamas releases video of two Israeli hostages

Defence Minister Richard Marles has revealed a fresh aid package to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, including $30 million in funding for drones. It marks more than one billion dollars in funding from Australia since the war began.

Lviv

Australia announces $100m in Ukraine aid

Tens of thousands of people have marched across the country calling for an end to violence against women. The Prime Minister addressed the crowd in Canberra where he called the issue a 'national crisis'.

Prime Minister joins rally calling for end to gendered violence

Israeli protesters have shut down streets in Tel Aviv demanding the release of hostages and the political end of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Anger has been growing inside Israel as the Gaza war drags on for more than 200 days.

Thousands block Tel Aviv streets in protest

After weeks of delays, negotiations, and distractions, Israel appears to be gearing up for its ground invasion in southern Gaza. Dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have been seen near Rafah, Gaza’s last 'safe zone'.

Israel 'gearing up' for Rafah ground offensive

Ohio police released video of a Black man who died at a local hospital after repeatedly telling officers "I can't breathe" as they pinned him to the floor of a bar and handcuffed him, evoking memories of the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Canton

'I can't breathe' man tells Ohio cops before death

Witnesses in Gaza reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight around Rafah. It comes as Hamas says it is considering an Israeli ceasefire proposal, after a delegation from Egypt arrived in Israel to resume stalled negotiations.

Sderot

Gaza hit by fresh strikes amid ceasefire talks

The US military has started building a large floating pier off Gaza's coast to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, the defence department has said. Ships will deliver aid from Cyprus to the pier where it will be loaded onto trucks to transfer across Gaza.

Jerusalem

US begins building floating base to boost aid

King Charles will return to his public duties next week for the first time since his February cancer diagnosis, visiting a cancer treatment centre. There fears his Australian trip will be delayed, while he continues treatment for his own cancer battle.

Windsor

King Charles resuming public duties but Australian trip in limbo

Demonstrations have taken place across the country after a spate of domestic violence deaths, including Molly Ticehurst. Protestors held signs saying ‘no more’ calling for immediate action against male-inflicted violence.

Council of the City of Sydney

Thousands rally across Australia against domestic violence

The Russian and Turkish flags were lowered to mark the closure of a center set up to monitor a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, as Russian peacekeepers ended a multi-year deployment in the strategic South Caucasus region.

Baku

Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire center closes as Russia withdraws

Britain's King Charles will return to public duties next week for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer as he makes good progress following treatment and a period of recuperation, Buckingham Palace said.

SEE THE FULL STORY

Rise of AI