Could AI help make your clothes?

Hello and welcome back to New Scientist’s weekly run-down of the best stories in science and technology. This week we delve into the mysteries of time, examine the promise of life-extending therapy, and get a rare glimpse of the Chinese space station. But first – got an outfit you fancy?

AI can figure out sewing patterns from a single photo of clothing

Whenever we write about artificial intelligence, it always seems there is a trade off between speeding up and assisting work, versus taking people’s jobs and exploiting their skills. So it is with this AI, which can create a sewing pattern for any item of clothing. Its makers hope it will aid garment manufactures, but others have expressed concern about putting pattern cutters out of a job.

Physicists find ultimate limit for how accurate clocks can be

I’m fascinated by the science of time, so this was a great read. It turns out that that there is a fundamental trade-off between how accurate you can make a clock, and how short the “ticks” can be. It’s a slightly thorny question of theoretical thermodynamics, but it could also have real-world implications for quantum computers.

A new way to estimate our maximum lifespan could help us extend it

Speaking of time, how long have you got left? It might be longer than you think, thanks to research showing a link between certain epigenetic markers in the genome of mammals, and their maximum lifespan. We’re far from having a life extension therapy ready to use, but the idea is that tweaking these markers may in turn let people live longer.

More from New Scientist

• This is a fantastic picture of the Chinese space station Tiangong, taken by a spacecraft returning to Earth
• Our magazine cover story this week is all about axions, mysterious particles that could solve many of physicists’ problems with the universe
• If you are a New Scientist subscriber, get ready to celebrate in style as we review the biggest stories of the year at an exclusive event on 12 December. And if you’re not yet a subscriber, you still have time to catch our amazing Black Friday offer.

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Jacob Aron, News Editor