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Model-stumping benchmark shows human experts remain on top—for now
Researchers probe volcanoes’ response to a changing world
Urgent action underway to bolster treatments and prevent dangerous microbes from spilling across borders
Study participants rated fictional scientists who admitted their own knowledge gaps as more credible.
Neighbouring cells bolster the immune cells’ tumour-fighting abilities.
The only continent where amber had not been found no longer has that distinction, thanks to a sediment core drilled just offshore.
Relatively warm regions of the object called Makemake could also be explained by a dusty planetary ring.
THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR (December 2, 2024): The latest issue features ‘From Atop The Magic Mountain’ – One-Hundred years later, Thomas Mann’s epic remains as prophetic as ever.
Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, published a century ago, tells of a world unable to free itself from the cataclysm of war By Samantha Rose Hill
Many of us do not go gentle into that good night
Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil
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A multifunctional metamaterial can change shape and steer light simultaneously
Footprints in Kenya show that hominin bipedalism had a complex evolutionary history
Stimulating certain brain cells in mice seems to ease anxiety without causing hallucination-like effects.
A pall of smoke from burning cropland each year decreases rainfall in the annual monsoon.
Understanding how human neurons cope with the energy demands of a large, active brain could open up new avenues for treating neurological disorders.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to scrutinize proven vaccines and slash staff at research and regulatory agencies
$1 billion SinoProbe II will map the depths with drill rigs and instrument arrays
NEW HUMANIST MAGAZINE – WINTER 2024/2025 ISSUE: The new issue features ‘Our Cyborg Future?’
Neurobiologist and journalist Moheb Costandi explores the rapidly-developing world of brain-computer interfaces. For some people, these devices are already transforming lives – but the technology is quickly overtaking the ethics.
Peter Ward unpicks the dark philosophy of the tech billionaires and how it is infiltrating some of our most powerful organisations.
A recent film, The Substance, explored the growing pressure on all of us – particularly women – to modify our bodies, not only through make-up and cosmetic procedures but also through digital filters. Clare Chambers, professor of political philosophy at the University of Cambridge, talks to us about the power of resistance and allowing our bodies to be “good enough”.
Peter Salmon recounts the bizarre history of blood transfusion – and why the super-rich remain fascinated by its possibilities.
The Economist (November 21, 2024): AI is driving a transformation across all fields of science, from developing drugs for incurable diseases and improving the understanding of animal communication to self-driving labs.
Video timeline: 00:00 – How AI is revolutionising science 02:53 – Drug discovery 04:31 – AlphaFold 05:30 – Adoption of AI in science 07:08 – Animal communication 09:26 – Scientific fraud 11:03 – Self-driving labs 14:36 – Future of AI in science
Could this prompt a new golden age of discovery? Video supported by @mishcon_de_reya
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An immune cell treatment that fights cancer is now taking aim at autoimmune disease
Piecing together the body’s cellular puzzle
Oil palm plantations replace diverse tropical forests with monocultures, but restoration can bring biodiversity and ecosystem services back to these highly modified landscapes.
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Analysis of billions of pages of results from searches using the Bing algorithm suggests that reliable sites appear in search results 19 to 45 times more often than do sites with low-quality content.
Satellite observations validate national reports on forest coverage and carbon storage.
Elderly big brown bats showed little sign of age-related degradation in the inner ear.
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