AI is getting better at handling mathematical research lucadp/Getty Images Is an artificial intelligence revolution about to transform mathematics? Some prominent mathematicians think so, thanks to automated tools that can help write proofs suddenly showing impressive leaps in capability, with the potential to change the way maths research is done. Around 100 of the world’s…
The VaporID detector can find traces of fentanyl and other substances in the air Elizabeth Denis/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The US Customs and Border Protection agency is testing technology that sniffs out illegal substances in the air, no contact required. The device could screen objects at the border within seconds to help combat the trafficking…
CLIMATEWIRE | The catastrophic floods that struck central Texas on Friday show that accurate weather forecasts alone aren’t enough to save lives. The National Weather Service issued timely warnings in advance of the deadly floods, meteorologists say. But they emphasized that forecasts are only one piece of an effective response — local authorities must be…
Is the flash highlighted in blue a data glitch, or something more? Mario Rana Something may have just hit Saturn – and, if so, an amateur astronomer could hold the key to confirming the event, which would be the first ever recorded on the gas giant. About seven asteroids or comets are estimated to impact…
Why Did Waters Rise So Quickly in the Texas Flash Floods? Flash floods happen when heavy rains unleash more water than the ground can absorb, causing that water to pile up and flow to low-lying areas By Andrea Thompson edited by Dean Visser Two women survey the damage caused by flash flooding on the bank…
At around the age of 40, Maja Olecka’s friend suddenly found she could no longer handle her drink. Quantities of alcohol that she would have shrugged off in the past now knocked her for six. Her hangovers got much worse. Olecka’s friend certainly isn’t alone – when I was around that age, I heard similar…
A chatbot might not break a sweat every time you ask it to make your shopping list or come up with its best dad jokes. But over time, the planet might. As generative AI such as large language models (LLMS) becomes more ubiquitous, critical questions loom. For every interaction you have with AI, how much…
My preschooler is obsessed with rules—and, more importantly, exploring their loopholes. When I tell him to stop throwing rocks, he will drop a rock dramatically with a loud thud, assuming plausible deniability. He will chase his little sister around our kitchen island, pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus rex, and push her. “Don’t push your sister,”…
Forests like Mount Mansfield State Forest in Vermont are losing their snowpacks Douglas Rissing/Getty Images Many forests are losing their winter snowpack as global temperatures rise, and that could substantially slow their growth – and reduce the amount of carbon they remove from the atmosphere. Current projections “are not incorporating that complexity of winter climate…
A construction project in Southeast Asia dredged up the remains of the extinct human relative Homo erectus from the seabed. The discovery, described in four studies in the June Quaternary Environments and Humans, reveals a lost landscape, long since submerged, where hominids lived by a river and hunted buffalo and turtles. The first hominids known…
