Saturday, May 13, 2023

Are chatbots learning? Plus, record-breaking heat waves and pink eye everywhere

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May 12, 2023

Artificial Intelligence

How AI Knows Things No One Told It

Researchers are still struggling to understand how AI models trained to parrot internet text can perform advanced tasks such as running code, playing games and trying to break up a marriage

By George Musser

Climate Change

We're About to See a Rare and Record-Setting May Heat Wave

A potentially record-setting heat wave is headed for the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, a sign of the shift to hotter—and earlier—summers

By Andrea Thompson

Quantum Physics

Physicists Create Biggest-Ever Schrödinger's Cat

Physicists have put the largest-ever object into a quantum superposition

By Lars Fischer,Daisy Yuhas

Pharmaceuticals

Birth Control Pill Gets Strong Endorsement for Over-the-Counter Access

U.S. Food and Drug advisers show unanimous support to approve the use of the birth control medication Opill without a prescription

By Mariana Lenharo,Nature magazine

Culture

Will Creationism Continue to Flourish in Brazil?

Under former president Jair Bolsonaro, scientific misinformation ran rampant through Brazil; and even with new leadership, it will be difficult to stop

By Heslley Machado Silva

Epidemiology

What Is Causing So Much Pink Eye?

The newest SARS-CoV-2 strain may cause red, watery eyes. But the symptom can have other causes, too

By Emily Sohn

Cognition

Adversity in Early Childhood Can Impair Brain Development

Adverse early childhood experience leaves persisting traces in brain structure, highlighting the importance of preventive measures for healthy brain development

By Cordula Hölig,Brigitte Röder,Ramesh Kekunnaya

Genetic Engineering

First U.K. Children Are Born Using DNA from Three 'Parents'

The U.K.’s fertility regulator reveals that at least one child has been born using mitochondrial replacement therapy, but the procedure’s effectiveness remains to be seen

By Ewen Callaway,Nature magazine

Animals

Parrot Babies Babble Just Like Us

Parrot nestlings spend time stringing together jumbled mixtures of sound—a rehearsal for more adult conversations
 

By Karen Hopkin | 06:19

Medicine

The 'Brain Fog' of Long COVID Is a Serious Medical Issue That Needs More Attention

Brain fog is such a nebulous term in long COVID that it delegitimizes efforts to get disability accommodations and medical leave

By Emily Mendenhall,Kenton Kaplan

Public Health

Astronomy Tool Can Now Detect COVID in Breath

Laser-based optical frequency combs, originally developed to time atomic clocks, can also perform fast, noninvasive tests for COVID—and potentially other diseases as well

By Starre Vartan
FROM THE STORE
FROM THE ARCHIVE

Spooky Quantum Action Passes Test

Recent experiments quash the hope that the unsettling phenomenon of quantum entanglement can be explained away

WHAT WE'RE READING

You Can't Trust What You Read About Nutrition

We found a link between cabbage and innie bellybuttons, but that doesn’t mean it’s real.

By Christie Aschwanden | FiveThirtyEight | Jan 6, 2016

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Scientist Pankaj

Today in Science: Humans think unbelievably slowly

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