Tag: science

The ‘godfather of AI’ reveals the only way humanity can survive superintelligent AI

Hinton is known for his pioneering work on neural networks, which helped pave the way to today’s AI boom. In 2023, he stepped down from Google and started speaking out about the dangers of AI. AI systems have tried to blackmail humans or bypass shutdown orders. This keeps happening. This is not going to stop happening. Matt Egan… Read More The ‘godfather of AI’ reveals the only way humanity can survive superintelligent AI

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Science could enable a fascist future. Especially if we don’t learn from the past

Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer Science is in crisis. Funding infrastructures for both basic and applied research are being systematically decimated, while in places of great power, science’s influence on decision making is waning. Long-term and far-reaching studies are being shuttered, and thousands of scientists’ livelihoods are uncertain, to say nothing of the incalculable casualties resulting from the abrupt removal of… Read More Science could enable a fascist future. Especially if we don’t learn from the past

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Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Penn theoretical physicists collaborate on work that tests the fallibility of a framework that seeks to unite physics across the universe Nathi Magubane In physics, there are two great pillars of thought that don’t quite fit together. The Standard Model of particle physics describes all known fundamental particles and three forces: electromagnetism, the strong nuclear… Read More Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

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International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss

Group promoting ‘dangerous’ scientific racism ideology teamed up with rightwing extremist, recordings reveal David Pegg, Tom Burgis, Hannah Devlin and Jason Wilson An international network of “race science” activists seeking to influence public debate with discredited ideas on race and eugenics has been operating with secret funding from a multimillionaire US tech entrepreneur. Undercover filming has revealed the existence… Read More International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss

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Why alcohol is so dangerous for young adults’ brains

From the myth of Europeans’ “healthy drinking culture” to the surprising harm of some common family traditions, science is overturning old beliefs around alcohol and young people David Robson I turned 18 the day before I left home for university, conveniently passing the UK’s age threshold for buying alcohol just in time to explore student pubs and… Read More Why alcohol is so dangerous for young adults’ brains

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The Coming Second Copernican Revolution

“Today is not your first arrival here.” — Hongzhi Zhengjue, 1091-1157 CE Astrobiology is rewiring our understanding of the intimate connection between life and planets as they appear in the universe. By Adam Frank Across 15,000 generations, human beings have looked out at the sentinel stars and felt the pressing weight of myriad existential questions: Are… Read More The Coming Second Copernican Revolution

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The Strangeness of Zero

In some ways, zero is just like any other number on a number line. But a new study suggests that the mind may treat the symbol for absence differently. Yasemin Saplakoglu Around 2,500 years ago, Babylonian traders in Mesopotamia impressed two slanted wedges into clay tablets. The shapes represented a placeholder digit, squeezed between others,… Read More The Strangeness of Zero

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Far-right governments seek to cut billions of euros from research in Europe

Anti-immigration parties are pushing policies that are hostile or indifferent towards science. David Matthews A surge in far-right parties entering governments across Europe is raising concerns for science. The parties, whose focus is typically immigration, care little about research, say policy experts. In the Netherlands — where the Party for Freedom (PVV), led by the… Read More Far-right governments seek to cut billions of euros from research in Europe

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