Why the doomsday prediction of 1960 matters today

Photobank-2/Shutterstock.com According to the late Heinz von Foerster, Friday, November 13 2026, is doomsday. Professor von Foerster and two colleagues at the University of Illinois published that prediction in 1960 in the respected journal Science. The paper has been widely discussed ever since. Theirs was an unconventional vision of doomsday, brought about by the world’s […]

Continue Reading

Why Donald Trump keeps threatening Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain – and why it is so hard to destroy

Pickaxe Mountain (Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā) lies in the Karkas mountains of central Iran (image shows view of Karkas range from near Tarq). Petr Kahanek / Shutterstock Iran has become a test of Donald Trump’s credibility at home as well as his power abroad. The war and rising fuel prices contributed to the Republican defeat […]

Continue Reading

Archaeological finds at an Irish fort reveal insights into the finer side of medieval life

A collection of miscellaneous artefacts from Caherconnell Cashel. Michelle Comber Popular media, from computer games to movies, often portrays medieval life as being dominated by fighters and farmers. In these depictions, there’s little evidence of a world beyond political struggle and simple subsistence. Leisure activities are often overlooked, despite the fact that they existed in […]

Continue Reading

Xiaomi Surpasses 800,000 EV Deliveries as Hyper-Automated Beijing Plant Drives 76-Second Assembly Pace

BEIJING — Tech giant Xiaomi has reached a landmark 800,000 electric vehicle (EV) deliveries just 29 months after handing over its first production car. The rapid scaling of the company’s automotive division highlights a major shift toward software-defined, hyper-automated manufacturing in China’s competitive EV market. At full operating speed, Xiaomi’s 720,000-square-meter Beijing EV plant rolls […]

Continue Reading

Beyond the Hype: How Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and the Renaissance of Handwork Are Reshaping the Global Workforce

As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates across global enterprises, sensationalist narratives predicting total mass unemployment are increasingly giving way to a more complex economic reality. While advanced automation and generative models are fundamentally transforming knowledge work, industry analysts emphasize that AI will not cause the apocalyptic workforce collapse often portrayed in headlines. Instead, it is triggering […]

Continue Reading

AI won’t ever make a historically accurate film – but it could help archaeology create better stories

Grok's Odysseus wears cloth we have no evidence for. Grok Imagine Tech billionaire Elon Musk was up in arms about the recent adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey by director Christopher Nolan, which he heavily criticised for its diverse casting and accused of lacking historical accuracy. Claiming he wanted to show that artificial intelligence could bypass traditional […]

Continue Reading

It’s a bumper year for wild mushrooms – here’s what you could find in the woods today

This autumn looks like it could be a good year to spot large numbers of wild mushrooms. Already many can be seen covering tree roots and shady spots. Mushrooms are the part of certain fungi that you see above ground. The rest of it is either underground or within a tree trunk. All mushrooms are […]

Continue Reading

The Binance hack exploited familiar weaknesses – all organisations should learn from it

Hackers have stolen around US$6.3 billion (£4.7 billion) from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, most of which was taken in under an hour. According to Binance, the attack exploited systems and individuals with the authority to carry out transactions involving such large sums. Such vulnerabilities exist everywhere; statistics show that people and the systems they directly […]

Continue Reading

We used ancient DNA to track the origins and spread of the Germanic and Celtic languages – new research

Ales stenar (Ale’s Stones) in southern Sweden is a monumental Iron Age stone ship-setting overlooking the Baltic Sea. These structures were graves or cremations surrounded by stones in the shape of a ship. It dates to around 600–1000 AD and broadly coincides with the period of back-migration into the region. Nicolas Delgado Clausen, CC BY […]

Continue Reading

AI and blockchain are coming to African farms: 4 things must happen for farmers to benefit

The use of digital agriculture is expanding across Africa. Tools like artificial intelligence (AI), sensors and blockchain are helping farmers receive information about weather, pests, markets and farm management. AI can analyse images and other farm data to detect problems or support decisions. Digital traceability systems can record where food comes from and what happens […]

Continue Reading