Category: Technology

In George R.R. Martin’s fantastical land of Westeros in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, the spectacle of dragons breathing fire captivates his audience through a blend of myth and fantasy. For me at least, there’s also scientific curiosity. The images of dragons unleashing torrents of flames on the new series of House […]

The neurotransmitter dopamine is commonly known for its role in brain networks regulating pleasure and reward. But many people with disorders that affect the dopamine system, such as Parkinson’s disease or schizophrenia, also struggle with social abilities. These include recognising or understanding the emotions and mental states of others, something scientists call the “theory of […]

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are disrupting many aspects of modern life, and the news industry is no exception. In a year with a record-breaking number of elections worldwide, there has been considerable soul searching about the potential effect of so-called “deepfakes”, and other synthetic content, on democracies. There have also been further disruptions to […]

People often underestimate tiny beings. But microscopic algal cells not only evolved to thrive in one of the most extreme habitats on Earth – glaciers – but are also shaping them. With a team of scientists from the UK and Canada, we traced the evolution of purple algae back hundreds of millions of years and […]

Time magazine has dubbed 2024 a “super election year”. An astonishing 4 billion people are eligible to vote in countries across the world this year. Many are on the African continent, where presidential, parliamentary and general elections have already been held or are set for the latter half of the year. Artificial intelligence (AI) will […]

The Nasa-led Artemis-3 mission will place the first human boots on the surface of the Moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the lunar surface in December 1972. The goal of the Artemis programme is to establish a permanent human presence on Earth’s natural satellite and an economy based around the Moon. […]

The landscape along the Buffels River in South Africa’s Namaqualand region is dotted with thousands of sandy mounds that occupy about 20% of the surface area. These heuweltjies, as the locals call them (the word means “little hills” in Afrikaans), are termite mounds, inhabited by an underground network of tunnels and nests of the southern […]

If you type the term “password cyberattack” into Google News, the results will show just how often cyber criminals are getting hold of important data belonging to companies and individuals. Weak passwords are a big part of the problem. For instance, in 2023 technology security firm Nordpass reported that “123456” was the most common password […]

Unlike “traditional” AI that relies on predetermined rules and patterns, generative AI is able to produce novel content – like text, video, images, and music. In a way, unlike old AI, generative AI can think outside the box. Its implications are profound and sprawling, with the potential to reshape virtually every branch of society. Conversations […]

Apple, a company known for its longstanding commitment to user privacy, has received flak since unveiling its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. This relates to the centrepiece of Apple Intelligence, which gives users access to OpenAI’s powerful generative AI tool, ChatGPT. Some users welcomed the new features, which […]