Category: Technology

In many African communities, fire hazards are a concern due to the materials used for building and daily activities such as cooking and heating. The risks are increased by the use of highly flammable materials in homes and the absence of fire prevention measures. A major fire in a Johannesburg building in 2023, for example, […]

UK researchers have begun designing a new device to detect the elusive dark matter particles thought to make up more than 85% of the content of the Universe. A preliminary award of £8 million from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund will support a consortium of UK universities, led by Imperial College London. […]

The natural world is filled with variety. Ecological systems can look very different in different parts of the Earth. Every species has genetic variation that means individuals can look and behave very differently. Diseases can affect people differently, with some suffering more serious complications than others. I believe this pervasive variation, which I call poikilosis, […]

Generative artificial intelligence is poison for human creativity, according to conventional media wisdom. “Plagiarism machines” is how Breaking Bad author Vince Gilligan has described the large language models (LLMs) used to train the likes of ChatGPT and Claude. Hundreds of copyright claims have been filed against AI companies – from Stable Diffusion (sued by Getty […]

The natural world is filled with variety. Ecological systems can look very different in different parts of the Earth. Every species has genetic variation that means individuals can look and behave very differently. Diseases can affect people differently, with some suffering more serious complications than others. I believe this pervasive variation, which I call poikilosis, […]

As someone who helped set up one of the first iPhones back in late 2007 on live TV, I found the launch of the first iteration of Apple’s smartphone an exciting time. At the launch in June of that year, a grinning Steve Jobs proudly held up that early device to the obvious delight of […]

On September 10, 2024, Tel Aviv will host the “Hack the Hate” conference, a first-of-its-kind event designed to harness Israeli technological innovation to fight the rise of online antisemitism. Organized by the 8200 Alumni Association and Generative AI for Good, the event will bring together startups, entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, diplomats, and civil society organizations […]

When the International Astronomical Union announced in 2006 that Pluto was being demoted from its status as the Sun’s ninth planet, many astronomers and non-experts alike were shocked. Pluto remains an important object for study, though. Today it is considered one of many dwarf planets beyond Neptune, in a doughnut-shaped region of mostly icy debris […]

When the hot summer weather kicks in you may find yourself feeling concerned about furry pets and other animals we live close by to. But fur and hair are ancient adaptations that allowed human ancestors to develop more active lifestyles and varied diets. All mammals have some kind of fur. It’s part of what sets […]

How much do we really know about what else is out there in the universe? Let’s take an outlandish example. If there were aliens flying around our galaxy with the sort of warp drive technology we often see in sci-fi shows, what would the signal from their ships look like? Perhaps, surprisingly, our research shows […]