Dramatic use of AI to unlock ancient scrolls
The scrolls were discovered in 1750 but efforts to read them destroyed them. So many were sealed and put away, in the hope that they could one day be read.
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Just Stop Oil vandalizes Darwin’s grave at Westminster Abbey
It is interesting to see Darwin — given how revered he is among the social elite — subject to an unexpected attack.
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Why do so many organic chemicals exist in the absence of life?
Science writer Elise Cutts tells us at Quanta that life’s raw materials abound in the universe: How simple chemistry led to complex living organisms stands among the great unsolved mysteries of science. The recent studies of asteroid and comet material add to the evidence that the first steps of the assembly process happen in space — and happen very readily. Read More ›
How touchy were Zuck’s Facebook censors? This touchy…
Generally, I found the Facebook fact checkers obtuse. But one recent incident really stands out.
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New preprint argues that Neanderthals may be “same species” as us
The problem is that, in an evolution-based scheme, someone must be the subhuman. Now who will researchers draft to fulfil the role?
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Common sense is still out of reach for chatbots
Despite hopes, say Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, common sense does not just “emerge” from a vast dump of data.
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News censorship group, shut down, may survive
Roger Kimball warns that the hydra of would-be internet censorship has many heads and may be regrouping under different parts of the alphabet.
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Freedom From Religion Foundation deletes entire honorary board
If Freedom from Religion Foundation refuses to accept sex binary in humans, why should schools take its notices warning against religion in school seriously?
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Is the social panic over “disinformation” starting to wane?
There is currently a “crisis in the field of misinformation studies” as disinformation experts are questioning the usefulness of their field.
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Scientific American goes Woke on cats and water
In a September article, readers were scolded for stereotyping cats’ aversion to water.
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The official news business as a sunset industry
The basic problem is that the new media – influencers, podcasters, Substackers, etc. – does not need the vast, costly corporate structures of traditional media.
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The tech mag staff vs the online agents of chaos?
Bet you can guess who the Wired staff think is the worst agent of chaos — Elon Musk. But you might not guess why.
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At Gizmodo: Deepfakes flopped in US elections
Reporter Thomas Maxwell tells us they had little impact because so far “people are good at recognizing when an image has been created using the technology.”
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Researchers surprised to find human brains preserved 12,000 years
That counters our usual assumption that brains don’t get preserved. The researchers think nervous tissue may have qualities that permit long-term preservation.
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How much can AI help us understand animal language?
When we have finally decoded via high-tech methods what the dog means when he woofs and brings the leash, it may just be: “I really need to go out and pee…
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A science wager predicted COVID – but no one wants to know
While both Rees and Pinker now favor the lab leak theory, as Wade reveals, they seemingly don’t want to make relations with China more tense by saying so.
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Sometimes the hive mind wins against the human mind
The claim that humans “struggle with collective efficiency” is nonsense. They were forbidden to communicate abstract ideas, which is how we solve such problems.
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US government news censorship group is defunded, shuts down
Changes in administrations are often a means of getting rid of such rogue agencies.
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The parallel universe is out there — if only you believe…
At Newsweek last Monday science writer Tom Howarth threw cold water last week on the idea that NASA had discovered a parallel universe.
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Time travel that works? Not exactly
It may be possible but, unlike what happened in “A Sound of Thunder” (the butterfly effect) we couldn’t really change past or future events.
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