AI systems can carry on convincing conversations, but they have no understanding of what they’re saying. Humans are easily fooled.
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With two different black hole event horizons now directly imaged, we can see that they are, in fact, rings, not disks. But why?
Does your father say “I love you,” or express it in another way?
Our economy is dominated by middlemen, including huge companies such as Walmart and Amazon. There are many benefits to going direct instead.
Any alien civilization that grows to span an entire planet would spark the same effects that we have. So, what do we do about it?
In New Zealand, ambitious Kiwis want to launch a lawn mowing business; in South Africa, it’s cooking gas refills. Start-up dreams vary widely.
Technology will not save the world, and it is inherently neither good nor bad. But, when tech is coupled to human virtue, good will prevail.
When stars form, they emit energetic radiation that boils gas away. But it can’t stop gravitational collapse from making even newer stars.
For 40 years, scientists thought a specific gene was linked to aggression in hamsters. Removing it, however, had violent consequences.
From persuasion lessons to objection clinics, these sales training ideas have proven successful for a variety of organizations.
The engineer working on Google’s AI, called LaMDA, suffers from what we could call Michelangelo Syndrome. Scientists must beware hubris.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will study many dangerous cosmic phenomena, knowledge of which may help save humanity.
The sonnenrad is a Heathen symbol composed of 12 repeated runes.
If you think you know how an astronomical nova works, buckle up. You’re in for a ride like you never expected.
A dispute marked by flags and booze has been replaced with an official land border.
Game theory is a unique combination of math and psychology. Its applications turn up everywhere, from nuclear war to Tinder to game shows.
In the age of distraction, don’t we all want to read faster and more efficiently?
The long-standing debate over whether dinosaurs were more like birds or lizards is drawing to a close.
An elaborate device called the Mechanical Turk defeated Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte at chess. Edgar Allan Poe revealed the hoax.
Earth is the Solar System’s only known inhabited planet. Could Venus, if its phosphine signal is real, be our second world with life?
The American author said he attempted to bring scientific thinking to literary criticism, but received “very little gratitude for this.”
In “The Secret Life of Secrets”, Michael Slepian explores how holding secrets affects our relationships, psychology, and well-being.
Types of therapy are about as different as the people who use it.
The answer to this question depends on how you define “freedom.”
Prison is an unreliable method of punishment. Let’s do better.
On July 12, 2022, NASA will release the first science images taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. Here’s what to hope for.
“It’s a big resource in the way the human genome is a big resource, in that you can go in and do discovery-based research.”
The common drug is called gabapentin, which is currently used to control seizures and manage nerve pain.
The James Webb Space Telescope is about to begin science operations. Here’s what astronomers are excited about.
There are almost no standards governing the cannabis industry. Your favorite weed strain may contain unpleasant surprises.