Category Science

Google’s AI “co-scientist” is based on the firm’s Gemini large language models Raa/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Google has unveiled an experimental artificial intelligence system that “uses advanced reasoning to help scientists synthesize vast amounts of literature, generate novel hypotheses, and suggest detailed research…

February 20, 2025 4 min read National Science Foundation Mass Firings Go Beyond Trump’s Orders, Sparking Outrage At an emotional meeting, NSF officials announced layoffs for about 10 percent of their workforce and warned of more firings to come By…

Books can document the cultural biases of the era when they were published Ann Taylor/Alamy Artificial intelligences picking up sexist and racist biases is a well-known and persistent problem, but researchers are now turning this to their advantage to analyse…

In the wake of the Second World War, US leaders adopted the view that scientific progress is an “essential key to our security as a nation, to our better health, to more jobs, to a higher standard of living, and…

Satellite view of Mount Fentale in Ethiopia Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025 A volcano in Ethiopia is spewing unusually large volumes of methane from its crater, according to satellite measurements of the potent greenhouse gas. This comes after hundreds…

A mouse tends to an unconscious peer by pulling its tongue Wenjian Sun et al. 2025 When they find another mouse unconscious, some mice seemingly try to revive their companion by pawing at them, biting and even pulling their tongue…

February 18, 2025 5 min read ‘City Killer’ Asteroid’s Earth Impact Risk Rises and Falls Again Asteroid 2024 YR4’s risk of hitting Earth is shifting with new data, astronomers say By Lee Billings edited by Dean Visser The asteroid 2024…

The widespread layoff of Department of Agriculture scientists has thrown vital research into disarray, according to former and current employees of the agency. Scientists hit by the layoffs were working on projects to improve crops, defend against pests and disease,…

In the coming decades, we might figure out how to make an entirely new kind of life: a mirror cell, in which every molecule is the mirror image of those found in normal cells. Such reversed cells have probably never…

February 20, 2025 3 min read Microsoft Claims Quantum-Computing Breakthrough—but Some Physicists Are Skeptical With its ‘topological’ quantum computers, Microsoft aims to reach useful scales faster than competing technologies By Davide Castelvecchi & Nature magazine Microsoft has unveiled its Majorana…