An Alternative to Breaking News, Report
John Whitfield in The Guardian: It is a familiar story: a small group of animals living in a wooded grassland begin, against all odds, to populate Earth. At first, they
Continue readingEmpire of the Ants: What Insect Supercolonies Can Teach Us
“A defeated nation always admires the conqueror, imitating his dress and adopting the signs of his power, such as gold buttons and buttons of authority, insignia of honor, the manner
Continue readingIbn Khaldun on a Failed Nation–Seven Hundred Years Ago
by Shelly Fan at Singularity Hub: The human genetic blueprint is deceptively simple. Our genes are tightly wound into 46 X-shaped structures called chromosomes. Crafted by evolution, they carry DNA
Continue readingHuman Artificial Chromosomes Could Ferry Tons More DNA Cargo Into Cells
Have Large Language Models (LLMs) demonstrated “theory of mind”?; Do LLM representations map onto the real world?; Can (and should) we slow down AI development?; Is AI myopic? What’s the
A new magnum opus posits the existence of a hidden mathematical link akin to the connection between electricity and magnetism. by Kevin Hartnett at Quanta Magazine: In 2018, as he
Continue readingEchoes of Electromagnetism Found in Number Theory
Ewen Callaway in Nature: Since the 1950s, scientists have had a pretty good idea of how muscles work. The protein at the centre of the action is myosin, a molecular motor
Continue readingThese ‘Movies’ of Proteins in Action are Revealing the Hidden Biology of Cells
In my new job, I tried to heed this epiphany. I made a point to think and write a little bit at home each morning, in a room overlooking the
Continue readingHow I Lost and Found My Scientific Creativity
Primatologist Frans de Waal (Author of ‘Chimpanzee Politics’) draws surprising parallels between how humans and primates choose their leaders. His research reveals some of the unexpected capacities of alpha males
Economic inclusion is when people not only have their basic subsistence needs met but also are productive, fulfilled, and fully empowered to make choices about their lives. People living in
Continue readingWhat is Economic Inclusion? How Do We Measure Economic Inclusion?
by Tim Sommers in 3 Quarks Daily: Does your dog feel pain? Or your cat? Surely, nonhuman great apes do. Dolphins feel pain, right? What about octopuses? (That’s right, “octopuses”
Continue readingThe Theory of Mind That Says Artificial Intelligence is Possible
By BEN BRUBAKER in Quanta: An open secret about artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT is that they all have an unsettling quirk: Not even the researchers who build them fully understand
Sarah Hart, the professor of geometry at Gresham College, sees symmetry everywhere–humans are detectors of hidden math. Read related Article here.