Human brain: We may not be able to grow new neurons after we enter adulthood

Several recent studies have led to the suggestion that humans can grow new neurons in some parts of the brain as adults, but the idea is being questioned after a close look at RNA in brain cells Mind 16 February 2022 By Jason Arunn Murugesu Conceptual illustration of a neuron Shutterstock/Rost9 Adults may be unable … Read more

Hybrid AI: A new way to make machine minds that really think like us

In the quest to make artificial intelligence that can reason and apply knowledge flexibly, many researchers are focused on fresh insights from neuroscience. Should they be looking to psychology too? Technology 16 February 2022 By Edd Gent Michał Bednarski ARTIFICIAL intelligence has come a long way. In recent years, smart machines inspired by the human … Read more

Google and Waymo used driverless cars to make a virtual San Francisco

Software can analyse millions of static photographs taken in city streets and create a realistic 3D model that users can smoothly navigate Technology 16 February 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Software can analyse millions of static photos of city streets taken atop cars and construct a realistic 3D model that could be used to create immersive … Read more

Covid-19 news: Vaccination halves risk of long covid, finds analysis

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu, Layal Liverpool, Carissa Wong and Alex Wilkins A woman receives a covid-19 booster jab in London Britain, UK NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 16 February The chance of getting long covid are … Read more

Snakes: Invasive poisonous toads are killing Madagascar’s native snakes

There is evidence of a significant death rate among Malagasy snakes that attempt to eat the poisonous Asian common toad Life 16 February 2022 By Jake Buehler An Asian common toad in Madagascar Fulvio Licata Fears about the impact of invasive, poisonous toads in Madagascar appear to be justified, suggests new research. The amphibians are … Read more

Fusion power: DeepMind uses AI to control plasma inside tokamak reactor

For the first time, artificial intelligence has been used to control the super-hot plasma inside a fusion reactor, offering a new way to increase stability and efficiency Technology 16 February 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Plasma inside the TCV fusion reactor in Switzerland Curdin Wüthrich/SPC/EPFL Fusion reactors promise cheap, abundant and relatively clean energy – if … Read more

Atomic Clocks Experiment Reveals Time Dilation at The Smallest Scale Ever

In his theory of general relativity, Einstein predicted something called time dilation: the notion that two clocks under two different gravitational pulls will always tick at different speeds.   The effect has been observed in many experiments since, but now scientists have recorded it at the smallest scale seen so far. The result was achieved using … Read more

The race is on to tackle climate change by pulling carbon from the air

By Adam Vaughan Energy firm Drax has a biomass power plant in Yorkshire, UK Clare Jackson/Alamy A CATTLE shed near Edinburgh sucking up methane emissions and a team altering the acidity of seawater in the English Channel might seem unlikely prospects for avoiding increasingly dangerous climate change. But they are just two of 24 projects taking part … Read more

Atomic clock experiment shows Einstein’s general relativity is right

Physicists have measured time dilation on the smallest scale ever using an atomic clock made of thousands of ultracold atoms formed into a stack of pancake-shaped blobs Physics 16 February 2022 By Alex Wilkins Time dilation has been measured inside a tiny atomic clock Jacobson/NIST The world’s most precise atomic clock has confirmed that the … Read more

Astonishing Discovery Shows Humpback Whales Swimming Thousands of Miles to Mate

Humpback whales can swim as far as 3,700 miles (5,955 kilometers) for the chance to mate, per a new study. Scientists analyzed a database of over 450,000 pictures of whales in the wild to track the animals. They found that some would swim thousands of miles during the mating season.   Two distinctive males, which could be … Read more