Back in 1950, Alan Turing proposed an elegantly simple yet profoundly challenging way to determine whether machines could be said to "think." Known as the Turing Test, this measure of machine intelligence sets humans and machines in conversational competition, challenging human judges to distinguish between artificial and genuine intelligence through text-based interactions. Despite numerous attempts, no artificial system had ever convincingly passed this test. Until now.Cameron Jones and Benjam ...read more

It might be time to grant the monkeypox virus a new name. Although the virus (mpox for short) was first detected in lab monkeys in 1958, the original host or reservoir has remained unknown. Identifying the reservoir is crucial, because it gives epidemiologists targets to help control outbreaks. For the monkeypox virus, experts need to shield people from the fire-footed rope squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus), which lives in the forests of West and Central Africa.Mystery Monkeypox SourceA team of sc ...read more

The first full moon of spring, called the “Pink Moon,” will soon ascend in the night sky. Curious onlookers can expect to catch a glimpse of the full moon's peak at 8:22 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on April 12, 2025, yet the lack of a rosy hue may leave many people perplexed. The Pink Moon is significant for many reasons, but its color is not one of them; despite the vibrant name, the Pink Moon is not actually pink. Find out the true reason for this full moon’s colorful moniker, as w ...read more

Modern rhinos aren’t Nebraskan animals. And they aren’t North American animals, either. But millions of years ago, rhinos were. In the Middle Miocene, Teleoceras major rhinos lived across Nebraska and across much of North America, too.Analyzing an assembly of T. major remains, which were buried in volcanic ash in northeastern Nebraska around 12 million years ago, a team of researchers recently revealed that these rhinos lived relatively social and sedentary lives. In fact, as reported in a s ...read more

We’ve all been there: You’re hanging with a group of friends (either in real time or virtual), and one casually mentions doing something with the other — but neither explicitly mentions you. You’re faced with a dilemma. Inviting yourself when you’re not wanted could come off as intrusive at best, rude at worst. And not inviting yourself will leave you left out and feeling rejected.A new study now should put such anxieties to rest. In such situations, you’re more welcome than you thin ...read more

The Caspian Sea, considered the largest inland body of water on the planet, is shrinking. A new study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment reports that as global temperatures rise, the Caspian Sea will start to go dry, critically impacting the people and animals that call this place home. Why Is the Caspian Sea Shrinking? According to the new study, the water sources that typically feed the sea are contributing less and less water. So much so that these sources canno ...read more

A jawbone found on the ocean floor near Taiwan provides evidence that the Denisovans — a poorly understood ancestor to modern humans — occupied southeast Asia 100,000 years ago. DNA extracted and analyzed from it has evolutionary implications, because, while contemporary southeast Asians have bits of Denisovan DNA in their genomes, the nearest known Denisovan fossil find, until now, hailed from northeastern Asia, according to a report in the journal Science.“Modern human populations in eas ...read more

If you’ve ever skimmed the ingredient list of your favorite snacks or drinks, you’ve probably stumbled across a string of unfamiliar words — potassium polyphosphate, acesulfame-K, sulphite ammonia caramel, and more — that offer little insight into what you’re actually eating.These food additives are used by manufacturers to boost flavor, texture, appearance, and shelf life. While many are naturally derived and individually tested for safety, recent research suggests that mixing multipl ...read more

Thousands of stone tools discovered in a South African cave reveal that Ice Age humans had developed sophisticated fabrication techniques about 20,000 years ago, according to a report in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.Looking closely at the tools’ chipped blades as well as the larger rocks from which they were formed — what archaeologists call a core — the scientists surmised how the tools were made. That, in turn, reveals much of the makers’ know-how.“When your average person ...read more

The results of searching the family tree of the woolly mammoth have been surprising; it turns out the beasts we most closely associate with the Ice Age emerged not from a linear lineage, but a relatively complex web of genetic diversity.A study examining 34 mammoth mitochondrial genomes, with specimens spanning a million years, gives us a glimpse of mammoth evolution. Mitochondrial DNA is a circular strand found in each cell’s powerhouse. It helps researchers trace lineage on the maternal side ...read more