One of the extraordinary scenarios dreamt up for AI is to will help governments make diplomatic and military decisions on the international stage. The thinking is that machines can process more information than humans on shorter time scales. And the possibility that geopolitical competitors might use AI to outmaneuver allies, increases the pressure to operate on the same terms.So an urgent and important goal is to understand the capability of AI systems in making these kinds of decisions.AI Warg ...read more

Alaskapox, a virus in the same family as smallpox, cowpox, and mpox, claimed its first fatality in January 2024 when an elderly Alaskan man died of the illness.The virus, which was discovered in 2015, had previously resulted in only relatively mild illnesses in the six other people infected by it. So why did the Alaskan man die?Raúl Rivas González, a microbiologist at the University of Salamanca in Spain, explains what we know about Alaskapox, what happened to the man in Alaska, and the threat ...read more

Sight is one of the most widespread senses in the animal kingdom. In fact, eyes have independently evolved among life on Earth an estimated 40 times. Where would the world be without its colors and shades?But, as delightful as the world appears through human eyes, it's but a shadow of the splendors seen by creatures with larger, more sophisticated visual faculties. Let's take a look at six optically exceptional animals, from wide-eyed owls to colossal giant squids. 1. Owls (Credit: Alan Tunnicl ...read more

After six years, seven months, and 18 days, a total eclipse of the Sun will once again cross North America.The total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, will dazzle tens of millions of people from Mazatlán, Mexico, to the shores of Newfoundland, Canada, just north of St. John’s. The U.S. states touched by totality are Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.Inside the path of totality, t ...read more

As the largest organ in the body, our skin protects us from UV radiation, chemical exposures, and pathogenic bacteria from the outside environment.The skin’s natural ability to make collagen slows down as we age. And the body needs various vitamins and healthy fats to keep functioning properly. While there’s no stopping natural aging completely, some supplements could help prolong and maintain skin health. Supplements can increase nutrients for the skin and sometimes do this from the insid ...read more

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) first imaged Supernova 1987A (SN) in September 2022. The image captured a mysterious dusty and gassy center that formed during the supernova’s explosion. The dust is so thick it shrouds near-infrared light. But, within the dusty center, a powerful hot neutron star may be lurking underneath, according to a new study published in Science.“It was so exciting looking at the JWST observations of SN 1987A for the first time. As we checked the MIRI and NIRSpec ...read more

For a while, experts assumed that our ancient human counterparts, the Neanderthals, were less advanced and intelligent than we were. But a study recently published in Science Advances is calling this long-held notion into question, reporting evidence of Neanderthals using adhesive material. That is to say, they were making glue.“Compound adhesives are considered to be among the first expressions of the modern cognitive processes that are still active today,” said Patrick Schmidt, who co-led ...read more

In 1997, when paleontologist Paul Sereno first began to unearth the remains of a dinosaur in Niger's Sahara Desert, he didn’t know what to think. He was excavating bones in a dry region called Gadoufaoua, which had a rich fossil bed first discovered by French uranium miners. There were a lot of light, aerated bones — usually associated with theropods, like Tyrannosaurus rex, and the birds that evolved from them — so the researchers assumed that was what they were dealing with.As Sereno beg ...read more

On April 8, 2024, the maximum duration of totality anywhere along the eclipse path will be 4 minutes 28 seconds. For comparison, the maximum length of totality for the last total solar eclipse to cross the continental U.S., which occurred on Aug. 21, 2017, was just 2 minutes 40 seconds.Indeed, some eclipse totalities last but a few seconds. And the longest eclipse totality from 2000 B.C. to A.D. 3000 is 7 minutes 29 seconds. That eclipse will occur July 16, 2186.What Determines The Length Of A S ...read more

In recent years, orca whales have repeatedly made headlines after attacking — and, in several cases, capsizing — ships off the coast of Spain and Portugal.  Though none of these incidents involved direct harm to any humans, the belligerent behavior caused a stir, prompting many to once again question the threat marine mammals pose to humans. After all, orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, sit at the top of the marine food web, and these highly-efficient apex predators are capa ...read more