Anyone following the rhetoric around artificial intelligence in recent years has heard one version or another of the claim that AI is inevitable. Common themes are that AI is already here, it is indispensable, and people who are bearish on it harm themselves.In the business world, AI advocates tell companies and workers that they will fall behind if they fail to integrate generative AI into their operations. In the sciences, AI advocates promise that AI will aid in curing hitherto intractable di ...read more
Spinning methods. (a) Manual thigh-spinning [64]; (b) Spindle-and-whorl “supported spinning” [68]; (c) “drop spinning” [66]; (d) the experimental spindles and whorls, the 3D scans of the pebbles and their negative perforations. The bottom pictures show Yonit Kristal experimenting spinning fibers with replicas of the perforated pebbles, using supported spinning and drop spinning techniques (photographed by Talia Yashuv). (Credit: Yashuv, Grosman, 2024, PLOS ONE)Perforated pebbles discover ...read more
When it comes to naturally occurring spicy foods, some animals are more fit than others to enjoy them. Humans and other mammals aren't so well equipped to handle those foods. Take the chili pepper, for example. While it's a food rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and serves as an excellent source of vitamin C, it contains capsaicin — a chemical that makes peppers taste spicy and interacts with the nerve receptor known as TRPV1. While some humans may classify the tingling and ...read more
What a slug.That line could be used as an insult for, say, a member of a sports team not expending enough effort. After all, the notoriously slow-moving mollusks are not exactly known for their hustle. But for a scientific team who found a remarkable creature, literally beyond the depths of where conventional slugs dwell, the line becomes quite a compliment.When Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) researchers sent a remotely operated submersible down 8,576 feet down off the coast of ...read more
Today, kids are expected to spend much of their day in school. Learning is divided into grades and separated by age and aptitude. But it hasn’t always been this way. Education wasn't always required, and in fact, many kids carried on the jobs their parents had instead of learning how to read and write. What and how one learned depended on one's place in society.In ancient times, much like today, education was highly valued. Subjects could range from reading and writing to philosophy and ethics ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine