https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruw5AygidBE A robot that can jump into flight like a bird could eliminate the need for runways for small fixed-winged drones. Birds use the powerful explosive force generated by their legs to leap into the air and start flying, but...
Today’s weather forecasts rely on simulations that require a lot of computing powerPetrovich9/Getty Images/iStockphoto Google DeepMind claims its latest weather forecasting AI can make predictions faster and more accurately than existing physics-based simulations. GenCast is the latest in DeepMind’s ongoing...
Modern and Mesopotamian people embody emotions in different waysModern/PNAS: Lauri Nummenmaa et al. 2014, Mesopotamian: Juha Lahnakoski 2024 The inhabitants of Mesopotamia must have known grief, fear, love and awe – but they didn’t necessarily think about them in the...
Darwinian thinking has been challenged many times, starting with co-discoverer of natural selection Alfred Russel Wallace, who disagreed with some aspects of Charles Darwin’s arguments, but was eventually proved wrong on most of them. The US botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey...
Sweeping restrictions on abortion across the U.S. have already had major ripple effects in reproductive health care. During president-elect Donald Trump’s next administration, restrictions on abortion are likely to ramp up, and birth control may be next. The double hit...
In countries like the U.S. and U.K., “training” a baby to sleep through the night is practically a rite of passage—one endorsed by more than six in 10 baby books, the American Academy of Pediatrics and countless parenting experts and...
The universe is even weirder than you’d expectandrey_l/Shutterstock The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we hand over the keyboard to a physicist or mathematician to tell you about fascinating ideas from their corner...
Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, editor of anthologies set in the Wild Cards universeParas Griffin/Getty Images December is traditionally a quiet month in publishing, and that holds true this year, with fewer than the usual number of...
This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals.Rachel Feltman: The public health world is filled with heroes, but it doesn’t exactly produce a ton of celebrities....
Bird flu has crept uncomfortably close to home in recent months. Public health experts have detected nearly five dozen known infections of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in people in the U.S. Dairy farmers are approaching a full year of...
