Produced and directed by Corey Eisenstein. Click here for transcript. (video link) Welcome to the second episode of “Edge of Knowledge,” our science explainer series starring astrophysicist Paul Sutter. In part one, Paul took us on a journey to the edges of our galaxy and talked about dark matter, the strange stuff that appears to […]
Enlarge / Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (credit: Getty | Pool) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is standing by its mask guidance, despite more and […]
Figaro the cockatoo displays his “primate level” combination tool-using skills by playing a cockatoo version of “golf, ” and choosing the correct hole for a cashew reward. Two other cockatoos figured out different tool-using techniques to achieve the same result. (Goffin Lab) Figaro the cockatoo displays his “primate level” combination tool-using skills by playing a […]
Enlarge / The interior of JET, configured as a scale model for ITER, overlaid with an image of the plasma present in the tokamak during experiments. (credit: EUROfusion ) On Wednesday, the EUROfusion consortium announced that the Joint European Torus (JET), located near Oxford in the UK, had set a new record for released energy. […]
Enlarge / Sony AI has trained a new AI called GT Sophy to be extremely good at Gran Turismo . (credit: Clive Rose – Gran Turismo/Gran Turismo via Getty Images) A team of researchers at Sony AI have used deep reinforcement learning to teach an artificial intelligence to play Gran Turismo at a world-class level. […]
Enlarge / Ivermectin tablets arranged in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. The US Food and Drug Administration warned Americans against taking ivermectin, a drug usually used on animals, as a treatment or prevention for COVID-19. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg) The Kansas medical board is facing attacks from state lawmakers for investigating doctors who have prescribed […]
Enlarge / Two formerly paralyzed individuals go for a stroll in Lausanne, Switzerland. (credit: EPFL) Spinal cord injuries are life-altering, as they prevent the transmission of nerve impulses past the point of injury. That means no sensory inputs make it to the brain, and no signals from the brain make it to the muscles normally […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Recently, two computer scientists had an idea: if computers use energy to perform calculations, could stored data be a form of saved energy? Why not use computing as a way to store energy? What if information could be a battery, man? As it turns out, the idea isn’t as far-fetched as […]
Enlarge / Elon Musk last provided a Starship update in September 2019 in South Texas. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann for Ars) SpaceX founder Elon Musk will host a “Starship presentation” on Thursday evening in South Texas at the company’s launch and production site. This will be Musk’s first comprehensive update on the vehicle’s progress toward launch, […]
Enlarge / A vial of the current Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (credit: Getty | Ivan Romano) In a small group of monkeys, an omicron-specific version of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine did not protect against the omicron variant better than Moderna’s current, highly effective booster. This finding casts doubt on whether a switch to variant-specific doses is necessary. […]