What can former U.S. president Richard Nixon possibly teach us about artificial intelligence today and the future of misinformation online? Nothing. The real Nixon died 26 years ago. But an AI-generated likeness of him shines new light on a quickly evolving technology with sizable implications, both creative and destructive, for our current digital information ecosystem. […]
Scientific American July 2020 Darwin’s legacy on nerves and behavior; the epic tale of monuments 1970 On Nerves and Behavior Having trouble accessing this article? Please visit our FAQ page for more information Support Science Journalism Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. […]
As the vast majority of businesses and states have tried to reopen and people rush back to public life, they’ve run headlong into the trap of “getting back to normal.” They didn’t realize we’re heading into a period of waves of restrictions once again, due to many states reopening too soon. Indeed, some of the […]
ASSOCIATED PRESSAmid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, science teacher Ann Darby uses a thermometer on Tuesday to check a student’s temperature prior to a summer science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) camp at Wylie High School in Wylie, Texas. Schools and educators across the U.S. find themselves in the middle of an increasingly politicized debate […]
The items below are highlights from the free newsletter, “Smart, useful, science stuff about COVID-19.” To receive newsletter issues daily in your inbox, sign up here. Please consider a monthly contribution to support this newsletter. Dr. James Hamblin, a preventive medicine physician and a staff writer at The Atlantic, has written an essay that explores the concept […]
A coalition of oil and gas companies announced a new emissions target yesterday to reduce the “carbon intensity” of their operations over the next five years, but critics said the plan didn’t go far enough. The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a coalition aiming to “accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future,” said its […]
Originally published in November 1904 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “Miss Agnes Clerke writes in Knowledge, ‘The glory of the heavens is transitory, but the impalpable, invisible ether inconceivably remains. Such as it is today, it already was when the Fiat Lux was spoken; its beginning must have been coeval with that of time. It is […]
Scientific American July 2020 Some simple, practical steps can raise your resistance to viruses Fear and fraud often travel together. As coronavirus anxiety began to spread across the land, so did bogus nostrums promising protection from this modern-day plague. As early as March 6, U.S. regulators began to issue warnings to companies promoting false claims, […]
The COVID-19 pandemic not only threatens Black communities; it also threatens the Black health care workforce that often serves them. As a physician, I notice workforce discrepancies by race throughout the health professions. In an increasingly diversifying country, we need more Black physicians because they are more likely to work in underserved communities and work […]
Copper surfaces kill microbes that come into contact with them in a matter of hours. A new technique makes the familiar metal even deadlier—by zapping it with lasers. Bacteria “are becoming more aggressive and resistant to therapeutics; it’s the same thing for viruses,” says Rahim Rahimi, a materials engineer at Purdue University and senior author […]