Scientists discover the moment AI truly understands language
The language capabilities of today’s artificial intelligence systems are astonishing. We can now engage in…
New Alpha Release: Tor Browser 15.0a2
Tor Browser 15.0a2 is now available from the Tor Browser download page and also from our distribution directory. This version includes important security updates to Firefox. Thanks to WhyNotHugo for fixing the “Contributing” link in our README file. Send us your feedback If you find a bug or have a suggestion for how we could…
Scientists uncover the secret to orangutan survival in the trees
Warwick primatologists, in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute, have shown that young orangutans develop their nighttime nest building skills via observational social learning — by closely watching others and then practicing these complex constructions. Nest-building is an often-overlooked behavior in great apes, but for arboreal species, a well-built nest is essential to survival. Nests…
A monster seaweed bloom is taking over the Atlantic
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute have released a landmark review tracing four decades of changes in pelagic sargassum – free-floating brown seaweed that plays a vital role in the Atlantic Ocean ecosystem. Once thought to be primarily confined to the nutrient-poor waters of the Sargasso Sea, sargassum is now recognized as…
Scientists fear the Atlantic’s great ocean conveyor could shut down
Under high-emission scenarios, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a key system of ocean currents that also includes the Gulf Stream, could shut down after the year 2100. This is the conclusion of a new study, with contributions by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The shutdown would cut the ocean’s northward heat…
The Druids Oak is 800 years old
Helen BriggsBBC environment correspondent and Gwyndaf HughesScience videographer BBC The Druids Oak is the oldest living tree in this woodland in Buckinghamshire Dr Ed Pyne snips a leaf from the Druids Oak, an 800-year-old tree that has watched over this woodland in Buckinghamshire for centuries, enduring droughts, storms, heatwaves and more. “We know that this…
1st September – Threat Intelligence Report
For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 1st September, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES American consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion has suffered a data breach that resulted in the exposure of sensitive personal information for over 4.4 million individuals in the United States. The leaked data…
Latam-GPT: The Free, Open Source, and Collaborative AI of Latin America
Latam-GPT is new large language model being developed in and for Latin America. The project, led by the nonprofit Chilean National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), aims to help the region achieve technological independence by developing an open source AI model trained on Latin American languages and contexts. “This work cannot be undertaken by just…
Get ready for a glorious Harvest Blood Moon on 7 September
“Find the moon and watch it darken and redden…” JG Photography/Alamy My feelings about the moon changed in the past year, when I gave birth on the day of not just a full moon, but a Harvest Moon. For the first few months of my son’s life, the passing of time felt very strange –…
Inside the missions that made the moon landings possible
On 20 February 1962, NASA astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. The mission was part of NASA’s Mercury human spaceflight programme and came just nine months after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space. Another significant moment came when Glenn used a camera he had purchased from a…
Spacecraft used to forecast solar storm 15 hours before it hit Earth
Solar storms pose a threat to electronic systems on Earth Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA. We may one day be able to forecast powerful solar storms capable of devastating Earth’s electronics more than half a day in advance, following a successful test of the approach using the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The sun occasionally releases powerful blasts…
