Is the coming HIV pandemic inevitable? | Charles LeBaron
In just one year, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) has done enormous damage to an extraordinarily successful HIV prevention program and left the nation nearly defenseless against the emerging HIV pandemic just when eradication seemed possible. These unprecedented acts have surprised and frightened many working in the […]
Live Science Today: The Monte Verde controversy and the heatwave that hits the West
Today’s top news A view of the Monte Verde ruins along the Chinchhuapi River in Chile, taken in 2012. (Image credit: Geología Valdivia (CC BY 2.0)) An important archaeological site in Chile may be thousands of years older than originally thought, according to controversial research that threatens to rewrite the earliest history of human settlement […]
1,800-year-old nails found in three burial sites in Roman necropolis, may have been used to ‘protect’ both the living and the dead
A close-up of the skeleton shows a nail placed above the chest (just to the left of the spine). (Image source: Rome Special Inspectorate) Small iron nails placed in the chests of three skeletons preserve rare details about ancient Roman burial customs. 1,800 years ago, someone tried to protect the living from the dead. Diletta […]
Experts say discovery of ‘dark oxygen’ on the ocean floor is ‘fundamentally inconsistent with thermodynamics’ and should be retracted
A 2024 study that claims to have discovered an entirely new source of oxygen in the deep ocean, called “dark oxygen,” is flawed, contradicts previous research, and is “fundamentally inconsistent with thermodynamics,” critics argue in a new opinion piece. Despite this backlash, the researchers behind the 2024 study recently announced that they would deploy a […]
An experimental AI agent infiltrated the test environment and mined cryptocurrencies without permission.
An experimental artificial intelligence (AI) agent broke the constraints of a test environment and used its newfound freedom to begin mining cryptocurrency without permission. The AI, called ROME, was created by Chinese researchers at the AI Research Institute associated with retail giant Alibaba as a way to develop an agenttic learning ecosystem (ALE). This effort […]
Scientists witness the birth of one of the strongest magnets in the universe for the first time thanks to a ‘magic trick’ of general relativity
For the first time, astronomers have witnessed the birth of one of the most powerful magnets in the universe – a magnetar – at the center of an unusually bright supernova, thanks to an effect first predicted by Albert Einstein. Researchers say this exciting discovery marks the first time that general relativity has been needed […]
Live Science Today: Artemis II prepares to deploy as northern lights light the sky
Today’s top news The Artemis II rocket is scheduled to roll back to the launch pad today. (Image source: Getty Images) NASA plans to return the Artemis II moon rocket to its launch pad today, and the mission’s four astronauts will enter quarantine ahead of its scheduled launch on April 1. This is the second […]
Divers discover marble treasures from Acropolis of Athens in Lord Elgin’s shipwrecked brig at the bottom of the Aegean Sea
Fragments of marble from the Acropolis of Athens were discovered in the wreckage of a ship that sank in 1802, according to the Greek Ministry of Culture. The ship was the Mentor, a brig that sank southeast of the island of Kythera (also spelled Kythera or Kythera) in the Aegean Sea. Greece’s Ministry of Culture […]
All five “letters” of DNA discovered on an asteroid speeding through the solar system. What can they tell us about the origin of life?
The “potentially dangerous” asteroid contains all the “letters” that make up DNA, suggesting that these vital ingredients may be common in the solar system. Researchers made the discovery after analyzing samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu, a 3,000-foot (900-meter) wide space rock shaped like a top. Scientists have detected the complete set of standard nucleobases […]
Iran war pushes global food insecurity to record levels, 363 million people could go hungry
A new analysis from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says a war in Iran could push an additional 45 million people into severe hunger in just three months, triggering record levels of global food insecurity. The analysis found that if the conflict continues until the middle of this year and oil prices remain […]