“...all the past is but a beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of dawn.”

— H.G. Wells
1902

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Updated: 7 hours 50 min ago

AI data scrapers are an existential threat to Wikipedia

Fri, 04/04/2025 - 5:00pm
As AI developers harvest Wikipedia content to train their models, the resulting surge in automated traffic is driving up costs for the non-profit that runs the popular crowdsourced encyclopaedia
Categories: Astronomy

Cannibal spiders have strange trick to stop their siblings eating them

Fri, 04/04/2025 - 4:00pm
A spider species eat their siblings as soon as they die but tolerate each other when they are alive, suggesting a mysterious signal helps them to determine when to dine on a nest mate
Categories: Astronomy

Largest ever US honeybee die-off has destroyed 1.6 million colonies

Fri, 04/04/2025 - 3:00pm
Beekeepers often experience some seasonal losses, but this past winter, more than half of all US honeybee colonies died off, potentially the largest loss in US history
Categories: Astronomy

Wind farm developers are worried about neighbours stealing their wind

Fri, 04/04/2025 - 2:00pm
Wakes from offshore wind farms can reduce the power generated by neighbouring farms – an issue that is growing more prevalent as turbines get bigger and more numerous
Categories: Astronomy

Kennedy has taken a sledgehammer to the US's public health

Fri, 04/04/2025 - 12:00pm
The US anti-vaccine movement is now firmly embedded in the highest levels of government, where those overseeing public health agencies are making drastic cuts both wide and deep
Categories: Astronomy

Bonobos use a kind of syntax once thought to be unique to humans

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 3:00pm
The way bonobos combine vocal sounds to create new meanings suggests the evolutionary building blocks of human language are shared with our closest relatives
Categories: Astronomy

Mammoth tusk flakes may be the oldest ivory objects made by humans

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 2:00pm
Ancient humans living in what is now Ukraine 400,000 years ago may have practised or taught tool-making techniques using mammoth tusks, a softer material than bone
Categories: Astronomy

Common artificial sweetener makes you three times hungrier than sugar

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 1:05pm
A widely used artificial sweetener increases brain activity in regions involved in appetite, suggesting it makes people hungrier
Categories: Astronomy

We could make solar panels on the moon by melting lunar dust

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 12:00pm
Researchers used a synthetic version of moon dust to build working solar panels, which could eventually be created within – and used to power – a moon base of the future
Categories: Astronomy

Ozempic weight loss is deemed less praiseworthy than lifestyle changes

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 6:41am
People seem to be less impressed when others lose weight with the drug Ozempic than when they achieve it via lifestyle changes
Categories: Astronomy

Extreme weather could disrupt China's renewable energy boom

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 6:00am
As China’s vast electrical grid relies more on wind, solar and hydropower, it faces a growing risk of power shortages due to bad weather – and that could encourage the use of coal plants
Categories: Astronomy

The best retro games console is the one you played at age 10

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 4:00pm
Nostalgia for video games seems to be strongest for those played during childhood – at least for Nintendo Switch players
Categories: Astronomy

Ice-monitoring drones set for first tests in the Arctic

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
High-speed drones will be put to the test in the extreme Arctic environment as part of a project to assess how quickly glaciers in Greenland are retreating
Categories: Astronomy

Can't stop doomscrolling? Here's some research to help you cut back

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
If you find yourself buffeted by bad news online, our resident advice columnist David Robson has some science-backed tips for managing your consumption and boosting your resilience
Categories: Astronomy

Robert Pattinson shines in clunky sci-fi adaptation Mickey 17

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
Our hero Mickey accidentally breaks the rules when he's "reprinted", in a tired take on an old trope, finds film columnist Simon Ings
Categories: Astronomy

Washed-up clothing mimics seaweed in stunning cyanotypes

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
Mandy Barker's new book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype imperfections, highlights the ongoing ocean pollution crisis by echoing an influential 19th-century book
Categories: Astronomy

A moving story reveals hidden human cost of drug trials

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
Drug trials are vital to medicine, but what of those taking part? Jennie Erin Smith's moving new book about what happened in a rural community hit by early-onset Alzheimer's disease gives them a voice
Categories: Astronomy

A bestseller is born: How Zuckerberg discovered the Streisand Effect

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
Feedback is baffled – baffled! – as to why Facebook owner Meta's attempts to suppress a previous employee's memoir sent the book rocketing to the top of the book charts
Categories: Astronomy

Why pilots are worried about plans to replace co-pilots with AI

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
A cost-cutting initiative in the world of passenger aviation could see flight-deck staff reduced to just a captain, with their co-pilot replaced by AI. It may save money, but it's a risk too far, argues Paul Marks
Categories: Astronomy

Our drive for adventure and challenge has ancient origins

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 2:00pm
Why are some people drawn towards exploration and challenge – even to the point of extreme danger? Alex Hutchinson's bracing new book unpicks the complex reasons
Categories: Astronomy