Should schools ban ChatGPT or embrace the technology instead?
School districts and universities are banning the ChatGPT AI that writes in a human-like fashion, but some teachers say a better approach may be to incorporate it into the curriculum ⌘ Read more

Largest flower found in amber was frozen in time millions of years ago
This beautiful flower was trapped in amber between 33 million and 38 million years ago, preserving it in exquisite detail ⌘ Read more

One brain network may be involved in six mental health conditions
Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder have all been linked to problems in the same circuit of brain regions ⌘ Read more

Vaginal swabs could be used to predict likelihood of preterm births
We often don’t know the causes of preterm birth – but analysing metabolic substances in the vaginal microbiome may be a way to predict the risk of premature labour ⌘ Read more

2022 Tonga eruption means we may hit 1.5°C of global warming earlier
The massive eruption of a Tongan volcano in January 2022 has made it more likely that we will exceed 1.5°C of global warming within the next five years, but the effect will disappear by 2035 ⌘ Read more

Anti-wrinkle patch uses microneedle injections to restore skin
A skin patch with microneedles that inject mRNA reduced wrinkles in mice with UV-damaged skin, a technique that could be used to treat skin conditions and arthritis related to collagen deficiency ⌘ Read more

JWST has taken astonishing images of debris orbiting a nearby star
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has observed a glowing disc of debris left over from planet formation around a nearby star called AU Microscopii ⌘ Read more

Breakaway iceberg raises concerns over Antarctica’s ‘doomsday glacier’
A massive iceberg that has been stuck on the seafloor in front of the Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica for two decades and helped protect it is now floating away ⌘ Read more

Lizards that survived wildfires are more alert to the sound of flames
Western fence lizards that experience wildlife learn that fire is a major threat, becoming more alert to the sounds of a blaze than to those of avian predators ⌘ Read more

Inside an insect farm: Are mealworms a sustainable meat alternative?
The French biotech company Ÿnsect plans to open 15 mealworm factories by 2030. We looked inside their pilot plant to see what the future of food might look like ⌘ Read more

Pancreatic cancer linked to disrupted circadian clocks in cells
Circadian clock genes in almost all our cells follow regular 24-hour patterns, but can be disrupted by irregular sleep patterns and prolonged light exposure. Now these same disruptions have been found in the cells of cancerous pancreatic tissue ⌘ Read more

Men predicted to outnumber women in physics until the year 2158
An analysis of nearly 5.5 million scientific papers has found that, on current trends, the proportion of women authoring research won’t reach parity with men in some fields for over 100 years ⌘ Read more

Male and female gibbons sing duets in time with each other
Lar gibbons call out sounds that are synchronised and occur at regular intervals, musical qualities only previously seen in lemurs and humans ⌘ Read more

Sloths have double the grip strength of humans and other primates
Dangling from a tree with just a single foot, sloths can exert more gripping force relative to their weight than primates – and they are consistently, but mysteriously, stronger on their left side ⌘ Read more

High-tech wood filled with air cavities could insulate your home
Removing polymers from wood, leaving tiny cavities, can drastically improve the material’s insulating properties without removing too much of its strength, which might make it useful in buildings ⌘ Read more

Short breathing exercise lifts mood more than mindfulness meditation
In a small study, cyclic sighing - inhaling slowly and then taking another short breath in to fully inflate the lungs, before breathing out for as long as possible - was particularly effective at lifting people’s moods ⌘ Read more

Genetic tracking scheme for viruses could warn of dangerous outbreaks
A new effort to routinely sequence the genes of viruses that cause severe respiratory infections, such as flu and RSV, could lead to better treatments and vaccines ⌘ Read more

Climate cooling effect of volcanoes is bigger than we thought
Analysis of sulphate particles in a Greenland ice core suggests we have underestimated the impact of volcanoes, and overestimated the contribution of anthropogenic sources ⌘ Read more

JWST finds that ancient galaxies contain fewer stars than we expected
A group of ancient galaxies examined by the James Webb Space Telescope contain an order of magnitude fewer stars than expected and they are strangely dim ⌘ Read more

Mental health service used an AI chatbot without telling people first
The free mental health service Koko experimented with using an AI chatbot to help respond to people seeking support. The test has drawn criticism as being unethical and lacking transparency ⌘ Read more

Children living near airport found to have raised lead levels in blood
A study of children living near one such airport in US finds those within 1.5 kilometers are at highest risk ⌘ Read more

First satellite launch from the UK failed due to an ‘anomaly’
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket and a group of nine satellites it was taking to low-Earth orbit burned up in the atmosphere as the launch failed ⌘ Read more

Urban lizards have gene mutations that help them adapt to city life
Anole lizards living in three cities in Puerto Rico have mutations in genes linked to immune function, limb and skin development, which may help them thrive alongside humans ⌘ Read more

Genetic map of cells linked to endometriosis could improve treatments
Mapping the cells involved in endometriosis could improve our understanding of how genetics influences the risk of the condition and open the door to new drug targets ⌘ Read more

First satellite launch from the UK set to go ahead tonight in Cornwall
Cosmic Girl, a modified Boeing 747 plane, is set to carry Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket and its payload of satellites up into the air so the rocket can release them into orbit ⌘ Read more

Some regions of your brain can communicate faster as you age
Signals between some regions of the brain may be fastest at age 34, while transmission in other areas gets steadily faster with age. Understanding this may improve our knowledge of neurodevelopmental conditions such as schizophrenia ⌘ Read more

Hackers can trick Wi-Fi devices into draining their own batteries
Wi-Fi devices acknowledge each other, even when not connected to the same network, and hackers can exploit this to drain their batteries ⌘ Read more

Quantum money that uses the mathematics of knots could be unforgeable
A monetary system built using a combination of quantum computers and the mathematics of knots could be impossible to counterfeit ⌘ Read more

How California can capture stormwater to fight off the drought
With atmospheric rivers drenching the US west coast, researchers are testing methods to capture as much stormwater as possible to replenish depleted aquifers ⌘ Read more

AI chatbots could hit a ceiling after 2026 as training data runs dry
The stock of language data that artificial intelligences like ChatGPT train on could run out by 2026, because AIs consume it faster than we produce it ⌘ Read more

The ozone layer was destroyed during Earth’s biggest mass extinction
Fossils show plants were producing higher levels of sunscreen chemicals to protect against higher ultraviolet light levels at the end of the Permian period ⌘ Read more

Supersized wind turbine could weather storms by bending like palm tree
There is a limit to how big existing wind turbine designs can get, which limits the power they can produce, but a new approach inspired by palm trees could help them scale up ⌘ Read more

Twisted shapes of ancient trees may explain their extreme longevity
Pine trees that are more than 600 years old have unusual branching patterns and other strange characteristics that suggest a strong ability to adapt to stress ⌘ Read more

AI could predict hurricanes or rogue waves from minimal data
Learning the significance of data points allows artificial intelligence models to make better predictions, which will help us tell when hurricanes or disease outbreaks are imminent ⌘ Read more

We may now know how childhood adversity leaves its mark on the brain
Research in mice suggests that a newly identified brain pathway may be the reason childhood adversity increases the risk of mental health issues as an adult ⌘ Read more

We’ve just discovered a new part of the brain’s waste disposal system
A thin layer of tissue called the subarachnoid lymphatic-like membrane, or SLYM, keeps fresh cerebrospinal fluid separate from fluid containing waste from brain cells ⌘ Read more

Amazon deforestation may shrink Himalayan snow and Antarctic ice
Changes in temperature and precipitation due to rapid deforestation in the Amazon rainforest could have effects as far away as the Tibetan Plateau and Antarctica ⌘ Read more

Reef fish are more placid around islands infested with invasive rats
Around rat-infested tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, jewel damselfish change their behaviour because the algae they eat is less nutritious ⌘ Read more

Quantum computers can break major encryption method, researchers claim
It has long been known that one day quantum computers are likely to be able to crack the RSA encryption method we use to keep data safe, but a team of researchers are now claiming it is already possible, while others say their results require more scrutiny ⌘ Read more

Pre-eclampsia and hypertension in pregnancy linked to 19 gene variants
Why blood pressure rises during some pregnancies is unclear. Better understanding the genetic links could lead to risk scores that gauge an individual’s risk of developing some pregnancy complications ⌘ Read more

Low-carb diet reduces seizures for people with drug-resistant epilepsy
A trial of 160 people found that pairing standard epilepsy therapies with a low-carbohydrate diet reduced seizures by more than 50 per cent in a quarter of participants ⌘ Read more

Ship taller than Eiffel Tower will build biggest offshore wind farm
Including its 130-metre-long legs, the Voltaire wind turbine installation vessel is 336 metres high. It is on its way from China to the North Sea, where it will install huge new turbines at Dogger Bank ⌘ Read more

Synthetic tissue restores erections in pigs with penis injuries
Researchers have developed artificial tissue that enabled pigs with penis injuries to have an erection. The work may lead to new treatments for erectile dysfunction ⌘ Read more

How to take control of your self-narrative for a better, happier life
The story you tell about yourself, known as your narrative identity, has a big influence on your well-being and ability to achieve personal goals. Here’s how to harness it to your advantage ⌘ Read more

AI legal assistant will help defendant fight a speeding case in court
In February, an AI from DoNotPay is set to tell a defendant exactly what to say and when during an entire court case. It is likely to be the first ever case defended by an artificial intelligence ⌘ Read more

The green tech that could help Iceland become carbon neutral by 2040
Iceland is developing a suite of technologies to help it reach carbon neutrality by 2040 – and its research could help other countries go green too ⌘ Read more

Quantum camera takes images of objects that haven’t been hit by light
A device uses quantum effects to create images of objects from light that never touched actually touched them ⌘ Read more

AI is no better at detecting covid-19 than simple symptom survey
Artificial intelligence that analyses the sound of a cough to detect covid-19 had been reported to be 99 per cent accurate, but a comprehensive analysis shows it’s only about 60 per cent accurate ⌘ Read more

US action on climate change will start to get serious in 2023
The Inflation Reduction Act will accelerate US progress on boosting renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions in 2023 as a decade of funding starts ⌘ Read more

The crystal growers behind the graphene revolution
Takashi Taniguchi and Kenji Watanabe create high-quality crystals that offer the perfect substrate on which to tailor-make two-dimensional materials with amazing electronic properties. They tell New Scientist how they grow their world-renowned crystals ⌘ Read more