Eliezer Yudkowsky says superintelligent AI could wipe out humanity by design or by accident. The researcher dismissed Geoffrey Hinton's "AI as mom" idea: "We don't have the technology." Leaders, from Elon Musk to Roman Yampolskiy, have voiced similar doomsday fears. AI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky doesn't lose sleep over whether AI models sound "woke" or "reactionary." Yudkowsky, [...]
Signals are processed only if they reach the brain during brief receptive cycles. This timing mechanism explains how attention filters information and may inform therapies and brain-inspired technologies. It has long been recognized that the brain gives priority to the information we direct our attention toward. A well-known example is the cocktail party effect. [...]
Is time something that flows — or just an illusion? Exploring space-time as either a fixed “block universe” or a dynamic fabric reveals deeper mysteries about existence, change, and the very nature of reality. Few ideas in modern science have changed how we understand reality as deeply as space-time, the intertwined union of space [...]
Most bacteria cannot be cultured in the lab-and that's been bad news for medicine. Many of our frontline antibiotics originated from microbes, yet as antibiotic resistance spreads and drug pipelines run dry, the soil beneath our feet has a vast hidden reservoir of untapped lifesaving compounds. Now, researchers have developed a way to access [...]
The story of the princess and the pea evokes an image of a highly sensitive young royal woman so refined, she can sense a pea under a stack of mattresses. When it comes to human biology, it also takes an abnormal individual to sense far beyond its surroundings, in this case, a cancer cell. [...]
Scientists at Gladstone Institutes uncovered a surprising reason why dopamine-producing neurons, crucial for smooth body movements, die in Parkinson’s disease. In mice, when these neurons were kept overactive for weeks, they began to falter, first losing their connections and then dying altogether. This mirrors the selective neuron loss seen in patients, where overworked cells [...]
Development of highly robust superhydrophobic anti-corrosion coating using recycled tire rubber particles. Superhydrophobic materials offer a strategy for developing marine anti-corrosion materials due to their low solid-liquid contact area and low surface energy. However, existing superhydrophobic anti-corrosion materials often suffer from poor mechanical stability and inadequate long-term protection, limiting their practical application in real-world [...]
Mind reading: Long a science fiction fantasy, today an increasingly concrete scientific goal. Researchers at Stanford University have succeeded in decoding internal language in real time thanks to a brain implant and artificial intelligence. A technological feat with promising applications, but also dizzying ethical implications. An unprecedented technological advance For the first time, a [...]
Cold plasma penetrates deep into tumors and attacks cancer cells. Short-lived molecules were identified as key drivers. Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), working with colleagues from Greifswald University Hospital and University Medical Centre Rostock, have shown that cold plasma can successfully destroy tumor cells even within deeper layers of tissue. [...]
Lemborexant and similar sleep medications show potential for treating tau-related disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that a commonly used sleep medication can restore normal sleep patterns and shield mice from the brain damage linked to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The drug, lemborexant, blocks the buildup [...]
