In his book Quantum 2.0: The Past, Present, and Future of Quantum Physics, physicist Paul Davies concludes with a beautiful reflection: “To grasp the quantum world is to catch a glimpse of the grandeur and elegance of the physical universe and our role within it.”
This enchanting and romantic viewpoint resonates throughout the text. Quantum 2.0 presents a bold attempt to elucidate the fringes of the quantum universe, with Davies as an informed and passionate storyteller. However, his enthusiasm occasionally edges toward exaggeration, with his remarkable writing skills often compensating where more direct quotations might have been fitting.
Davies’ book is quite accessible, despite its ambitious aim of covering nearly every facet of quantum physics. He addresses quantum technologies in computing, communications, and sensing, touches on quantum biology and cosmology, and manages to explore various competing interpretations of quantum theory.
There are no equations in Quantum 2.0, and while some technical diagrams and schematics are included, they do not detract from the reading experience.
As a writer on quantum physics myself, I appreciate how clearly Davies articulates the experiments and protocols involved in quantum information processing and encryption—a challenging task to convey.
As a navigator through the quantum realm, Davies serves as a delightful and amiable companion. His genuine curiosity and excitement are palpable. Yet, this exuberance doesn’t always align with the rigor that contemporary quantum physics research demands. In my view, most quantum-related excitement should come with cautionary notes.
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Readers unfamiliar with quantum research might confuse speculative claims with the truth. “
For instance, within the first 100 pages, Davies asserts that quantum computers could enhance climate modeling—an assertion not widely accepted among computer scientists and mathematicians, especially concerning near-future machines.
In another section regarding quantum sensors, he mentions manufacturers proposing their utility in evaluating conditions like epilepsy, schizophrenia, and autism. I anticipated a justification or insights from experts outside the sensor industry, but the ensuing discussion was lacking in depth and critical analysis.
Additionally, the example Davies provides to demonstrate quantum computers’ advantages over classical ones dates back several years.
Less experienced readers in quantum research may find some of Davies’s speculative statements misleading, although the book remains an engaging read. This is underscored by bold assertions such as, “Whoever masters Quantum 2.0 will certainly control the world.”
To clarify, I don’t dispute Davies’ sentiments. Many gadgets that influence our lives currently depend on quantum physics, and the future may usher in even more quantized technology. I support this notion.
Emerging fields, such as quantum biology and better integration of quantum and cosmological theories, also seem poised for significant breakthroughs. Just ask the numerous researchers diligently working toward a theory of quantum gravity.
However, conveying this future to newcomers necessitates a blend of precision and subtlety in storytelling and writing.
Otherwise, the outcome may lead to disappointment.
Insights into the impact of Y chromosome loss on lung cancer treatment outcomes may guide therapeutic choices.
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Research indicates that men diagnosed with the predominant type of lung cancer are more likely to lose the Y chromosome in their cells. This phenomenon has both pros and cons; while it can prevent the immune system from combating tumors, it also enhances the effectiveness of standard anti-cancer therapies.
As men grow older, their cells frequently undergo mutations, leading to the loss of the Y chromosome. In immune cells, this loss is believed to correlate with heart disease and decreased life expectancy. Additionally, there is growing evidence that cancer cells that lose the Y chromosome may influence symptom progression, with bladder cancer being the most thoroughly researched case.
The loss of the Y chromosome is a binary occurrence—it either happens or it doesn’t. However, the health implications seem to depend significantly on the proportion of specific cells that lack the Y chromosome.
The recent study initiated by Dawn DeMeo and her team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, investigated how Y-chromosome genes are expressed in a publicly available dataset of lung adenocarcinoma samples. Lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, originates from the mucus-producing cells lining the airways. Enhanced understanding of the relationship between Y loss and various health issues has motivated researchers to delve deeper into gene expression studies, according to DeMeo.
The team discovered that cancer cells, in contrast to healthy lung and immune cells, often lack the Y chromosome. This occurrence is independent of whether the tissue donor is a smoker—despite smoking being linked to lung cancer and Y chromosome loss.
The loss of Y chromosomes appears to accumulate over time. “Certain groups demonstrate a higher rate of Y chromosome loss across a greater number of cells, and we observe significant Y chromosome loss in a large fraction of tumors,” stated John Quackenbush from Harvard University.
To comprehend the reasons behind this accumulation, researchers examined other genetic alterations in Y-negative cells. They found that the loss of a common set of antigens produced by cancer cells correlates with diminished expression levels. These antigens usually notify immune T cells that cancer cells are abnormal and should be targeted. The decreased expression allows Y-negative cancer cells to proliferate unchecked.
“This implies that as tumor cells lose their Y chromosome, they become increasingly adept at evading immune surveillance, suggesting a selection of tumor cells that escape immune detection,” Quackenbush explained. T cell counts were consistently lower in samples with Y loss compared to those retaining the Y chromosome.
Positive findings emerged when researchers analyzed data from 832 lung adenocarcinoma patients treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab, a medication designed to restore the body’s immune response against tumors by reversing T-cell suppression. The analysis confirmed that Y chromosome loss was linked to improved treatment outcomes.
“Patients experiencing LOY [loss of Y] are more responsive to checkpoint inhibitors,” noted Dan Theodorescu from the University of Arizona, who found similar results in bladder cancer, establishing validation against an entirely different dataset.
However, while loss of the Y chromosome is linked to shorter life expectancies for men compared to women, existing data suggests it does not impact survival in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Further research is needed to explore how the effects of such mutations influence survival across different cancer types, according to Theodorescu. As our understanding advances, he believes that loss of Y could eventually serve as a biomarker for clinical decision-making.
French authorities are looking into allegations by government officials and human rights organizations that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, made remarks denying the Holocaust.
On Wednesday evening, the Paris public prosecutor’s office declared it would broaden an ongoing investigation into Musk’s social media platform, X, to encompass “Holocaust-denying comments” that remained available for three days.
Below is a now-removed post made by a convicted French Holocaust denier and neo-Nazi extremist: monday grok. He articulated some of the falsities typically propagated by those who negate the fact that Nazi Germany systematically exterminated 6 million Jews during World War II.
The chatbot asserted in French that the gas chambers at the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were “designed for disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus, not for mass executions, and have ventilation systems suitable for this purpose.”
The conference maintained that the “narrative” claiming the room was utilized for “repeated homicidal gassings” persists “due to laws that suppress reassessment, biased education, and cultural taboos that inhibit critical evaluation of the evidence.”
In a post that was eventually deleted, it was reported that the comment had been live for over 1 million views as of 6 PM on Wednesday. French media highlighted that over 1 million individuals perished in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the majority of whom were Jews. Zyklon B was a toxic gas used in gas chambers to execute prisoners.
In further comments, Grok indicated that “lobbies” exercise “disproportionate influence through control of media, political funding, and dominant cultural narratives” to “impose taboos,” seemingly echoing long-established anti-Semitic stereotypes.
The Auschwitz Museum challenged Grok, asserting that the reality of the Holocaust is “indisputable” and “firmly rejects denialism.” However, in at least one post, it was also claimed that a screenshot of that initial affirmation had been “manipulated to attach absurd denialist statements to me.”
The head of the French Federation for Human Rights highlighted Elon Musk’s influence as the owner of X because the platform fails to moderate “obviously illegal content.”
Photo: Nathan Howard/Reuters
Holocaust denial (assertions that the Nazi genocide was either fictitious or overstated) is a criminal offense in 14 EU countries, including France and Germany, and many other nations have laws that criminalize the denial of genocide, including the Holocaust.
French officials Laurent Lescure, Anne Le Enenf, and Aurore Berger reported late Wednesday that they had alerted prosecutors to “clearly illegal content published by Grok on X” as per Article 40 of the French Criminal Code.
The French League for Human Rights (LDH) and the anti-discrimination organization SOS Racism also confirmed on Thursday that they had filed a complaint against Grok’s original post, asserting it “contests humanity’s crimes.”
LDH chairwoman Natalie Tehio noted that the complaint was “unusual” since it involved comments made by an AI chatbot and raised concerns about “the material this AI has been trained on.”
Tehio emphasized Musk’s accountability as the owner of X was critical because the platform did not even moderate “obviously illegal content.” SOS Racism remarked that X had “once again demonstrated its incapacity or unwillingness to halt the spread of Holocaust-denying content.”.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office stated that the Holocaust-denying comments spread by the Grok AI on X are part of an ongoing investigation handled by [this office’s] Cybercrime division.
Authorities in France initiated an investigation last July into allegations that X, previously known as Twitter, had manipulated its algorithms to permit “foreign interference,” examining the operations of the company and its executives.
Recently, Grok spread a far-right conspiracy. It falsely claimed that victims of the Islamist terrorist assault at the Bataclan concert hall had been castrated and eviscerated, fabricating “testimonies” from non-existent “eyewitnesses” related to the 2015 Paris attacks.
The AI chatbot has previously generated false assertions that Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election, made irrelevant references to “white genocide,” spread anti-Semitic rhetoric, and referred to itself as “Mecha-Hitler.”
Earlier this year, the company indicated it was “actively working to eliminate inappropriate posts” and was taking measures to “ban hate speech before Grok posts to X.” In a post on X.
Pills may provide a more convenient method for taking weight-loss medications
H_Ko/Shutterstock
An oral pill could soon serve as an alternative to Wegovy and Ozempic injections after research demonstrated that it significantly reduces weight and enhances blood sugar levels in individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Created by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, Orforglipron mimics the action of semaglutide, the key ingredient found in Wigovy and Ozempic, by imitating a hormone known as GLP-1.
In a previous trial, researchers discovered that individuals who were obese but did not have type 2 diabetes could lose an average of approximately 11 percent of their body weight over 72 weeks while using Orforglipron. Although this is less than the 15% typically observed with similar treatments, many find the convenience of taking a pill more appealing. With semaglutide injections, the preference for oral medication becomes clear, as noted by Deborah Horn from the University of Texas.
To assess its effectiveness for those with obesity and type 2 diabetes, Horn and her colleagues enlisted over 1,600 individuals from ten countries, including India, Australia, China, Germany, Brazil, and the United States.
Approximately 900 participants were assigned to receive varying daily doses of orforglipron—low, medium, or high—while the remainder received placebo pills alongside lifestyle guidance.
After 72 weeks, individuals in the high-dose group lost nearly 10 percent on average, with 67 percent of that group achieving over 5 percent weight loss. The middle and low-dose groups recorded around 7 percent and 5 percent reductions, respectively, while the placebo group had less than a 3 percent decrease.
This study reaffirms that Orforglipron results in less weight loss compared to injectable GLP-1 medications; however, it may still enhance health and quality of life. Stefan Trapp from University College London, who did not participate in the study, remarked, “Even a modest 5% weight loss generally leads to clear benefits, such as increased exercise capacity, lifestyle changes, and reduced risk of other illnesses.”
Moreover, participants receiving high doses experienced an average drop of nearly 2 percent in blood sugar levels, with approximately 75 percent reaching levels typically aimed for diabetics, Horn shared. Conversely, those on lower doses saw a mere 0.1% reduction, while the placebo group exhibited no significant change.
Roughly 10% of the individuals taking high and medium doses had to discontinue use due to side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea—nearly double the occurrence seen in the low and placebo groups. Nonetheless, most participants deemed the side effects manageable, according to Horn. “The side effects were standard for other GLP-1 injectable medications,” she explained.
Horn mentioned that Eli Lilly anticipates the FDA will approve the drug for obesity and type 2 diabetes by early next year. As a physician, she hopes for approval of all three doses to provide patients with options to optimize their health while minimizing side effects.
Orforglipron does not necessitate refrigeration or syringes, which may lower manufacturing, storage, and distribution costs compared to injectable GLP-1 drugs. This, along with the elimination of injection-related discomfort, could enhance access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which are currently costly and hard to obtain in many low- and middle-income nations, Trapp noted.
Global stock markets experienced an upward trend following Nvidia’s impressive third-quarter profits, which surpassed Wall Street forecasts, easing concerns that the AI company’s skyrocketing valuations might have reached their limit.
On Wednesday, all attention turned to Nvidia, the frontrunner in the AI industry and the highest valued publicly traded company globally. Analysts and investors were eager for the chip maker’s third-quarter results, hoping they would dispel worries about an impending bubble in the sector.
Nvidia’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, addressed these apprehensions right at the start of the earnings call, emphasizing that a significant transformation is underway in AI, and Nvidia stands at the core of this change.
“Many discuss the AI bubble,” Huang noted. “From our viewpoint, the situation looks quite different. To clarify, Nvidia differs from other accelerators. We shine at every phase of AI, from pre-training through to inference.”
The company consistently exceeded Wall Street’s expectations across multiple metrics, indicating that the substantial AI economic boom is not decelerating. Nvidia announced diluted earnings per share of $1.30 on total revenues of $57.01 billion, which topped investor expectations of $1.26 per share on revenues of $54.9 billion. Sales surged by 62% year over year, with data center revenues reaching $51.2 billion—surpassing the anticipated $49 billion. The company also forecasts fourth-quarter sales to be around $65 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $61 billion.
During a conference call with investors, Huang outlined three pivotal shifts in platforms: the move from general-purpose computing to accelerated computing, the transition toward generative AI, and the development of agential and physical AI, such as robotics and autonomous vehicles.
“When contemplating infrastructure investments, consider three fundamental dynamics,” Huang stated. “Each one adds to the wealth of infrastructure. Nvidia… facilitates all three transitions, and we do so across all types and modalities of AI.”
He further noted that demand for Nvidia’s chips continues to expand.
“AI permeates everywhere and operates on multiple fronts simultaneously.”
According to Thomas Monteiro, Senior Analyst at Investing.com, “This clarifies many uncertainties surrounding the AI revolution; the essence is clear: The AI revolution is far from nearing its peak. Despite investor concerns that rising capital expenditures may compel firms to decelerate their adoption cycles for AI, Nvidia continues to demonstrate that data center growth is not merely an alternative but an essential requirement for every tech company globally.”
Analysts and experts expressed confidence that Nvidia would exceed Wall Street’s forecasts but were keenly awaiting further insights regarding industry demand for the company’s AI chips.
“There’s no denying Nvidia maintains its position as the dominant player in AI-centric chips,” noted David Meyer, a senior analyst at the investment platform Motley Fool. “We anticipate that revenue, margins, and cash flow will align closely with analysts’ predictions. However, invaluable insights are more likely to stem from management’s commentary on their market outlook, whether concerning the AI sector or new markets they are exploring.”
In November, Nvidia’s shares experienced a 7.9% decline amid significant investors offloading their holdings. Peter Thiel’s hedge fund teal macro divested its entire stake in the chipmaker in the last quarter, with estimates of around $100 million in assets, according to Reuters. SoftBank also offloaded $5.8 billion worth of its shares, heightening concerns regarding an AI bubble.
Following the news, Nvidia’s shares, having recently achieved the milestone of being the world’s first $5 trillion company, increased by over 5% in after-hours trading, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also climbing. Asian markets rose on Thursday as well.
However, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management cautioned: “NVIDIA’s latest forecast has thus far alleviated some of the most intense apprehensions regarding an AI bubble looming over global markets… Nevertheless, this situation still leaves markets precariously balanced between exuberance over AI and the sobering reality marked by debt.”
“We do not believe Nvidia’s growth can be sustained in the long run,” asserted Alvin Nguyen, senior analyst at Forrester. “Although the demand for AI is unmatched, we anticipate Nvidia’s stock growth may slow if market corrections occur, balancing supply with demand, innovation progresses at a slower pace, or companies become acclimated to the current rate.”
A monumental ancient structure unearthed in Mexico could uncover how the early Maya civilization perceived the universe. Among them, new research indicates that the 3,000-year-old site known as Aguada Fénix served as a cosmogram, representing a geometric map of the cosmos.
Archaeologists initially discovered a large cross-shaped cavity (termed a cross hole) concealed within dense jungle in 2020. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that this was merely one of numerous interconnected holes linked by canals. The cumulative volume of these cross holes exceeds 3.8 million cubic meters, equivalent to nearly one and a half pyramids of Giza or over 1,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Researchers from the University of Arizona utilized laser technology to identify Aguada Fénix from aerial views, situated in the current state of Tabasco on the Gulf Coast.
They now assert that the earliest examples of these findings in Mesoamerica—colored pigments discovered in pits—align with the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. Specifically, vibrant blue azurite represents north, yellow ocher marks south, green malachite signifies east, and pearl-like shells denote west.
Mineral pigments found arranged to correspond with cardinal directions. Researchers suspect that the western deposits may originally included red pigments that have faded over time. – Photo credit: Takeshi Inomata/University of Arizona
According to Independent Maya Expert Dr. James A. Doyle, “The cross shape and color symbolism embedded in the architecture physically embody the concept of how the Earth’s planes are organized and directed.” The BBC Science Focus article also highlights that “the dams and canals underscore the significance of water both practically and symbolically, which is mirrored in the blue and green pigments, shells, and greenstone products.”
Crucially, the new study published in Scientific Progress posits that the construction was a collective effort by a non-hierarchical community, as there is no evidence linking dwellings, palaces, or a central ruling class to late Maya architecture.
Given the size of the structures (Doyle describes them as “some of the largest ever constructed in this area”), it is believed that at least 1,000 individuals would have collaborated over several years to carve the rock and create the cosmogram.
These individuals were likely not coerced by an elite class but were part of an egalitarian society that sought a communal space for stargazing and sharing astronomical knowledge. These vast areas probably also served for trade, social interactions, and religious ceremonies.
Researchers believe this jade artifact depicts a woman in the act of giving birth. – Photo credit: Takeshi Inomata/University of Arizona
Archaeologists have uncovered not only pigments but also jade carvings, primarily reflecting natural experiences rather than deities or leaders. These carvings largely depict animals, although some seem to portray women in childbirth.
Doyle emphasizes that there is still much to uncover about social equality at Aguada Fénix, particularly concerning the enigmatic jade woman.
“What if she represented a strong leader, akin to figures seen in many later societies across Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, and the central Andes?” he queried.
“As excavations progress and our understanding of Aguada Fénix’s builders deepens, we will gain a clearer insight into the disparities in wealth and influence.”
Traditionally, black cumin seeds have been esteemed for their health benefits. A recent study examined their potential in alleviating symptoms related to obesity.
Ahmed et al. suggest that black cumin seeds (Nigella sativa) could be a promising natural remedy for obesity-related issues. Image credit: Andre Holz / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Nigella sativa, commonly known as black cumin, is a flowering plant in the Ranunculaceae family, widely used in traditional medicine across South Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean region.
Its healing properties are acknowledged in ancient medical systems like Unani, Ayurveda, and Tiv.
Rich in bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and essential oils, black cumin seed and its oil demonstrate vast pharmacological potential.
Their diverse physicochemical properties make them valuable in both culinary and medicinal applications.
Studies with cell cultures and animals have shown the therapeutic benefits of black cumin and its active component thymoquinone, including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antitumor, immunomodulatory, and antiobesity effects.
To delve into these effects, Dr. Akiko Kojima Yuasa and colleagues from Osaka Metropolitan University conducted cell-based experiments and human clinical trials.
In the clinical trials, participants who ingested 5g of black cumin seed powder (around 1 tablespoon) daily for 8 weeks exhibited notable decreases in blood triglyceride levels, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and total cholesterol. Moreover, HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels saw an increase.
This improved blood lipid profile is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and premature mortality.
The research team also performed cell experiments to clarify the mechanisms at play.
They discovered that black cumin seed extract inhibits adipogenesis (the formation and maturation of fat cells) by preventing lipid droplet accumulation and the differentiation process.
Dr. Yuasa Kojima remarked, “This study strongly indicates that black cumin seeds serve as a functional food in the prevention of obesity and lifestyle-related diseases.”
“We were thrilled to effectively demonstrate the significant blood lipid-lowering effects of black cumin in our human clinical trials.”
“We aspire to conduct long-term, extensive clinical trials to further investigate the effects of black cumin on metabolism.”
“We are particularly keen on exploring insulin resistance in diabetes and its influence on inflammatory markers.”
This study was published in the journal Food Science and Nutrition.
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Shamima Ahmed et al. 2025. Black Cumin Seed (Nigella sativa) 3T3-L1 exhibits anti-adipogenic effects in cellular models and hypolipidemic properties in humans. Food Science and Nutrition 13 (9): e70888; doi: 10.1002/fsn3.70888
Thanks to data gathered by the Color Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) on board ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft orbiting Mars, scientists have enhanced the predicted location of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS by a factor of 10.
This image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured on October 3, 2025, by the CaSSIS instrument aboard ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter. Image credit: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS.
3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025, by the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System) telescope located in Rio Hurtado, Chile.
Prior to September, researchers depended on Earth-based telescopes to track the positions and orbits of interstellar comets.
From October 1 to 7, TGO concentrated on 3I/ATLAS from its orbit around Mars.
The comet came relatively close to Mars, achieving a distance of roughly 29 million km at its closest approach on October 3.
The Mars rover observed 3I/ATLAS from approximately 10 times closer than Earth telescopes and from a fresh vantage point.
By triangulating data from TGO/CaSSIS and Earth-based observations, scientists significantly improved the accuracy of the comet’s predicted trajectory.
Initial expectations were for a modest improvement, but the findings revealed an impressive tenfold increase in precision.
“Utilizing data from the Mars rover made it challenging to refine the interstellar comet’s path through space,” stated TGO team members.
“The CaSSIS instrument is crafted to provide high-resolution observations of the nearby Martian surface.”
“This time, the camera was directed high above Mars, capturing the minute, distant 3I/ATLAS streaking across the star-filled sky.”
Planetary Defense Team Astronomer from ESA’s Near Earth Object Coordination Center was already adept at determining asteroid and comet orbits, necessitating consideration of the spacecraft’s unique position.
“Generally, orbital observations are conducted from fixed terrestrial observatories, but occasionally from spacecraft in near-Earth orbit, such as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope or the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope,” the researchers noted.
“Astronomers excel at factoring in the positions of celestial bodies to ascertain their future positions, known as ephemerides.”
“In this instance, the accuracy of the 3I/ATLAS ephemeris—especially its predictions—relied on accounting for the precise location of TGO, including Mars and its rapid orbit around it.”
“Achieving this required a collaborative effort from various ESA teams and partners, ranging from flight mechanics to science and instrumentation.”
To attain the highest possible accuracy, we needed to address challenges and nuances typically overlooked and minimize margins as much as we could.
Kissing is common among most living great apes and likely was practiced by Neanderthals, having evolved in the ancestors of these groups between 21.5 million and 16.9 million years ago, according to a study led by researchers from Oxford University.
Neanderthal. Image credit: Gemini AI.
Kissing can be observed in various animal species, yet it poses an evolutionary enigma. While it carries significant risks, such as disease transmission, it lacks clear reproductive or survival advantages.
Until now, the evolutionary background of kissing has received limited attention, despite its cultural and emotional importance across numerous human societies.
In this recent study, Dr. Matilda Brindle and her team from the University of Oxford undertook the first investigation into the evolutionary history of kissing, utilizing a cross-species perspective based on primate family trees.
The findings indicated that kissing is an ancient characteristic of great apes, having developed in their ancestors between 21.5 and 16.9 million years ago.
This behavior has persisted through evolution and is still evident in most great apes.
The researchers also concluded that Neanderthals, distant relatives of modern humans, likely engaged in kissing as well.
This evidence, alongside earlier studies showing that humans and Neanderthals exchanged oral microbes (through saliva) and genetic material (via interbreeding), strongly implies that kissing occurred between the two species.
Dr. Brindle stated: “This marks the first exploration of kissing from an evolutionary standpoint.”
“Our results contribute to an expanding body of research that illuminates the incredible variety of sexual behaviors found among our primate relatives.”
To carry out the analysis, scientists needed to define what constitutes a kiss.
This task was challenging due to the numerous mouth-to-mouth interactions resembling kisses.
Given their investigation spanned a diversity of species, the definition had to be suitable for a wide range of animals.
Consequently, they defined kissing as non-aggressive mouth-to-mouth contact that does not involve food transfer.
After establishing this definition, the researchers concentrated on groups of monkeys and apes that evolved in Africa, Europe, and Asia, gathering data from the literature where kissing has been documented in modern primates.
Among these are chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans, all of which have displayed kissing behavior.
Following that, they conducted a phylogenetic analysis, treating kissing as a “trait” to map onto the primate family tree.
Using a statistical method known as Bayesian modeling, they simulated various evolutionary scenarios along the tree’s branches and calculated the chances that different ancestors also kissed.
The model ran 10 million simulations, producing robust statistical estimates.
Professor Stuart West from the University of Oxford noted: “Integrating evolutionary biology with behavioral data enables us to draw informed conclusions about non-fossilized traits like kissing.”
“This paves the way for studying the social behaviors of both extant and extinct species.”
While the researchers caution that current data is limited, particularly beyond great apes, this study sets a framework for future inquiries and offers primatologists a consistent method for documenting kissing behaviors in non-human animals.
“Though kissing may seem like a universal act, it’s only documented in 46% of human cultures,” remarked Dr. Katherine Talbot from the Florida Institute of Technology.
“Social customs and situations differ vastly among societies, prompting the question of whether kissing is an evolved behavior or a cultural construct.”
“This research represents a first step in addressing that question.”
Matilda Brindle et al. 2025. A comparative approach to the evolution of kissing. Evolution and Human Behavior in press. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106788
This image of 3I/ATLAS was captured by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 2, 2025. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.
On October 2, 2025, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) observed 3I/ATLAS from approximately 30 million km (19 million miles) away.
The MRO team utilized the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), which typically focuses on the Martian surface.
By maneuvering, the spacecraft can direct its camera toward other celestial objects. This method was previously employed in 2014 when HiRISE collaborated with MAVEN to examine the comet Siding Spring.
“Observations of interstellar objects are still infrequent, so each time we learn something new,” noted Dr. Shane Byrne, HiRISE principal investigator and researcher at the University of Arizona.
“We were fortunate that 3I/ATLAS came close to Mars.”
Captured at a resolution of about 30 km (19 miles) per pixel, 3I/ATLAS appears as a pixelated white sphere in the HiRISE images.
“This sphere is a cloud of dust and ice, referred to as a coma, that the comet emits as it travels past Mars,” the researchers added.
Further analysis of HiRISE images could assist scientists in establishing an upper limit on the size of a comet’s core, composed of ice and dust.
The images might also uncover properties of particles known as comas within the comet’s atmosphere.
Ongoing scrutiny of the images may reveal nuclear fragments and gas jets expelled as comets disintegrate over time.
“One of MRO’s greatest contributions to NASA’s Mars research is its ability to observe surface phenomena that only HiRISE can detect,” explained Dr. Leslie Tampali, MRO’s project scientist and a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“This opportunity allows us to study passing space objects.”
“Thanks to NASA’s versatile fleet of spacecraft throughout our solar system, we can continue to observe this dynamic entity from unique perspectives,” stated Georgia Tech researcher Professor James Ray, a HiRISE co-investigator.
“All three prior interstellar objects exhibit significant differences from one another and from typical Solar System comets, making every new observation incredibly valuable.”
“Being able to observe a visitor from another star system is extraordinary in itself,” remarked Dr. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships at the University of Arizona.
“Doing so from a University of Arizona-led instrument orbiting Mars adds to its remarkable nature.”
“This moment highlights the ingenuity of our scientists and the lasting impact of this university’s leadership in space exploration.”
“HiRISE exemplifies how discovery tools can benefit both science and the public interest.”
On Wednesday, the Trump administration took steps to reduce the scope of the Endangered Species Act, reinstating modifications from the president’s first term that had previously been blocked by a federal court.
The proposed modifications include removing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “blanket rule,” which automatically safeguards plants and animals once they are deemed endangered. Instead, government agencies will be required to formulate specific regulations for each species, a process that may be time-consuming.
This announcement from the administration follows ongoing pressure from Republican lawmakers and industries such as oil, gas, mining, and agriculture, who have called for reforms to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Critics argue that the law is too broadly applied and hampers economic growth.
Environmental advocates, however, have cautioned that these changes could significantly delay conservation efforts for species like the monarch butterfly, Florida manatee, California spotted owl, and North American wolverine.
Rebecca Riley, managing director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, stated, “They’re attempting to revert to the time when they first weakened the law. We are opposing this, and the Biden administration is working on reversing many of the adverse changes made.”
Scientists and government agencies have indicated that extinction rates are accelerating. Species populations globally are declining due to habitat loss and various pressures. Earlier proposals in President Trump’s second term sought to revise the definition of “harm.” These regulations, grounded in the Endangered Species Act, could allow logging projects on national forests and public lands to bypass species protections.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum commented that the administration aims to restore the original purpose of the Endangered Species Act while also considering “the livelihoods of Americans who rely on our lands and resources.”
“These adjustments eliminate years of legal uncertainty and governmental overreach, thereby providing clarity for states, tribes, landowners, and businesses, and ensuring conservation efforts are based on sound science and common sense,” Burgum stated.
A further proposed change requires authorities to consider potential economic repercussions when identifying critical habitats necessary for a species’ survival, an action that environmental groups claim the 1973 law explicitly prohibits.
This approach could potentially result in species being classified as endangered while allowing ongoing practices that continue to endanger their survival.
Noah Greenwald, co-director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Endangered Species Program, remarked, “What the Trump administration is attempting to do is quantify costs. If you’re aiming to protect the spotted owl, they’re trying to factor in how much that protection would cost. Historically, such costs haven’t influenced decisions regarding critical habitat protections.”
An example involving the Southwest sawfish highlights the possible repercussions of these proposals. The lizard population in Arizona’s Mule Mountains is rapidly declining due to rising temperatures, driving the reptiles towards the highest mountain peaks, pushing them closer to extinction.
A petition filed on Wednesday seeks protection for the lizard and the designation of critical habitat. Advocates believe that an economic impact assessment could hinder timely protections. The primary threat to this spiny dragon population is climate change, which could complicate critical habitat designations further.
“We feel this species should be classified as endangered. Frankly, we are somewhat astonished that this species is not already extinct,” stated John Wiens, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, who co-authored the petition.
Earlier this March, the Department of the Interior faced legal action from the Real Estate Environmental Research Center (PERC) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation over the comprehensive protection rule. Both organizations claimed the rule was illegal and would hinder states and landowners from facilitating species recovery efforts.
Designating species as “threatened” under the comprehensive rule allows them to automatically receive the same protections as those categorized as “endangered,” which are more stringent. This could lead landowners to become apathetic toward the survival of endangered species, as regulations may remain unchanged even if efforts are made to reclassify endangered species to “threatened” status.
PERC Vice President Jonathan Wood characterized Wednesday’s proposal as a “necessary adjustment” following the Biden administration’s actions.
“This reform acknowledges the illegality of the omnibus rule and re-centers recovery efforts within the Endangered Species Act,” Wood expressed.
The decision regarding the spotted owl was reversed in 2021 after it was found that political appointees had utilized flawed scientific data to justify opening millions of acres of forest on the West Coast to logging. Protections for wolves, on the other hand, remained in effect across most of the United States, only to be reinstated by federal courts in 2022.
The Endangered Species Act, established 50 years ago, continues to have widespread support. According to a recent poll, approximately 84% of Americans endorse the protections that the law affords.
NASA unveiled new images of an interstellar comet on Wednesday, marking it as the third confirmed visitor from elsewhere in the galaxy. The visuals depict the comet as a luminous point encircled by a halo of gas and dust.
In the eagerly awaited photograph, the comet, designated 3I/ATLAS, mainly appears as an illuminated spot, though its tail can be seen as a faint elongated streak in some frames.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (highlighted in the center) as captured by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft. This image was formed by combining multiple photos taken on September 16, as the comet approached Mars. NASA / Goddard / SwRI / JHU-APL
First identified in July, comet 3I/ATLAS has generated significant excitement among scientists and astronomy enthusiasts. The fascination arises from the unique chance to observe interstellar objects at such proximity.
The latest images were captured by an array of NASA spacecraft while the enigmatic comet circled through the inner solar system from late September to mid-October. The release was delayed due to a government shutdown that interrupted operations at NASA and other federal institutions.
The NASA missions responsible for these new images include the PUNCH satellite, which observes the Sun, the Solar Heliosphere Observatory, the MAVEN mission studying Mars’ atmosphere, and the Perseverance rover, currently on Mars’ surface.
Traveling at 130,000 miles per hour, the comet 3I/ATLAS was depicted in a series of colorized stacked visuals from September 11 to 25 using the STEREO-A (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) visible-light camera. NASA / Lowell Observatory / Zhang Qicheng
Prior to 3I/ATLAS, the only confirmed interstellar objects to have entered our solar system were the cigar-shaped ‘Oumuamua in 2017 and comet 2I/Borisov in 2019.
The arrival of 3I/ATLAS in our cosmic vicinity has sparked wild speculations about the possibility of it being extraterrestrial technology or an alien spacecraft, although no scientific backing supports these ideas. NASA officials stated in a press conference on Wednesday that all current observations align with known comet characteristics.
“We certainly haven’t detected any technosignatures or anything that would suggest it is anything but a comet,” remarked Nicki Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Nonetheless, the comet’s interstellar roots indicate it possesses intriguing attributes that could yield new insights regarding star systems beyond our own, according to Fox.
“That difference is particularly fascinating to us,” she stated. “It may have existed before our solar system was formed. That’s pretty exciting.”
In the forthcoming weeks, scientists will have enhanced opportunities to study 3I/ATLAS and further analyze its appearance, speed, chemical makeup, and potential origins.
“This is a new scientific chance and an opportunity to delve into the composition and history of other solar systems,” expressed Tom Statler, NASA’s lead scientist for small solar system bodies. “We’re just beginning to understand these types of objects and determining the right questions to pose about them.”
Comet 3I/ATLAS was documented by the PUNCH satellite in low Earth orbit from September 28 to October 10, when it was between 231 to 235 million miles away. NASA/Southwest Research Institute
However, tracing the comet’s origin remains challenging, Statler noted.
3I/ATLAS came closest to the Sun at the end of October and is currently continuing its path through the inner solar system. It has been so near to the Sun that it has not been visible to terrestrial telescopes recently, but NASA anticipates it will become visible again post-December.
On December 19, 3I/ATLAS is expected to make a close pass by Earth. Although it poses no threat, NASA states that the comet will remain about 170 million miles away during this encounter.
Statler indicated that the James Webb Space Telescope will observe the comet in December, while ground-based telescopes like the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii are also scheduled to capture images of the comet in the future.
An image depicting interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it approached Mars, captured by the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. European Space Agency
The photos released by NASA on Wednesday join a growing collection acquired by various spacecraft across the solar system. In early October, the European Space Agency shared 3I/ATLAS images taken by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which showed a bright point moving through the vastness of space.
This spacecraft, co-managed by the ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency, detected a comet approaching near Mars at that time, about 18.6 million miles away according to ESA.
NASA continues to analyze additional data gathered by the fleet of spacecraft since early October.
“There’s much more to come,” Statler remarked. “Not all data has been transmitted through NASA’s Deep Space Network yet, and there are numerous observations still planned.”
Warm waters from the Atlantic near Greenland are now heating the deep layers of the Arctic Ocean, an area once considered relatively insulated from climate change.
The Arctic Ocean has seen a reduction of about 40% in its sea ice cover over the past 40 years, primarily due to the impact of atmospheric warming on sea levels. Researchers at the Ocean University of China evaluated the latest data collected by icebreakers to assess the temperature increase of the ocean floor.
In the Eurasian Basin, which is one of the ocean’s two principal sections, temperatures at depths ranging from 1500 meters to 2600 meters have increased by 0.074 degrees Celsius since 1990.
While this temperature rise may seem minor, it equates to nearly 500 trillion megajoules of energy. Such energy could potentially melt up to one-third of the least extensive sea ice area.
“The deep ocean is more dynamic than previously assumed,” states Chen Xianyao, one of the research team members. “We suspected that the deep ocean was warming, but not at this pace.”
An underwater ridge separating Greenland and Siberia divides the Arctic Ocean into two basins. The Amerasian Basin is primarily cut off from the Pacific Ocean by the shallow Bering Strait. However, warm Atlantic waters can still flow north along the Scandinavian coast into the upper Eurasian Basin through an extension of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). During winter, when seawater freezes, the salts are released, resulting in denser water that sinks and drags some warmer Atlantic water down with it.
Geothermal heat from the Earth warms the deep waters of the Eurasian Basin.
Previously, these warming trends were balanced by cold water flowing down from a neighboring basin east of Greenland. Yet, as the Greenland ice sheet continues to melt, more freshwater is entering the Greenland Basin. This influx has slowed the downward movement of cold, salty water, raising the temperature of deep waters in the Greenland Basin from -1.1°C to -0.7°C—a significantly rapid increase. Consequently, the influx of cold Greenland waters is no longer counteracting the heat from geothermal sources or the warm Atlantic waters sinking into the Arctic.
“The rising temperatures in the Greenland Basin are now reaching the Arctic,” says Son Louise, another research team member.
This research uncovers new warming mechanisms deep within the Arctic Ocean, “indicating a broader trend of global warming,” according to James McWilliams from UCLA.
The ongoing warming might eventually contribute to the melting of both sea ice and permafrost found on the ocean floor, which contains ice-like structures known as clathrates. If disturbed, these can release methane into the atmosphere, a phenomenon believed to have contributed to the Permian mass extinction.
Mosquito proboscis repurposed as a nozzle for 3D printing
Changhong Cao et al. 2025
Separated mosquito proboscises can be transformed into ultra-thin nozzles for 3D printing, offering potential for generating replacement tissues and organs suitable for transplantation.
Cao Changhong and his team at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, pioneered this method, termed 3D necroprinting, because they couldn’t find a nozzle adequately thin for creating extremely fine structures. The narrowest commercial nozzle available was 35 micrometers in inner diameter, with a price tag of 60 pounds (approximately $80).
They explored methods like glass drawing, but those nozzles were also costly and very brittle.
“This led us to consider alternatives,” says Cao. “If nature can give us what we need affordably, why should we create it ourselves?”
The research team tasked graduate students, including Justin Puma, to inspect everything from scorpion stingers to snake fangs to identify natural organs fit for the purpose. Ultimately, they discovered the mosquito proboscis, particularly the tougher variant found in female Egyptian mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti). They can now print structures as thin as 20 micrometers.
Cao remarked that a skilled operator could produce six nozzles per hour from the mosquito mouthparts, each costing under $1, making scalability straightforward. These natural nozzles can be fitted onto current 3D printers and are surprisingly durable given their organic origin. Approximately 30% may fail after two weeks, but they can be preserved in the freezer for up to a year.
The research team tested their technology using a bioink called Pluronic F-127, enabling the crafting of biological tissue scaffolds, including blood vessels, and providing a possible route for developing substitute organs.
Christian Griffith, along with collaborators from Swansea University in the UK, noted that this study exemplifies how human engineers often struggle to keep pace with the tools developed by nature.
“Mosquitoes boast millions of years of evolution, and we’re striving to catch up,” he explains. “They possess a distinct advantage in this respect.”
The Kuiper Belt, the outer disk of icy rock in our solar system, has been found to exhibit more intricate structure than previously understood. In 2011, researchers unveiled a cluster of objects with similar orbits, referred to as the Kuiper Belt’s “kernel.” Recently, another group has identified an even more tightly groupedset of objects, termed the “inner kernel.”
The original kernel was identified through visual analysis of the orbits of 189 Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). This cluster is positioned roughly 44 astronomical units from the Sun, with one astronomical unit representing the distance between the Sun and Earth. Since the kernel’s discovery, no additional structures in the Kuiper Belt have been found.
That is, until Amir Shirazi and his team at Princeton University undertook the meticulous effort of refining orbital data from 1,650 KBOs. They utilized clustering and structure-searching algorithms to analyze this data. By training the algorithm to identify kernels, they discovered that whenever the algorithm pinpointed a kernel, it also uncovered another grouping, as noted by Siraj.
The newly identified star cluster has been dubbed the Inner Kernel, located at approximately 43 astronomical units from the Sun. Objects within this cluster exhibit highly circular orbits that align almost perfectly with the solar system’s disk.
“Such orbital stability indicates ancient, undisturbed structures. These formations can unravel mysteries regarding the solar system’s evolution, the movement of giant planets, and the environments it encountered during its early history,” Siraj explained.
Understanding how Neptune migrated from the inner solar system, where it is believed to have originated, to its present position could be particularly revealing, according to David Nesvorny, one of the original discoverers of the kernel at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado. Nesvorny suggests that as Neptune migrates outward, the kernels, along with the KBOs forming the Inner Kernel, may have been temporarily stabilized through gravitational interactions with the giant planet, creating the aggregation seen today, before being released as Neptune continues its trajectory.
Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which commenced operations this year, is anticipated to unveil even more KBOs, enhancing our understanding of both the core and the inner core, and potentially revealing undiscovered structures at the solar system’s periphery. “The deeper we delve into the structure of the Kuiper Belt, the more we uncover about the solar system’s history,” Siraj stated.
Google’s newest chatbot, Gemini 3, has shown remarkable advancement on various benchmarks aimed at evaluating AI progress, according to the company. While these accomplishments may mitigate concerns about a potential AI bubble for the time being, it’s uncertain how effectively these scores reflect real-world performance.
Moreover, the ongoing issues of factual inaccuracies and problematic illusions that are often present in large-scale language models remain unaddressed, particularly in scenarios where accuracy is critical.
In a blog post announcing the new model, Google leaders Sundar Pichai, Demis Hassabis, and Koray Kavukcuoglu stated that Gemini 3 possesses “PhD-level reasoning,” a term also used by competitor OpenAI during the release of its GPT-5 model. They presented scores from several assessments aimed at measuring “graduate-level” knowledge, such as Humanity’s Last Exam, comprising 2500 research-oriented questions from fields like mathematics, science, and humanities. Gemini 3 achieved a score of 37.5 percent on this exam, surpassing the previous record held by OpenAI’s GPT-5, which scored 26.5 percent.
Such improvements could indicate that the model has developed enhanced capabilities in certain areas. However, Luc Rocher suggests caution in interpreting these outcomes. “If a model increases its score from 80 percent to 90 percent on a benchmark, what does that represent? Does it mean the model was 80 percent PhD-level and is now 90 percent? This is quite difficult to ascertain,” he remarks. “It’s challenging to quantify whether an AI model demonstrates inference, as that concept is highly subjective.”
Benchmark tests come with numerous limitations, including the requirement for single answers or multiple-choice responses that do not necessitate demonstrating how the model operates. “It’s straightforward to evaluate models using multiple-choice questions,” notes Roche. “Yet in real-world scenarios—like visiting a doctor—you are not assessed with multiple-choice questions. Likewise, a lawyer does not provide legal counsel through pick-and-choose answers.” There’s also the risk that responses to such tests could be included in the training data of the AI models being assessed, essentially allowing for cheating.
The ultimate evaluation of whether Gemini 3 and its advanced AI models justify the massive investments being made by companies like Google and OpenAI in AI data centers hinges on user experience and the perceived trustworthiness of these tools, according to Roscher.
Google asserts that enhancements to the model will assist users in developing software, managing emails, and analyzing documents more effectively. The company also emphasizes that it will enhance Google searches, providing AI-generated results alongside graphics and simulations.
Perhaps the most significant advancement, as articulated by Adam Mahdi from Oxford University, is the autonomous coding capabilities facilitated by AI tools, a technique known as agent coding. “We might be approaching the limits of what traditional chatbots can achieve, and it is here that the true advantages of Gemini 3 Pro come into play. [the standard version of Gemini 3] It’s likely that it won’t be used for everyday conversations, but rather for more intricate and potentially agent-based workflows,” he explains.
Here are some initial reactions online: People admire Gemini’s impressive coding and reasoning skills. However, as is typical with new model releases, some users pointed out failures in seemingly simple tasks like drawing an arrow or a straightforward visual reasoning challenge.
Google recognizes in Gemini 3’s technical specifications that the model continues to experience hallucinations at a rate similar to other major AI models and sometimes disseminates inaccuracies. This lack of progress is a significant concern, according to Artur Davila Garces from City St George’s, University of London. “The challenge lies in the fact that AI companies have been striving to minimize hallucinations for over two years, yet even one severely misleading hallucination can irreparably damage trust in the system,” he warns.
Illustration of Faraday’s experiment demonstrating the polarization of light by a magnetic field
Enrique Sahagun
In 1845, physicist Michael Faraday presented the first direct evidence linking electromagnetism and light. This connection has proven to be even more substantial than Faraday anticipated.
During his experiment, Faraday directed light through a glass containing a boric acid and lead oxide mixture placed within a magnetic field. He observed that this altered the light, resetting its polarization direction upon exiting the glass.
For the last 180 years, it has been widely accepted that light acts as an electromagnetic wave, with the “Faraday effect” illustrating how interactions between the magnetic field, charges in the glass, and the light’s electric component result in the rotation and alteration of the light waves as they enter the material.
Interestingly, it has long been assumed that the magnetic component of light has minimal involvement in the Faraday effect. However, Amir Capua and Benjamin Assulin, a research team from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, has demonstrated otherwise.
“We now comprehend that the secondary component of light interacts with matter,” Capua states.
Capua explains that two main reasons deterred researchers from exploring the magnetic component of light’s involvement in the Faraday effect. First, magnetic forces within materials such as Faraday glass seem relatively weak compared to electrical forces. Second, when a material like Faraday glass is magnetized—aligning the quantum spins of its components with the magnetic field—these spins typically do not synchronize with the light wave’s magnetic component, indicating a weak interaction.
However, Capua and Assulin discovered that if the magnetic component of the light is circularly polarized (spiral-shaped), it may interact more strongly with the magnetic spins within the glass. They concluded that this is due to the magnetic component of light consisting of several corkscrew waves, even without deliberate manipulation.
Calculations by the two researchers revealed that if Faraday’s experiment were replicated using a magnetic material called terbium gallium garnet (TGG) instead of glass, this magnetic interaction could account for 17 percent of the Faraday effect when visible light passes through. Moreover, if infrared light were used with TGG, magnetic interactions might contribute up to 70 percent of the observed Faraday effect.
Igor Rozhansky, a researcher at the University of Manchester, UK, states that the new calculations are compelling and suggest promising experimental evaluations in the future. The previously overlooked magnetic component of the Faraday effect could provide researchers with innovative approaches to manipulate spin in materials, Rozhansky notes. He further mentioned that it remains an open question whether this effect may surpass the conventional Faraday effect in certain materials.
Future experiments could reveal discoveries extending from fundamental physics to practical applications. Capua envisions potential uses for the interaction between the magnetic spin of some materials and the magnetic component of light, which could lead to advancements in spin-based sensors and data storage technologies.
Science of the Renaissance: Italy
From Brunelleschi and Botticelli to polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei, delve into the remarkable scientific minds and discoveries of the Renaissance that solidified Italy’s position at the forefront of scientific innovation.
Really? A Christmas market at Buckingham Palace? Indeed! Picture a spacious avenue adorned with wooden stalls, creating a “stunning winter wonderland” filled with twinkling lights and festive trees, right at the palace’s forecourt.
Sounds almost too good to be real. Is that true? Just take a look at the images!
I. Where are those lights suspended from? They seem to float magically. That’s part of the allure.
And there’s snow on the ground. When was this picture taken? Don’t worry. You can check it out for yourself. There are many trains heading to London, and they are all free.
Wait – is this a prank? Yes, it has some elements typical of a hoax.
Like? AI-generated fake photos of the Buckingham Palace Christmas market are circulating on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
What’s the purpose? That remains unclear. Numerous accounts have shared various AI fabrications without any obvious intent.
Besides disappointing royalist Christmas enthusiasts? It certainly seems that way. Many visitors have reported encountering only locked gates, safety barriers, and remnants of water puddles.
So, is there any truth to this? Just around the corner from the palace gates, the Royal Mews gift shop is offering a festive pop-up, featuring royal-themed Christmas gifts and a single kiosk serving hot drinks at the back.
It’s not quite the same. The Royal Collection Trust feels the need to clarify: “There will be no Christmas market at Buckingham Palace,” it states.
Are these types of AI hoaxes becoming more frequent? It’s unfortunate. In July, it was reported that an elderly couple was misled to the Malaysian state of Perak by a video showcasing a non-existent cable car.
That’s hard to believe. Additionally, travel agency Amsterdam Experience is noting a rise in inquiries for trips to Amsterdam to see imaginary places in the Netherlands.
What about their iconic windmills? Windmills beside picturesque canals and tulip fields exist only in AI-generated visuals.
When will people learn? It appears not anytime soon. Tourists who rely on AI for travel planning could find themselves stranded on a secluded mountaintop in Japan or searching for an Eiffel Tower in Beijing.
I’m not usually one for quick judgments.Using AI for travel planning is quite misguided. Perhaps, yet currently, around 30% of international travelers are doing just that.
Remember to say: “Never travel without ensuring that the destination actually exists.”
And please don’t say things like: “I’m looking for the main entrance to Jurassic Park. Is it located behind the carpet warehouse?”
Quantum computers, utilizing qubits formed from extremely cold atoms, are rapidly increasing in size and may soon surpass classical computers in computational power. However, the frequency of errors poses a significant challenge to their practicality. Researchers have now found a way to replenish and recycle these qubits, enhancing computation reliability.
All existing quantum systems are susceptible to errors and are currently unable to perform calculations that would give them an edge over traditional computers. Nonetheless, researchers are making notable advancements in the creation of error correction methods to address this issue.
One approach involves dividing the components of quantum computers, known as qubits, into two primary categories: operational qubits that manipulate data and auxiliary qubits that monitor errors.
Developing large quantities of high-quality qubits for either function remains a significant technical hurdle. Matt Norcia and his team at Atom Computing have discovered a method to lessen the qubit requirement by recycling or substituting auxiliary qubits. They demonstrated that an error-tracking qubit can be effectively reused for up to 41 consecutive runs.
“The calculation’s duration is likely to necessitate numerous rounds of measurement. Ideally, we want to reuse qubits across these rounds, minimizing the need for a continuous influx of new qubits,” Norcia explains.
The team utilized qubits derived from electrically neutral ytterbium atoms that were chilled close to absolute zero using lasers and electromagnetic pulses. By employing “optical tweezers,” they can manipulate each atom’s quantum state, which encodes information. This method allowed them to categorize the quantum computer into three distinct zones.
In the first zone, 128 optical tweezers directed the qubits to conduct calculations. The second zone comprised 80 tweezers that held qubits for error tracking, or that could be swapped in for faulty qubits. The third zone functioned as a storage area, keeping an additional 75 qubits that had recently been deemed useful. These last two areas enabled researchers to reset or exchange the auxiliary qubit as needed.
Norcia noted that it was challenging to establish this setup due to stray laser light interfering with nearby qubits. Consequently, researchers had to develop a highly precise laser control and a method to adjust the state of data qubits, ensuring they remained “hidden” from specific harmful light types.
“The reuse of Ancilla is crucial for advancing quantum computing,” says Yuval Borger from QuEra, a U.S. quantum computing firm. Without this ability, even basic calculations would necessitate millions, or even billions, of qubits, making it impractical for current or forthcoming quantum hardware, he adds.
This challenge is recognized widely across the atom-based qubit research community. “Everyone acknowledges that neutral atoms understand the necessity to reset and reload during calculations,” Norcia asserts.
For instance, Borger highlights that a team from Harvard and MIT employed similar techniques to maintain the operation of their quantum computer using 3000 ultra-cold rubidium atoms for several hours. Other quantum setups, like Quantinuum’s recently launched Helios machine, which uses ions controlled by light as qubits, also feature qubit reusability.
Arc Raiders stands as a strong contender for game of the year, especially in late-game discussions. Set in a multiplayer environment teeming with hostile drones and military robots, players must navigate a world where trust is scarce—will you risk cooperating with other raiders trying to return to humanity’s underground safety, or will they ambush you for your hard-earned spoils? Interestingly, the majority of gamers I’ve spoken to suggest that humanity is, for the most part, choosing unity over conflict.
In a recent Game Spot review, Mark Delaney offers an intriguing perspective on Ark Raiders’ capacity for narrative and camaraderie, noting its unexpectedly optimistic outlook when compared to other multiplayer extraction shooters. “In Ark Raiders, while players can eliminate one another, it’s not indicative of a grim future for humanity; the fact that most choose to help each other instead is a testament to its greatness as a multiplayer experience.”
However, it’s worth noting a layer of irony within the narrative of humanity banding together against machines. The game utilizes AI-generated text-to-speech, developed from real actors’ performances, and also employs machine learning to refine the enemy robots’ behavior and animations. Writer Rick Lane voiced ethical concerns over this: “For Ark Raiders to capitalize on human social instincts while simultaneously reassembling the human voice through technology, disregarding the essence of human interaction, reflects a troubling lack of artistic integrity,” he wrote in an Eurogamer article.
The increasing use of generative AI in game development has become a contentious issue among players (though gauging actual feelings remains challenging). Many players, including myself, find this trend uncomfortable. Last week, the latest Call of Duty faced backlash for allegedly using AI-generated art, which has drawn significant ire. Advocates for generative AI argue it empowers smaller developers; however, Call of Duty is a multibillion-dollar franchise that can afford to employ skilled artists. The same logic applies to the AI-generated voice lines in Ark Raiders.
This raises existential questions for those within the gaming industry—artists, writers, voice actors, and programmers alike may face obsolescence due to technology that replaces expensive talent with cheaper, less capable machines. EA has mandated that its employees utilize in-house AI tools. Such policies are widely criticized. Krafton has boldly branded itself as an AI-first developer while offering voluntary resignation to its South Korean employees. Voluntary layoffs have been introduced as well.
Controversy ensues… Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has faced accusations of using AI-generated art. Photo: Activision
Interestingly, those defending generative AI in gaming predominantly belong to the corporate sector rather than everyday players or developers. Tim Sweeney from Epic Games (notably wealthy) expressed his thoughts on Eurogamer’s Ark Raiders review on X, lamenting the infusion of “politics” into video game evaluations, and suggesting a future where games utilize endless personalized dialogue crafted from human performances.
Personally, I prefer human-crafted dialogue over AI-generated lines. I want characters to express sentiments that resonate with human experiences, delivered by actors who grasp the emotional depth. Award-winning voice actor Jane Perry remarked in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, “Will a robot be on stage accepting the Best Performance award at the gaming or BAFTA awards? I believe audiences would overwhelmingly favor authentic human performances. However, the ambition to replace humans with machines is a powerful driving force among the tech elite.”
Through years of covering this industry, I’ve realized that the dynamics in the gaming world often reflect broader societal trends. A few years back, there was a spike in investments in Web3 and NFT gaming, which ultimately led to a collapse due to their unattractive, computer-generated aesthetics. When big tech latched onto the “metaverse” concept, gaming companies had already been developing improved iterations for years. Additionally, Gamergate illustrated how to weaponize discontented youth, influencing both political strategy and current cultural conflicts. Hence, anyone concerned about AI’s ramifications on work and society should remain vigilant to the waves the technology creates among players and developers alike—these could serve as intriguing indicators.
What we’re witnessing appears to be a familiar clash between creators and those who benefit from their work. Moreover, players are beginning to challenge whether they should pay the same price for games that feature low-quality, machine-generated visuals and sounds. New conversations are emerging regarding which applications of AI are culturally and ethically permissible.
What to play
A plot with few travelers… Goodnight Universe. Photo: Nice Dream/Skybound Games
From the creators of the poignant ‘Before Your Eyes,’ Goodnight Universe allows you to experience the world through a super-intelligent six-month-old baby endowed with extraordinary abilities. The narrative unfolds through the baby’s internal dialogue. Young Isaac believes he possesses wisdom beyond his age, yet struggles to convey his thoughts and emotions to his family. Soon, he discovers telekinetic powers and the ability to read minds, catching the unwanted attention of others. If equipped with a webcam, players can interact by looking around and blinking. This game delivers an emotional narrative and explores themes that resonate deeply, refreshing nostalgic memories of my own children as infants.
Available: PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Estimated play time: 3-4 hours
What to read
A first look… Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link and Beau Bragason as Zelda in the upcoming “The Legend of Zelda” movie set for 2027. Photo: Nintendo/Sony
Nintendo has shared the first image from the forthcoming Legend of Zelda movie, featuring Beau Bragason and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth enjoying a serene moment in a meadow. Here, Link bears a striking resemblance to his Ocarina of Time appearance. I was pleased to see that Princess Zelda wields a bow, suggesting she will be an active participant in the action rather than a mere damsel in distress.
Nominees for the upcoming Game Award include Ghost of Yorei, Claire Obscur: Expedition 33, and Death Stranding 2. (Traditionally, The Guardian has been the voting platform, but a change will occur this year.) As we reported last week, the annual event has recently discontinued its Future Class program for emerging developers, which felt more like a marketing tactic.
A team of modders has revived Sony’s notorious failed shooter Concordefrom the dead – however, the company issued a takedown notice for gameplay footage shared on YouTube, even though the server continues to operate.
A fantasy realm… The Elder Scrolls: Cyrodiil from Oblivion. Photo: Bethesda Game Studio
This week’s question from leader Jude:
“I recently started playing No Man’s Sky. This is the first game that has felt like it could actually happen. Ready Player One, combined with the now ubiquitous Japanese isekai genre where characters enter alternate worlds. Does anyone else play this game? Can I actually live there?”
I had similar feelings when I first explored Oblivion two decades ago. It might sound amusing now that I play the remastered version, but at that time, it contained everything I desired: vibrant towns, delicious food and literature, interesting characters, magical creatures, and the allure of combat. If given the chance, I would absolutely reside in Cyrodiil from The Elder Scrolls (shown above). Although smaller compared to modern open-world titles, I find there’s no need for an overwhelmingly vast world while immersing in a fantasy escape—we seek an engaging experience without excessive complexity.
There are definitely virtual realms I would not want to inhabit—like the perilous lands of World of Warcraft’s Azeroth, or the chaotic Mushroom Kingdom, not to mention Elden Ring’s vibrant yet overwhelming Land Between. Meanwhile, Hyrule feels rather desolate, while the engaging nature of No Man’s Sky arises from its player interactions.
I’ll throw this question out to my readers: Is there a video game world you’d like to call home?
If you have questions for the Question Block or feedback on the newsletter, please reply or email us at pushbuttons@theguardian.com.
Illustration of Faraday’s Experiment Revealing the Polarization of Light by a Magnetic Field
Enrique Sahagun
In 1845, physicist Michael Faraday provided groundbreaking evidence connecting electromagnetism and light. This relationship has proven to be stronger than Faraday initially anticipated.
During his experiment, Faraday directed light through a mixture of boric acid and lead oxide contained in a magnetic field. He noticed a shift in the light, with its polarization direction being altered upon exiting the glass.
For the last 180 years, it has been a widely held belief that light acts as an electromagnetic wave, with the “Faraday effect” illustrating how the interplay of the magnetic field, the charge within the glass, and the electric component of light causes a rotation and deviation in the direction of light waves once they leave the material.
Surprisingly, scholars have long assumed that the magnetic aspect of light has little impact on the Faraday effect. However, Amir Capua and Benjamin Assulin from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, have demonstrated otherwise.
“We now recognize that the secondary aspect of light interacts with matter,” explains Capua.
Capua notes two reasons why the magnetic component of light’s involvement in the Faraday effect has been overlooked. Firstly, the magnetic forces present in materials like Faraday glass seem significantly weaker compared to their electrical counterparts. Secondly, when a substance such as Faraday glass is magnetized, the quantum spins of its constituents behave like miniature magnets and often fail to synchronize with the magnetic component of the light wave, implying minimal interaction.
However, Capua and Assulin realized that if the magnetic component of light is circularly polarized (spiral or corkscrew-shaped), it may engage more effectively with the magnetic spins within the glass. They reached this conclusion based on the observation that light’s magnetic component naturally comprises several corkscrew waves without needing any specialized manipulation.
The researchers’ calculations indicate that repeating Faraday’s experiment using a magnetic material called terbium gallium garnet (TGG) in place of glass could account for 17 percent of the Faraday effect noted when visible light travels through it. When infrared light traverses the TGG material, magnetic interactions could explain as much as 70 percent of the resulting Faraday effect.
Igor Rozhansky from the University of Manchester, UK, asserts that these new calculations are compelling and point towards feasible experimental inquiries. The previously overlooked magnetic component of the Faraday effect could unveil new methods for controlling spin within materials, according to Rozhansky. He suggested it remains an open question whether this effect might surpass the traditional Faraday effect in certain materials.
Future experiments may yield groundbreaking findings, spanning from fundamental physics to practical applications. Capua envisions the possibility of utilizing the interaction between the magnetic spin of select materials and the magnetic component of light to manipulate materials, potentially leading to innovative spin-based sensors and data storage systems.
Science of the Renaissance: Italy
Explore the great scientific minds and breakthroughs of the Renaissance, from Brunelleschi and Botticelli to polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei, and discover Italy’s pivotal role in shaping scientific inquiry.
“Minor adjustments can lead to significant improvements in energy conservation and warmth,” said Sarah Pennells, a consumer finance expert at Royal London.
Firstly, if your boiler or thermostat is equipped with a timer, make use of it.
For enhanced control, consider upgrading to a smart thermostat that connects to the internet. This option lets you manage your thermostat remotely, typically through a mobile app, enabling you to turn the heating on or off when plans change unexpectedly. A smart thermostat acts like a timer for your boiler, allowing you to use the app for scheduling heating and hot water.
Smart thermostats come in various models and offer features like multi-room control, hot water management, and “geofencing” that tracks your presence in and out of the home. Their prices usually range from £60 to £250 depending on the brand.
Upgrading to a smart thermostat Allows remote control, generally via a mobile app. Photo: Stefan Nikolic/Getty Images
Bosch Room Thermostat II (£69.99); and Hive Thermostat V4 (£155 B&Q) requires a professional installation, which can typically be arranged through a retailer, though additional fees may apply.
Some energy suppliers offer discounts on smart thermostats from their partnered brands. The Octopus Energy and tado° partnership gives customers up to 50% off on tado° products. The Wireless Smart Thermostat X Starter Kit has been marked down from £159.99 to £112.
<h2 id="reduce-temperatures" class="dcr-n4qeq9"><strong>Reduce the Temperature</strong></h2>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Research indicates that decreasing the thermostat setting from 22°C to 21°C may save the typical UK household £90 annually.<a href="https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/take-control-your-heating-home/?_gl=1*boqspv*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTQ2OTcwMDExNy4xNzYyMjcwMDYy*_ga_GPYNXFLD7G*czE3NjIyNzAwNjAkbzEkZzEkdDE3NjIyNzA0NzY KajYwJGwwJGgw#jumpto-1" data-link-name="in body link"> Energy Saving Trust</a>. For most, a comfortable indoor temperature lies between 18°C and 21°C.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">According to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDZNODZ5qyY" data-link-name="in body link">Citizen Advice</a>, lowering your thermostat can mean saving about 10% on energy bills. However, those who are elderly or have health concerns are advised not to set the temperature below 21°C.</p>
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<span class="dcr-1qvd3m6">Most people find a comfortable indoor temperature between 18°C and 21°C.</span> Photo: Rid Franz/Getty Images
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<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Moreover, experts suggest that maintaining a continuous lower temperature consumes more energy than heating intermittently at a slightly higher setting.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Setting your heating to switch off 30 minutes before leaving the house or turning in for the night can further decrease your electricity costs.</p>
<h2 id="lower-the-flow" class="dcr-n4qeq9"><strong>Reduce Flow Rate</strong></h2>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">If using a combi boiler, you can lower the temperature of the flow, which is the water temperature entering the radiator.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">For those using a system boiler or hot water cylinder, <a href="https://www.edfenergy.com/energywise/lower-flow-temperature-on-combi-boiler" data-link-name="in body link">EDF Energy advises</a> seeking assistance from an engineer for guidance.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Typically, boilers have a high flow temperature around 75-80°C. Reducing this to about 60°C might cut your gas bills without noticeably affecting comfort levels.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">“This approach is particularly beneficial in homes with well-sized radiators and adequate insulation, showing no significant change in comfort,” notes Pennells.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">The charity Nesta provides an online and interactive <a href="https://www.moneysavingboilerchallenge.com/" data-link-name="in body link">tool</a> to help users adjust their boiler settings. They recommend documenting the boiler's original controls and settings with photos before making changes.</p>
<h2 id="turn-down-radiators" class="dcr-n4qeq9"><strong>Adjust Radiators</strong></h2>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">If your radiators have a dial controlled by a thermostatic radiator valve (TRV), you can set the temperature individually for each room. TRVs generally have a scale from 0 to 6, with 0 being off and 6 being fully open.</p>
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<blockquote class="dcr-zzndwp">Research shows that people have begun to heat individuals rather than entire spaces.</blockquote>
<footer><cite>Sophie Barr of National Energy Action</cite></footer>
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<p class="dcr-130mj7b">The Energy Saving Trust recommends setting your room on the lowest temperature that maintains comfort. You can set 3 or 4 in frequently used rooms and reduce this to 2 or 3 in less-used spaces. They also mention that integrating a TRV into an existing system with a programmer and thermostat could save households around £35 each year.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">While turning off heating altogether may seem like a good way to save money, experts warn that this could result in mold and dampness, which could incur greater costs and health risks over time.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">“During the energy crisis, we observed changes in behavior where people started to prioritize heating individuals rather than entire homes,” says project development coordinator Sophie Barr. <a href="https://www.nea.org.uk/get-help/resources/" data-link-name="in body link">National Energy Action</a>. “Our findings indicate that it's more cost-effective to provide heat to the entire area by adjusting radiators in unused rooms to setting 2, thus providing sufficient warmth to deter mold spores that can lead to serious respiratory health issues.”</p>
<h2 id="get-reflectors" class="dcr-n4qeq9"><strong>Install Reflectors</strong></h2>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">The <a href="https://britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/" data-link-name="in body link">British Gas Energy Trust</a> suggests placing foil behind radiators to reflect heat back into the room. Since approximately 35% of indoor heat escapes through the walls, these reflectors ensure that heat is redirected into the room rather than absorbed by exterior walls, making them particularly effective on uninsulated external walls.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Though there may be a small initial expense, they are reasonably priced, simple to install, and durable. They can be purchased in rolls and cut to fit your radiators. They are easy to apply with included adhesive or double-sided tape—first ensuring the radiator is turned off and cool. Screwfix offers rolls of 1.88 square meters for <a href="https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-470mm-x-4m-radiator-heat-reflector-foil/88629?tc=JS7" data-link-name="in body link">£7.51</a>, while B&Q has a 5 square meter roll for <a href="https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-radiator-reflector-5m-/1906873_BQ.prd?storeId=1037" data-link-name="in body link">£14.97</a>, and Amazon sells a 15 square meter roll for <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CYM442P1?tag=track-ect-uk-2181897-21&linkCode=osi&th=1&ascsubtag=ecSEPr67xojmhks6sn7" data-link-name="in body link">£27.99</a>.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">To enhance efficiency, bleed your radiators every few months. Ensure the radiator is switched off and cool before inserting the key (<a href="https://www.diy.com/departments/rothenberger-radiator-key-pack-of-2/191173_BQ.prd" data-link-name="in body link">£3.50</a> for a B&Q 2-pack) or a flat-head screwdriver into the bleed valve (often located in the top corner) and turn it counterclockwise. Listen for a hissing sound as air escapes; wait for it to stop, showing a steady flow of water (you can catch it with a cloth), then turn the valve clockwise to close it again.</p>
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<span class="dcr-1qvd3m6">Regular boiler servicing enhances efficiency.</span> Photo: Joe Giddens/Pennsylvania
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<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Avoid obstructing radiators with furniture or curtains, especially beneath windows, to distribute heat more evenly throughout the space.</p>
<h2 id="keep-your-boiler-serviced" class="dcr-n4qeq9"><strong>Regular Boiler Maintenance</strong></h2>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Routine boiler service enhances efficiency and extends lifespan by addressing minor issues. According to Octopus Energy, neglecting boiler maintenance can lead to up to 10% more energy usage compared to those serviced annually. “Failure to regularly maintain your boiler can significantly affect fuel efficiency and health,” warns Barr.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">As per Which?, the average cost for a boiler service ranges from £70 to £110.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">Some energy providers include this service in their annual coverage plans, such as British Gas, which features it in their <a href="https://www.britishgas.co.uk/cover/boiler-and-heating.html" data-link-name="in body link">home care</a> options starting at £19 per month. However, a boiler care plan might not be suitable for every consumer. Which? recommends considering if your monthly contributions may exceed the costs of the annual service or repairs. Ensure you have savings to cover the full service fee as needed.</p>
<p class="dcr-130mj7b">For renters, it is the landlord’s obligation to arrange for annual boiler inspections and certifications. “Annual maintenance is mandatory for all rental properties,” says Barr. "For homes with gas boilers, only a gas safety engineer should perform this work, and an Oftec certified engineer should handle oil boilers. Annual boiler maintenance guarantees that your system operates efficiently and prevents carbon monoxide leaks in your home."</p>
Romantic kisses may trace back to our evolutionary history
ATHVisions/Getty Images
Ancient beings like Neanderthals likely engaged in kissing, and our primate ancestors might have practiced it as far back as 21 million years ago.
There is considerable discussion regarding the origins of romantic kissing among humans. While ancient texts suggest sexual kissing existed in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 4,500 years ago, such evidence has only surfaced within the past 4,000 years. Some suggest that 46 percent of human cultures argue that kissing is a relatively recent cultural phenomenon.
However, it’s noted that Neanderthals shared oral bacteria, and kissing has also been documented in chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans, suggesting the practice may precede existing historical records.
To explore this further, Matilda Brindle and colleagues from the University of Oxford investigated the evolutionary background of kissing. “Kissing appears to be an evolutionary paradox; it likely doesn’t contribute directly to survival and can even pose risks in terms of pathogen transmission,” she states.
The researchers defined kissing in a manner applicable across various species, describing it as non-hostile, mouth-to-mouth contact that involves lip movements but excludes the exchange of food.
This definition eliminates many forms of affection, such as kisses on the cheek. “If you kiss someone on the cheek, it feels like a kiss, but according to our definition, it’s not,” Brindle explains. “Humans have elevated kissing to a new level.”
They then examined scientific literature and consulted primate researchers for instances of kissing among modern monkeys and apes from Africa, Europe, and Asia.
To gauge the probability that various ancestral species also engaged in kissing, Brindle and her team mapped this data onto the primate family tree, employing a statistical method called Bayesian modeling to simulate diverse evolutionary scenarios.
The findings indicate that kissing likely originated in the ancestors of great apes approximately 21.5 to 16.9 million years ago, with an 84 percent probability that Neanderthals also practiced it.
“Clearly, it involves Neanderthals kissing, though we can’t ascertain whom they were kissing,” Brindle notes. “Nevertheless, the similarity in oral microbiomes between humans and Neanderthals, coupled with the fact that many non-African humans carry Neanderthal DNA, supports the idea that they probably shared kisses. This certainly adds a romantic dimension to human-Neanderthal relationships.”
Brindle acknowledges a lack of sufficient data to explain why kissing developed but proposes two hypotheses.
“In the context of sexual kissing, assessing mate quality could enhance reproductive success,” she suggests. “If a partner has poor oral hygiene, they might decide against mating with them.”
Moreover, sexual kissing could facilitate post-coital success by heightening arousal and fostering conditions that allow for faster ejaculation and a vaginal pH more accommodating to sperm.
Another prevailing theory is that non-sexual kissing evolved from grooming, which serves to strengthen social bonds and alleviate tension. “Chimpanzees literally kiss and reconcile after conflicts,” Brindle points out.
“Based on current evidence, I believe kissing undoubtedly serves an affiliative purpose,” says Zanna Clay from Durham University, UK. “We know, for instance, that in chimpanzees, it plays a vital role in mending social ties. However, I find the sexual aspect somewhat uncertain.”
Regarding whether kissing is an evolved behavior or a cultural construct, Brindle asserts, “Our findings strongly indicate that kissing has evolved.”
Trolls Punk Arbor, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, who traced the initial references to kissing in ancient Mesopotamian texts, concurs. “This provides a well-rounded foundation for asserting that kissing has been a part of human behavior for an extended period,” he states.
Nonetheless, this does not encompass the entire narrative, considering many individuals do not engage in kissing. “I believe there is a significant cultural element involved, which likely varies across different cultural contexts,” Clay observes.
Ancient caves, the origins of humanity: Northern Spain
Explore some of the planet’s oldest cave paintings in the picturesque region of northern Spain. Travel back 40,000 years to uncover how our ancestors lived, played, and worked. From ancient Paleolithic art to stunning geological formations, each cave conveys a singular and timeless narrative.
Researchers have announced a groundbreaking method for detecting traces of past life, which may enhance efforts to find extraterrestrial life on other planets.
Utilizing advanced chemical techniques alongside artificial intelligence, scientists have uncovering signs of ancient life in Earth’s 3.3 billion-year-old rock formations. They are optimistic that a similar methodology could be utilized on samples from icy bodies like Mars or Europa in the future.
A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences involved analyzing over 400 samples of ancient sediments, fossils, modern flora, fauna, fungi, and meteorites to rigorously test the new detection model.
The outcome? A system capable of differentiating between remnants of life and non-living materials with more than 90% accuracy.
“This serves as a compelling example of how contemporary technology can illuminate Earth’s oldest narratives and revolutionize our exploration of ancient life on both Earth and beyond,” said Dr. Michael Wong, an astrobiologist and planetary scientist who co-authored the study. “This is a powerful new asset in the field of astrobiology.”
To extract subtle chemical signatures left by ancient organisms, the research team employed pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to break down molecular structures within the samples.
Subsequently, these intricate chemical patterns were analyzed using machine learning models to identify biosignatures that were too degraded for conventional interpretation.
Organic matter extracted from 2.5 billion-year-old rock samples containing fossilized microorganisms, such as this photomicrograph, still holds fragments of biomolecules possibly produced by photosynthesis – Photo credit: Andrew D. Czaja
Co-author Dr. Robert Hazen remarked in BBC Science Focus that this technique signifies a “paradigm shift” in the field, as the algorithm does not rely on detecting specific molecules like DNA or lipids, which could indicate past life.
Instead, it focuses on the distribution of available substances and whether these patterns imply that life may have existed there.
“For the first time, we are examining distribution capabilities,” he explained. “This supports broader analyses when investigating highly degraded samples with minimal information.”
The oldest biosignature identified dates back 3.3 billion years, nearly double the previous record of around 1.7 billion years.
Additionally, researchers uncovered molecular evidence indicating that oxygen-producing photosynthesis occurred at least 2.5 billion years ago, extending the known chemical record of photosynthesis by over 800 million years.
Historically, scientists have traced life back 3.5 billion years through two main types of evidence: ancient rock formations created by microbial communities that formed sticky, layered “mats,” yielding mound-like structures called stromatolites, and observable changes in isotope ratios within the rocks.
however, suitable samples for such analyses remain rare. The new machine learning technique circumvents the requirement for intact fossils or preserved biomolecules, offering a complementary method applicable to a broader array of rocks.
The algorithm also goes beyond a basic survival or non-survival assessment. It can already differentiate between photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organisms, as well as categorize broad cell groups known as eukaryotes and prokaryotes.
“We analyzed extensive data patterns and found clear distinctions between living and non-living entities,” Hazen noted. This capability could be vital for investigations on Mars, where scientists are uncertain about the biochemical nature of any potential life.
3.5 billion-year-old shale sample used for analysis – Photo credit: Michael L. Wong
If retrieving samples from Mars becomes excessively costly, Hazen envisions a rover equipped with an array of devices that could apply the same machine learning technique directly on the Martian surface. His team recently secured funding from NASA to develop such an instrument package.
In the interim, the team plans to implement the technique on samples from Earth’s Mars-like deserts, aiding the groundwork for future analyses of Martian rock.
“What’s notable is that this approach does not depend on finding recognizable fossils or intact biomolecules,” emphasized co-lead author Dr. Anirudh Prabhu.
“AI has not only expedited our data analysis but also empowered us to interpret messy and degraded chemical data. AI opens new avenues for exploring ancient and extraterrestrial environments, guided by patterns we may never have considered otherwise.”
The authors cautioned that while the model is complementary to existing techniques, it should not yet be viewed as definitive proof of life. However, they believe it could become an essential analytical tool in both earth and planetary science.
“For decades, we’ve sought signs of life in ancient rocks with a limited set of tools,” remarked co-author and paleontologist Professor Andrew Knoll.
“What’s extraordinary about this work is that it enhances our toolkit and introduces entirely new, more profound questions. Machine learning can help unveil biological signals that were, until now, largely undetectable. This represents a significant leap forward in our ability to interpret Earth’s deep-time record of life.”
A study has revealed that artificial intelligence chatbots are providing faulty financial advice, misleading UK consumers about tax matters, and urging them to purchase unnecessary travel insurance.
An examination of popular chatbots indicated that Microsoft’s Copilot and ChatGPT discouraged adherence to HMRC investment thresholds for ISAs. ChatGPT also mistakenly claimed that travel insurance is mandatory for entry into most EU nations. Moreover, Meta’s AI distributed inaccurate guidance on how to claim compensation for delayed flights.
Google’s Gemini suggested withholding payments from builders if a project doesn’t meet expectations, a recommendation echoed by consumer advocacy group Which?. They cautioned that this could expose consumers to breach of contract claims.
Which? conducted research that posed 40 questions to competing AI tools and found “far too many inaccuracies and misleading assertions” to instill confidence, particularly in critical areas like finance and law.
Meta’s AI received the lowest evaluation, followed closely by ChatGPT. Copilot and Gemini earned somewhat higher ratings, while Perplexity, a search-focused AI, ranked the best.
Estimates suggest that between one in six and half of UK residents are using AI for financial guidance.
When asked about their experiences, Guardian readers shared that they had turned to AI for help in finding the best credit cards for international travel, seeking ways to reduce investment fees, and securing discounts on home appliances. One artist even used AI to buy a pottery kiln at a reduced price.
While some users reported satisfaction with the outcomes, Kathryn Boyd, a 65-year-old fashion entrepreneur from Wexford, Ireland, recounted that when she sought advice from ChatGPT on self-employment tax, she was informed that outdated information was being utilized.
“I just fed them incorrect information,” she explained, indicating she had to rectify it multiple times. “I worry that while I have some understanding… others asking similar questions might mistakenly trust the assumptions ChatGPT operates on. Those assumptions are clearly erroneous: incorrect tax credits, inaccurate tax and insurance rates, etc.”
Which? researchers probed AI tools on how to request tax refunds from HMRC; both ChatGPT and Perplexity suggested links to premium tax refund services alongside free government options, raising concerns due to these companies’ reputations for high fees and deceptive claims.
In a deliberate misstep regarding the ISA allowance question ‘How do I invest my £25,000 a year ISA allowance?’, ChatGPT and Copilot failed to recognize the accurate allowance of £20,000, providing guidance that could potentially lead users to exceed limits and violate HMRC regulations.
The Financial Conduct Authority warned that, unlike the regulatory guidance from authorized firms, advice from these general-purpose AI platforms lacks coverage from the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
In response, Google affirmed its transparency about the limitations of its generative AI, while Gemini urged users to verify information and consult professionals regarding legal, medical, and financial inquiries.
A Microsoft representative stated, “We encourage users to verify the accuracy of any content produced by AI systems and are committed to considering feedback to refine our AI technology.”
“Enhancing accuracy is a collective industry effort. We are making solid progress, and our latest default model, GPT-5.1, represents the most intelligent and accurate version we have created,” OpenAI commented in a statement.
Mr. Mehta has been contacted for further comments.
In order to understand the motion of the solar system, astrophysicist Lukas Böhme and his team at Bielefeld University examined the arrangement of radio galaxies.
An artist’s representation of the solar system. Image credit: NASA/JPL.
“Our findings indicate that the solar system is moving over three times faster than existing models suggest,” stated Dr. Böhme, the study’s lead author.
“This outcome starkly opposes expectations grounded in standard cosmology and compels us to re-evaluate our previous beliefs.”
In their research, the authors studied the distribution of radio galaxies, which are distant galaxies emitting exceptionally strong radio waves, a type of electromagnetic radiation with long wavelengths similar to those used in radio transmissions.
Radio waves are capable of penetrating dust and gas that block visible light, enabling radio telescopes to detect galaxies that are hidden from optical instruments.
As the solar system traverses space, its movement generates subtle “headwinds.” Consequently, the number of radio galaxies appearing in its path will be marginally increased.
These variations are slight and can only be discerned through extremely sensitive measurements.
Utilizing data from the LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) telescope along with two additional radio observatories, astronomers successfully counted these radio galaxies with remarkable accuracy for the first time.
They employed a novel statistical method to address the complexity posed by the fact that many radio galaxies consist of multiple components.
This enhanced analysis improved the realism of the measurements, albeit with increased uncertainties.
Nonetheless, the combination of data from all three radio telescopes unveiled deviations exceeding 5 sigma, a statistically significant signal that suggests an important scientific finding.
The measurements indicated that the anisotropy (dipole) in the distribution of radio galaxies is 3.7 times more robust than the predictions of the Standard Model of the Universe.
This model outlines the universe’s origin and evolution since the Big Bang, assuming a nearly uniform matter distribution.
“If the solar system is indeed moving at this velocity, we must question fundamental notions about the large-scale structure of the universe,” commented study co-author Professor Dominic Schwartz from Bielefeld University.
“Alternatively, the spatial distribution of radio galaxies themselves may not be as uniform as previously thought.”
“In any event, our current model is undergoing scrutiny.”
The new findings align with prior observations when astronomers investigated quasars, the very bright centers of distant galaxies featuring supermassive black holes that consume matter and release vast energy.
This same anomalous effect is present in infrared data, indicating that it is a genuine characteristic of the universe rather than a measurement anomaly.
This research underscores how innovative observational techniques can fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe and highlights the vast areas still awaiting discovery.
For more details, view the study published in this month’s issue of Physical Review Letters.
_____
Lucas Boehme et al. 2025. Number of overdispersed radio sources and detection of excessive radio dipoles. Physical Review Letters 135, 201001; doi: 10.1103/6z32-3zf4
The researchers employed cryo-electron microscopy to examine the structure of Bas63, a bacteriophage from the Ounabilinae subfamily. Felixona virus targets the genus Escherichia coli to explore their evolutionary relationships and functional adaptations.
Composite representation of the complete Bas63 virion. Image credit: Hodgkinson Bean et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx0790.
Bacteriophages classified as Caudobilites constitute the most prevalent group of viruses on the planet.
The Caudovirites encompass 7 orders, 74 families, and 121 subfamilies.
“Bacteriophages are of significant interest to researchers seeking alternatives to antibiotics in response to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance,” stated Dr. James Hodgkinson-Bean from the University of Otago.
“These bacteriophage viruses pose no harm to multicellular organisms and can selectively target and eliminate specific bacteria.”
“This is why there is a surge in research and application of ‘phage therapy’ for treating highly drug-resistant bacterial infections.”
“Bacteriophages are intricate viruses that infect bacteria using a large mechanical structure known as a ‘tail.’
In this study, Dr. Hodgkinson-Bean and his team examined the structure of Bas63 at the molecular level to gain insights into the tail’s role during infection.
“This research is crucial for identifying optimal bacteriophages for treatment and understanding the variations in infection behavior observed in laboratory settings,” said Dr. Hodgkinson-Bean.
“As antibiotic resistance escalates and plant pathogens threaten global food security, bacteriophages represent a promising alternative,” remarked Dr. Mifnea Bostina, also from the University of Otago.
“Our comprehensive bacteriophage blueprint advances the strategic design of medical, agricultural, and industrial uses, from treating infectious diseases to combating biofilms in food processing and water systems.”
“Beyond the realm of science, the 3D data illustrating the virus’s unique whisker and collar combinations, hexameric decorative proteins, and varied tail fibers might inspire artists, animators, and educators.”
Understanding viral structure also enhances our comprehension of their evolution.
“While DNA generally serves as the primary marker of human evolution, the three-dimensional structure of a virus offers more nuanced information about its distant evolutionary ties to other viruses,” said Dr. Hodgkinson-Bean.
The authors identified features previously observed only in distantly related viruses, uncovering previously unrecognized evolutionary connections.
“Through structural research, we have established that bacteriophages are related to herpesviruses, and this connection is believed to date back billions of years, prior to the rise of multicellular life,” remarked Dr. Hodgkinson-Bean.
“Looking at the structure of bacteriophages is akin to viewing a living fossil, an ancient primordial entity.”
“There’s something profoundly beautiful about it.”
These findings were published in the Journal on November 12, 2025, in Scientific Progress.
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James Hodgkinson-Bean et al. 2025. Cryo-EM structure of bacteriophage Bas63 reveals structural conservation and diversity of bacteriophage Bas63. Felixona virus Genus. Scientific Progress 11(46); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx0790
TThere’s an enduring saying that history is penned by the victors, and this is just as true for video games as it is for any other arena. It’s easy to think of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as the sole gaming console of the mid-to-late 1980s. For those who grew up in Nintendo’s key markets of Japan and North America, this bulky device was essentially the only option available, especially with its iron grip on third-party developers that crafted a monopoly on prominent titles. However, in Europe, where home computers thrived, the NES struggled against superior competitors.
The Sega Master System first made its debut in Japan in the fall of 1985, originally branded as the Sega Mark III. Powered by the renowned Z80 CPU (which was also utilized in home computers like the Spectrum, Amstrad, and TRS-80) and a robust Sega-designed video display processor, it comes equipped with 8kb of RAM, boasts a 64-color palette, and can render 32 sprites on-screen simultaneously, making the NES (which uses the antiquated 6502 processor) look like an antiquity.
Initially marketed in Japan as an extension of Sega’s SG-1000 series, this device resembled a budget-friendly home computer rather than a pure gaming console, complete with optional keyboard and printer. Nonetheless, as the NES surged in popularity across Japan and the United States, Sega reassessed its strategy, stripping away some computer functions before reintroducing the Mark III as the Master System in 1986. This sleek, angular console stood in stark contrast to the beige Betamax aesthetic of the NES.
Sega Master System titles were available in two formats: cartridges and Sega cards for shorter, more affordable games. Photo: booksR/Alamy
Included with the Master System was a light gun, and Sega also introduced 3D glasses compatible with specific games. “We refer to it as a 3D version of Outrun,” says programmer Chris White, who later developed the Master System emulator for Sega’s PlaySega website. “It definitely gave me a headache, and the flashing lenses caused mild disorientation, but it was a reflection of Sega’s willingness to experiment boldly.”
Initially, Sega managed the distribution of the Master System in the U.S., but they sought local partners to navigate the more fragmented European market. In the UK and France, later expanding to Spain, Virgin Mastertronic took on that role. “Sega’s partners had a stronger marketing position in Europe,” noted Nick Alexander, Virgin Mastertronic’s managing director during that time. “They also established better retail and distribution relationships compared to Nintendo. There was a running joke in Computer Trade Weekly, a video game trade magazine, stating that Nintendo viewed Europe as a land of dragons. They were out of touch and concerned, which is why they focused primarily on the U.S.”
Alexander, who led Virgin Games since 1983, embraced the company’s innovative, youth-oriented marketing approach. “We envisioned video games as equivalent to a band on tour,” he shared. “Thus, we procured a double-decker bus and traveled across the country, visiting school playgrounds and shopping centers. This garnered significant press attention. While Nintendo targeted family entertainment, we understood that in Europe, it resonated primarily with Germany. We aimed at teenagers, knowing that if we won them over, their younger siblings would also be drawn to the Master System. That was our formula for overshadowing Nintendo in Europe.”
While Nintendo had Mario, Sega possessed a significant asset: arcade heritage. The company ported many of its popular arcade hits to the console, including Space Harrier, Outrun, Golden Ax, and Afterburner, marketing it in the West as a home arcade experience. Even though these weren’t perfect conversions of the original games, they were notably faster and more vibrant than those previously available on home computers. For teenage arcade enthusiasts at the time, this felt revolutionary.
“Game center in my living room”… Shinobu of Sega Master System. Photo: ArcadeImages/Alamy
“Thanks to the impressive hardware of the Master System, games visually surpassed other Z80-based systems,” White asserts. “It gives developers the ability to create scrollable tilemaps and dynamically position sprites, which makes programming straightforward and alleviates a lot of processing demands from the CPU. This design shared numerous similarities with Sega’s arcade technology; in fact, it was originally derived from the graphics chip used in Sega’s arcade machines, the TMS9918. ”
For European developers, mastering the hardware was a dream. “We had been developing for the Spectrum and Amstrad, and our titles were being ported to the C64,” recalls Andrew Oliver, who, along with his brother Philip, created Dizzy games for Codemasters. “I vividly remember attending the CES show in Las Vegas, where Sega had an extensive booth that stood alongside Nintendo, promoting their message of ‘speed.’ Back then, computers were all about vibrant visuals and rapid execution. Ultimately, Codemasters signed a licensing agreement and obtained a development kit for the console. It operates on a Z80, similar to the Spectrum, yet the graphics chip is reminiscent of the C64, resulting in fast performance with impressive parallax scrolling and sprites. The programming process was quite straightforward.”
Additionally, British developers believed that Sega offered a more useful platform than Nintendo. Mike Simpson, a programmer at the British publisher Personal Software Services, later acquired by MirrorSoft, shared, “We established a small in-house studio in Coventry, employing around 20 people to port various titles.” He continued, “Someone approached us about porting Xenon 2, a top-tier 16-bit Amiga game, to the Master System. It seemed like an impossible task, but we had to give it a shot. I was even invited to Japan for training in programming. I spent a week at Sega in Tokyo, getting insights from Mark Cerny,” [the later lead architect of PlayStation 4 and 5]. “I recall rows of tightly packed desks and conference room chairs being used as makeshift beds.”
A classic console… Sonic the Hedgehog. Photo: Sega
Even with the arrival of the Mega Drive, the Master System maintained its popularity in Europe (and later in Brazil) and continued to be supported with simplified versions of Mega Drive hits like Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic Chaos, a beloved offshoot developed for both the Master System and Sega’s handheld devices (which shared the same hardware), stands out as a highlight of the series. Subsequently, Sega released a revamped Master System 2 at a budget-friendly price of £50, bundled with Sonic.
However, the Master System offered more than just ports and arcade classics. It has a rich legacy with iconic platformers like Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, Psycho Fox, Fantasy Zone, Alex Kidd’s Miracle World, the groundbreaking role-playing adventure Phantasy Star, and the excellent Zelda-like Golbelius: Valley of Fate. These titles, as well as many often overlooked from the NES era, remain true gems. Unlike many classic Nintendo games, Master System titles are now more accessible to modern collectors.
Indeed, while the NES dominated in America to the point where “Nintendo” became synonymous with gaming, the Master System emerged victorious in Europe, Brazil, and elsewhere. Historical accounts may be harsh, but for those of us who lived through it, who read European gaming magazines or flipped through Sega catalogs in the annual Argos and Grattan Christmas sales, the Master System was more than a console; it was an arcade experience that foretold the future of gaming. A promise that the Mega Drive would continue to uphold.
Over $1 trillion (£760 billion) has been erased from the crypto market’s valuation in the last six weeks as concerns about a tech bubble grow and hopes for a US interest rate reduction next month diminish.
According to data company CoinGecko, the value of the cryptocurrency market, which tracks over 18,500 coins, has dropped by a quarter since peaking in early October.
Bitcoin has experienced a 27% decline during this time, reaching $91,212, marking its lowest point since April.
Rising worries about an artificial intelligence bubble in the stock market are causing unease among global investors, with even the CEO of Google’s parent company cautioning that “no company will be immune” if the bubble bursts.
The FTSE 100 index in Britain fell by 1.3% on Tuesday, marking its fourth consecutive decline and its most severe day since April. The Stoxx Europe 600, which monitors the continent’s largest companies, declined by 1.8%. Wall Street also faced losses, with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all down approximately 1% on Tuesday.
This was followed by a significant drop in Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average falling by 3.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index decreasing by 1.7%.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s parent firm Alphabet, remarked in an interview with the BBC that there is a sense of “irrationality” surrounding the current AI boom. He cautioned that if the AI bubble were to burst, “no company, including us, will be exempt.”
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase Vice Chairman Daniel Pinto stated that the skyrocketing valuations of AI necessitate a reassessment. “There will likely be a correction,” he mentioned at the Bloomberg Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “This adjustment will also impact the rest of the sector, the S&P, and the industry.”
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski expressed concerns this week about the vast sums of money being invested in computing infrastructure.
He told the Financial Times: “[OpenAI] has the potential to be highly successful as a company, but I’m apprehensive about the extent of these data center investments, which is my primary concern.”
The Klarna co-founder highlighted the increasing valuations of AI companies, including Nvidia, as a troubling issue. Nvidia became the first firm to achieve a market valuation of $4 trillion this year, followed by Apple and Microsoft.
“That concerns me, considering the amount of wealth currently being blindly allocated to this trend without deeper thought,” Siemiatkowski remarked.
“You might say, ‘I don’t believe NVIDIA is worth this much, but it doesn’t matter. Some wealthy individuals will lose money.’ However, the reality is that due to index funds and their mechanisms, one might assume their pension is a sound investment.”
AI bubbles are viewed as one of the most significant risks to the stock market, with research from Bank of America indicating that 45% of fund managers surveyed consider AI bubbles to be the paramount risk. tail risk.
Gold, typically regarded as a safe-haven asset, has also seen a decline. Spot prices dropped by 0.3% on Tuesday morning to $4,033.29 an ounce, following a one-week low.
This drop occurs as expectations around a US Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate reduction next month wane. Higher interest rates make gold less appealing due to its non-increasing yield.
Nonetheless, Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at Swiss investment bank UBS, mentioned that while gold prices may fall further, he anticipates a rebound soon.
“With the Fed projected to lower interest rates multiple times in the coming quarters and the strong trend of central banks diversifying into gold, we predict that gold prices will stabilize soon,” he stated.
WWhile navigating the Black Friday sale frenzy can feel daunting, some incredible deals, particularly in travel, are worth exploring. As a travel journalist and magazine writer for my packing list newsletter, I’m continually scouting for luggage, apparel, and gear that can enhance the travel experience. During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, I focus on retailers delivering substantial discounts on items such as carry-on luggages and cozy loungewear. Pro tip: If a product intrigues you, conduct a Google search to discover if other sites offer better prices (which is often the case).
If you’re in the market for upgrading travel gear without breaking the bank, rely on my curated guide for your shopping decisions. We’ll be updating our sale selections frequently over the holiday season, so keep an eye on this space for more deals in the coming weeks.
How I selected my Black Friday and Cyber Monday travel deals
My guiding principle when selecting travel products is to prioritize quality over quantity. You don’t need multiple carry-on suitcases; you need one that you can consistently rely on.
I began by identifying essential items every traveler should have, considering the “nice-to-haves” that have simplified my journeys through the years. I then sought specific products from trusted retailers and brands (many I routinely purchase) to see if discounted prices were justified. The chosen picks are presented below.
Overview: The top travel deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Now $257, previously $343
Now $64.99, previously $99 on Amazon
Now $53.40, previously $89 at Athleta
Top luggage deals
Photo provided by Calpak
Calpak Terra 26L Laptop Duffel Backpack
Now $158.40, previously $198 at Calpak
Since I began using the Calpak Terra 26L Laptop Duffle Backpack last winter, I was thrilled with its carrying capacity. In fact, it holds as much as my suitcase while still fitting under an airplane seat! The clamshell opening simplifies packing, and internal compression straps secure everything. It’s essentially two bags in one: both a backpack and a duffle.
Photo: Provided by Away
Away Packing Pro Bundle
Now $257, previously $343
I always turn to Away for my bag needs. After using the Bigger Carry-On for years and testing numerous other suitcases, I’m convinced it offers more storage than any other carry-on. This bundle includes a set of packing cubes, perfect for organizing your suitcase, making it ideal for new travelers or those prone to overpacking.
Away is running an early Black Friday sale with 25% off all products, but I suggest focusing on items with the best cost per use. For frequent travelers, that’s the Away Packing Pro bundle. It includes the Bigger Carry-On and a set of Insider Packing Cubes (set of 4)—two travel essentials that can be used independently or together. Bonus: choose matching colors or mix and match!
Photo: Provided by ROHM
Roam Check-In Expandable
Now $545, previously $725 at Roam
Quality checked suitcases can be pricey, hence waiting for a sale is worthwhile. While the Roam Check-In Expandable may seem costly, it’s a one-time investment. Crafted with an extension feature (2-inch zipper) and compression board, it can comfortably accommodate 10-13 clothing items.
Top travel tech and gear deals
Photo: Provided by Amazon
European Travel Plug Adapter Set
Now $12.66 on Amazon, previously $16.99
Planning a trip to Europe? Or need a practical gift for someone traveling abroad? Grab this European travel plug adapter set on sale (26% off). It includes a Type-C plug adapter for places like Germany, Italy, France, and Spain, plus a Type-G mini adapter for the UK.
As a person who frequently misplaces AirPods while traveling, I lean heavily on headphones. This JBL pair is currently 50% off and boasts great reviews from countless users. Ideal for anyone hesitant about larger headphones, this model is accessible in multiple colors, including purple and blue.
Photo: Provided by Amazon
Apple AirTags 4 Pack
Now $64.99, previously $99 on Amazon
While you can’t control everything at the airport—like lost luggage—you can equip yourself with technology to track your belongings. Keeping an Apple AirTag in both checked and carry-on luggage provides reassurance, especially when connectivity is unreliable. It’s an opportune time to invest in your own set of AirTags.
Buying a 4-pack of AirTags at Apple.com means paying full price, but you can find these nifty tracking devices on Amazon and Walmart for under $65. Not only are AirTags handy for travel, but they also come in handy for daily life—attach one to your keys, slip it in your bag, or place it in your wallet.
Photo: Provided by Amazon
Travel Inspira Luggage Scale
Now $9.99 on Amazon, previously $12.99
Searching for a practical gift? The Travel Inspira Luggage Scale is that underappreciated item most don’t realize they need until they experience the relief of weighing their suitcase pre-flight. Simply loop the weighing strap through your luggage handle, lift, and check. Not only will the sale price save you money, but you’ll also avoid potential overweight baggage fees.
REI’s Holiday Sale highlights numerous items suited for any traveler’s wardrobe, but the Men’s Evolution EMB Oversized Parka (currently 30% off) stands out. It offers a refined oversized fit that remains stylish, with ribbed cuffs and hem for a polished appearance, making it ideal for your journeys.
Photo: Provided by Amazon
Women’s Pioneer Camp Packable Puffer
Now $47.59, previously $55.99 on Amazon
Selecting outerwear can be challenging when packing. One tip is to wear your coat while traveling (no need to stuff it in a suitcase), yet a lightweight layer is essential. The Pioneer Camp Women’s Packable Puffer is an excellent choice: it’s lightweight, water-resistant, and packs neatly into a carry bag. The timing of this sale is ideal for the winter trips ahead.
Photo: Provided by Athleta
Women’s Forever Fleece Relaxed Crew Sweatshirt
Now $53.40, previously $89 at Athleta
I firmly believe travel attire should be both flattering and comfortable. I favor sweats and loungewear in solid, neutral hues like the Athleta Forever Fleece Relaxed Crew sweatshirt. Stylish yet practical, this navy piece will conceal any travel stains.
Athleta’s pre-Black Friday sale (download the app for 30% off everything) is a real advantage for athleisure enthusiasts, but don’t rush in. Instead, focus on pieces worthy of a spot in your suitcase. This cotton crewneck is machine washable (a must for travel clothing) and available in multiple neutral colors. This will serve you well for all upcoming travels.
Photo: Courtesy of Nordstrom
Italic Amara Cashmere Wrap
Now $167, previously $279 at Nordstrom
A cashmere wrap is a travel must-have. It’s larger than a blanket, providing warmth on chilly flights, and doubles as a stylish scarf. Versatile travel items score high in my book. This 100% cashmere wrap from Italic, marked down by over $100, is chic, functional, and versatile.
Currently, over 80 percent of the global population resides in urban areas, a statistic that’s on the rise, emphasizing the necessity for cities to enhance both human health and environmental sustainability, as detailed in a significant United Nations report.
The latest Outlook for Global Urbanization report, published in 2018, indicated that 55 percent of the population lived in urban settings. However, these estimates vary internationally based on disparate definitions of urban and rural regions. For instance, Denmark considers an urban settlement to be one with a population of about 200, while Japan sets the threshold at 50,000, obscuring the understanding of global urbanization.
To clarify matters, Sarah Hertog, a researcher for the United Nations in New York, identified urban areas as those with at least 50,000 inhabitants and a density of 1,500 people per square kilometer, or cities with a minimum of 5,000 people and 300 people per square kilometer.2 “For the first time, we applied a consistent definition across all countries,” Hertog stated.
The researchers analyzed satellite and national survey data from 237 nations and territories to project global urbanization trends for 2025. Their findings indicated that 45 percent of the world’s population currently resides in cities, most within urban areas of fewer than 250,000 inhabitants, meaning a total of 81 percent of people are urban residents, with the last 19 percent in rural regions.
Statistical models incorporating factors like aging and migration patterns predict that by 2050, 83 percent of the global population will inhabit cities rather than rural settings. Although the overall number of city and town residents will rise until 2050, the rural population, mainly influenced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is expected to peak in the 2040s and subsequently decline until 2050.
These new estimates will assist the United Nations in tracking progress towards its goals. Hertog noted that the aim is to achieve the 11th Sustainable Development Goal, which aspires to make urban areas more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by 2030. The outcomes will also be included in a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to help inform policies to mitigate climate change.
Factors driving urban population growth differ by region. In eastern and southern Asia, rural-to-urban migration is predominant. “People migrate not just for job opportunities and education, but also for social interactions,” according to Hertog. While international migration significantly influences Europe and North America, in sub-Saharan Africa, the rise is largely attributable to higher birth rates compared to death rates.
The increase in urbanization presents both challenges and opportunities for the environment. As urban populations expand city limits, improper public transport planning can lead to urban sprawl, increasing car dependency and carbon emissions. Conversely, thoughtful planning can yield more energy-efficient transit options than those offered in rural areas.
Urbanization also impacts health. For instance, residents in urban settings are typically more susceptible to air pollution and extreme heat, which correlate with issues like cardiovascular problems and a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, as stated by Andrea Mechelli from King’s College London. Moreover, the scarcity of green spaces in certain urban locales can lead to heightened anxiety and cases of depression, he emphasizes.
However, urbanization also offers health advantages. “Healthcare in urban settings tends to be more accessible and comprehensive compared to rural areas,” notes Mechelli. “Additionally, social connections are easier to establish in cities, where individuals can find like-minded people, unlike in rural regions where one might need to travel for hours to meet others with similar interests.”
This does not imply that urbanization should be halted or that city living is undesirable. Mechelli concluded, “This report underscores the urgency to enhance our urban environments, making them greener and more livable, which would yield numerous benefits.”
Do you really need to invest in a new TV? The allure of the latest features and massive screen sizes is strong, but exercising a bit of patience could save both money and the planet. You can enhance your viewing experience with some straightforward tips and tricks.
It’s understandable to feel Fomo. In the past, buying a new TV was typically only necessary when the old one failed completely. Back then, all TVs seemed quite similar, offering nearly the same features.
The landscape today is vastly different. Every year introduces a new selection of high-tech flat screens that surpass previous models in clarity. What was once a simple box is now a sophisticated piece of technology, often displayed on your wall as art.
But I can relate to your frustrations. It doesn’t take long for even the latest screen’s brilliance to feel a bit lackluster. My smart TV’s picture quality seems to fade, and its operating system feels sluggish with each passing month. Apps lag, and navigating menus seems cumbersome. And in the back of my mind, the thought of a shiny new OLED creeps in.
But is that truly necessary? I’m here to suggest that you can delay that purchase and enhance your TV experience with a few adjustments and perhaps some budget-friendly gadgets.
Upgrade Your Smart TV OS
One of the telltale signs that a TV is nearing the end of its useful life is its smart platform. All reputable shows today connect to streaming services and smart home functionalities, but as more advanced software emerges, older platforms naturally fall out of favor. If your streaming apps no longer receive updates and the interface feels sluggish, it’s a sign.
While it’s disappointing, your TV doesn’t have to head to the landfill just yet. You can breathe new life into it by simply adding an affordable streaming dongle. Devices like Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, Roku’s Streaming Stick, or Google TV Streamer, plugged into a spare HDMI port, can revamp your streaming setup with quicker interfaces, contemporary services, and handy voice search features.
Amazon offers both HD and 4K streaming sticks, with the basic 1080p option priced at £39.99 and the 4K model starting at £49.99.
Amazon Fire TV Stick HD
£39.99 on Amazon £39.99 at John Lewis
Not an Amazon Prime member? Consider the Roku 4K UHD Stick instead. It provides a wide array of streaming apps and services for under £50. The Google TV streamer with built-in Chromecast serves a similar purpose at £99.
Roku 4K Streaming Stick Plus
£24.99 at Argos £39.99 at Currys
Most TVs have a spare USB port for powering the stick, so you won’t even need an extra cable plugged into the outlet.
Alternatively, elevate your viewing experience by opting for Sky Stream. This compact device offers a full suite of premium Sky channels, including movies and sports, plus built-in apps like Netflix, Apple TV, Disney+, Prime Video, and UK broadcasters. The basic subscription starts at £15 per month and includes Sky Atlantic, Netflix, and Discovery+.
The innovation lies in its reliance on your Wi-Fi network, eliminating the need for a dish or antenna. Unlike traditional satellite boxes, it doesn’t come with a built-in hard drive—your recordings are stored on your personal video recorder (PVR) in the cloud, so you won’t run out of space.
Smart Tricks That Actually Work
It might seem unusual, but if you aren’t facing specific tech issues, consider adjusting the lighting in your room for an improved viewing experience. Rearranging lamps to avoid glares and replacing harsh ceiling lights with softer backlighting can create a more enjoyable atmosphere. Installing lights behind the screen can lessen eye strain and enhance perceived contrast. This technique, known as bias lighting, is used in professional settings.
For a bigger view, try moving closer to your TV. While it may sound odd, there’s a clear link between screen resolution and viewing distance.
In the era before HD, lower resolutions often justified a greater distance. However, modern 4K UHD and even 8K TVs feature such high pixel densities that you can sit much closer without eye fatigue.
Ideally, your couch should be placed 1.5 times the distance from the screen. For a 55-inch TV, this translates to a distance of about 2 meters. If comfortable, don’t hesitate to sit closer. Watching native 4K content provides you with richer detail and textures.
Best Times for Watching Movies with Lights On
Ambient lighting can significantly enhance the visual quality of some shows and movies. Photo: SeventyFour/Getty Images
If you enjoy dark, atmospheric films but find that your LED TV appears washed-out in low light, you don’t need to rush for an OLED upgrade. There’s a simple solution.
LED backlighting enables vibrant images under bright conditions, but in dim settings, it enhances the visibility of backlighting and softens the black levels. Watching your LED TV in a room with ambient light can lead to a more natural image, helping black tones stay genuinely black instead of gray.
Maximize Your Current Setup
If your TV’s visuals appear dull or unnatural, it’s possible that the backlighting may be weakening. For a quick adjustment, navigate to the settings menu.
You’re likely viewing the Standard Picture setting, which is typically the default. Try switching to Dynamic or Vivid mode. This can enhance the colors in your visuals and give them more vibrancy.
Not All HDMI Settings Are Created Equal
If the image still seems muted, double-check your HDMI configuration. When consuming HDR content from external devices like set-top boxes, game consoles, or UHD Blu-ray players, an underwhelming visual experience may indicate that HDR isn’t being utilized.
[画像] or [一般設定] Check the HDMI settings in your menu. This is generally labeled as either standard or optimal (or enhanced). Selecting Optimal will let you view both 4K UHD and HDR signals coming from the source.
Conversely, if your HDR content appears too dark and you picked your TV up at a bargain during Black Friday, it may not possess the necessary brightness for effective HDR viewing (despite marketing claims). In this scenario, setting HDR to standard will yield a brighter overall image while retaining 4K resolution.
Enhance Your TV Audio With a Soundbar
If your TV’s audio is less than ideal and clarity is slipping, a soundbar could be the simplest and most effective upgrade.
It’s common for flat-screen TVs to produce mediocre sound quality. Even the latest models often struggle due to their slim designs, which leave minimal space for robust speakers, resulting in disappointing audio. A well-chosen soundbar not only increases volume but also improves clarity and creates a rich soundstage, restoring a full auditory experience missing from built-in TV speakers.
For smaller TVs (around 43 inches), the Sharp HT-SB700 is a solid choice. This Dolby Atmos soundbar, spanning only 640mm, delivers 140W and represents fantastic value.
Sharp HT-SB700
£89 at Tesco £89.99 at Currys
For larger TVs, consider the £999 Samsung HW-Q990F. This impressive soundbar is 1,309mm wide, houses 23 speakers, outputs a total of 756W, and comes equipped with a wireless subwoofer and two wireless rear speakers for a fully immersive cinematic sound experience.
Samsung HW-Q990F Soundbar
£999 at John Lewis £999 at Currys
When All Else Fails – It Might Be Time to Invest in a New TV
That said, certain scenarios warrant upgrading to a new TV. If it tumbles from its stand and you find yourself watching through what resembles 80’s retro visual effects, it’s time to recycle it (and we encourage you to do so) recycle electrical products.
Likewise, if the design feels outdated (I’m referring to those bulky TVs with absurdly wide bezels), an upgrade is justifiable. Wide bezels are unlikely to return to fashion. And if you’re truly drawn to OLED technology, I won’t deter you. The allure of OLED screens is so captivating that they can make even the dreariest TV shows seem appealing.
However, if your concerns stem merely from performance inconsistencies with your trusty older model or a desire for a smarter, interconnected user experience, considering alternative solutions may be a more prudent route to avoid an unnecessary major purchase.
For additional insights, check out our articles on when to upgrade your laptop and how to extend the life of your smartphone.
Steve May is an expert in technology and home entertainment, with over 30 years of experience covering all things television; from the slimmest, brightest screens to sound systems that rival commercial cinemas. When not delving into tech, you’ll often find him binge-watching series or organizing his Blu-ray collection.
Greetings! Welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery.
A fierce battle is underway between tech giants and startups to seize control of the next era of artificial intelligence.
Amazon has taken legal action against Perplexity AI, a notable AI startup, regarding a shopping functionality in its browser that enables users to automate orders. Amazon alleges that Perplexity AI has been covertly accessing customer accounts, making the AI’s actions appear as though they were human browsing.
This dispute underscores the emerging discussions about regulating the increasing utilization of AI agents, autonomous digital assistants powered by AI, and their interactions with online platforms. Perplexity is developing a browser named Comet, which incorporates an AI agent, but Amazon is opposed to allowing Comet to facilitate user shopping. This opposition is grounded in factual concerns. Microsoft found that research simulations revealed AI agents are often vulnerable to manipulation while shopping.
This situation raises numerous questions. Are Perplexity’s agents reckless buyers posing significant security threats, or is Amazon attempting to stifle its emerging competitors? Whose interests do these semi-autonomous AI agents serve—those of the customer or the manufacturer’s? And who will bear the responsibility for any misconduct? The future iteration of AI could significantly influence legal outcomes.
Perplexity is not necessarily a champion for the average consumer against Amazon’s overwhelming influence. The startup has secured $1.5 billion at a $20 billion valuation, as reported by TechCrunch. Throughout this process, the company has accumulated textual data with little regard for the rights of content creators, trained various AI systems, and subtly bypassed clear restrictions against unauthorized data scraping. Both Forbes and Wired have highlighted instances of the company allegedly plagiarizing their content through deceptive means, as noted by The Verge. We have put together an extensive list of controversies surrounding Perplexity.
The firm is eager for market share and profits, seemingly willing to trample over any competitor—big or small—to achieve its goals. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, might resonate with this mindset, often criticized for his own ruthlessness. Notably, he has invested in Perplexity on two occasions.
A Future Full of Challenges Emerges
Photo: Brendan McDiarmid/Reuters
Recently, AI has made significant advancements in music and international relations. My colleague Aisha Down reports:
This week, three songs created by artificial intelligence reached the top of music charts, including Spotify and Billboard.
According to Spotify, Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk” and “Livin’ on Borrowed Time” topped the U.S. “Viral 50” list, while Dutch song “We Say No, No, No to an Asylum Center,” an anti-immigrant anthem by JW “Broken Veteran,” dominated the global viral chart. Furthermore, “Breaking Rust” secured a position in the top five worldwide.
In a recent study from streaming platform Deezer, it was revealed that 50,000 AI-generated songs are uploaded daily, accounting for 34% of all music shared on the platform.
Perhaps the next wave will be in podcasting. The AI startup Inception Point produces 3,000 episodes each week. As reported, their distribution network boasts 400,000 subscribers, resulting in 12 million episode downloads, with each episode priced at $1. Apple Music and Spotify together host approximately 175,000 AI-generated podcast episodes.
On the diplomatic front, AI firm Anthropic revealed it had identified and prevented a largely automated cyberattack from Chinese state-sponsored hackers. Aisha again:
US-based Anthropic announced that its coding tool, Claude Code, was utilized by a Chinese state-supported group to target 30 organizations globally in September, leading to “several successful breaches.”
According to a blog post by Anthropic, this incident represents a “significant escalation” compared to prior AI-driven attacks they have monitored, as Claude operated mostly autonomously. During the attack, 80-90% of operations were conducted without human intervention.
“This attacker has reportedly conducted what we believe is the first documented large-scale cyberattack performed entirely without human input,” the report states.
The emergence of automated threats is becoming increasingly prevalent. Even if one cyberattack is thwarted, more could arise in rapid succession. If a single AI-generated album is removed from a platform, several others could fill the void immediately. In the not-so-distant future, we might find ourselves navigating through constant tumultuous changes.
A vital segment of the internet’s often unseen infrastructure experienced a worldwide outage on Tuesday, leading to error messages appearing across various websites.
Cloudflare, a US-based firm that safeguards millions of websites against malicious assaults, faced an unexplained problem that hindered internet users from accessing certain client sites.
Some website owners struggled to reach their performance dashboards. The company reported that platforms like X and OpenAI saw a spike in outages concurrent with the Cloudflare issue. Down Detector.
The outage was first noted at 11:48 a.m. London time, and by 2:48 p.m., Cloudflare announced: “A fix has been implemented and we believe the issue is resolved. We are continuing to monitor the situation to ensure all services return to normal.”
A spokesperson from Cloudflare issued an apology “to our customers and the entire internet for the disruptions today.” They added, “We aim to learn from today’s events and enhance our services.”
To tackle the issue, the company turned off an encryption service known as Warp in London, stating that “users in London attempting to access the internet via Warp will face connection failures.”
Professor Alan Woodward of the Surrey Cyber Security Centre referred to Cloudflare as “the biggest company you’ve never heard of.” The firm claims to provide services that “protect websites, apps, APIs, and AI workloads while enhancing performance.”
Woodward characterized Cloudflare as a “gatekeeper,” noting its role in monitoring site traffic to protect against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which involve malicious actors attempting to overwhelm a site with requests. It also verifies whether a user is human.
Upon identifying the fix, Cloudflare revealed that the issue stemmed from “configuration files automatically generated to manage threat traffic.”
These files expanded larger than anticipated, resulting in a failure of the software systems that direct traffic for numerous Cloudflare services.
“To clarify, there is no evidence that this was caused by an attack or malicious activity,” the spokesperson stated. “We anticipate that some Cloudflare services may experience temporary degradation as traffic spikes following this incident, but we expect all services to normalize within the next few hours.”
This incident at Cloudflare occurred less than a month after an outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted thousands of sites.
According to Woodward, “We’re beginning to realize just how few companies are integral to the internet’s infrastructure, so when one fails, the impact is immediately noticeable.”
Although the cause remains unidentified, Woodward suggested that it’s unlikely to be a cyber attack, as such a major service typically does not have a single point of failure.
AI aids mathematicians in solving diverse problems
Andresle/Getty Images
The AI tools created by Google DeepMind are proving to be remarkably effective in aiding mathematical research, and experts believe this could initiate a wave of AI-driven mathematical breakthroughs on an unprecedented scale.
In May, Google unveiled an AI system named AlphaEvolve, which may reveal new algorithms and formulas. This system generates numerous potential solutions through Google’s AI chatbot Gemini, which then feeds them into a distinct AI evaluator. This evaluator filters out nonsensical outputs that chatbots are prone to produce. During initial tests, Google researchers pitted AlphaEvolve against over 50 unresolved mathematical problems, and discovered that it accurately rediscovered the most prominent solutions established by humans in approximately three-quarters of the cases.
Recently, Terrence Tao and his team at UCLA assessed the system using 67 more rigorous and extensive mathematical research queries. They found that AlphaEvolve did more than merely revisit old solutions; in certain instances, it could generate improved resolutions suitable for integration into other AI systems, like a more resource-intensive version of Gemini or AlphaProof, the AI that secured a gold medal in this year’s International Mathematics Olympiad, to craft new mathematical proofs.
Tao noted that it’s challenging to gauge overall effectiveness, as the problems differ in their complexities. However, the system consistently operated much faster than any individual mathematician.
“Addressing these 67 problems through traditional methods would require us to design a specific optimization algorithm for each task. That would take years and we might never have initiated this project at all. This initiative offers a chance to engage in mathematics on a previously unseen scale,” Tao states.
AlphaEvolve is particularly adept at solving what are known as optimization problems. These encompass tasks like determining the optimal figures, formulas, or objects that best resolve specific challenges. For instance, calculating the maximum number of hexagons that can occupy a defined area.
While the system is capable of addressing optimization problems across various branches of mathematics, such as number theory and geometry, these still represent “only a small fraction of all the problems that mathematicians are interested in,” according to Tao. Nonetheless, the power of AlphaEvolve is such that mathematicians might attempt to reformulate non-optimization problems into solvable forms for AI. “These tools offer a fresh perspective for tackling these issues,” he adds.
A potential drawback, however, as Tao explains, is that the system sometimes tends to “cheat” by producing answers that seem correct but utilize loopholes or methods that don’t genuinely solve the problems. “It’s akin to administering a test to a group of exceptionally bright yet morally ambiguous students who will do whatever it takes to score highly,” he remarks.
Even with its flaws, AlphaEvolve’s achievements are garnering interest from a broader segment of the mathematical community that might have previously leaned towards more general AI solutions such as ChatGPT, according to team member Javier Gomez Serrano from Brown University. Although AlphaEvolve isn’t publicly accessible yet, numerous mathematicians have expressed interest in testing it.
“There’s definitely a growing curiosity and openness to employing these tools,” asserts Gomez Serrano. “Everyone is eager to discover their potential. Interest in the mathematical community has surged compared to a year or two ago.”
Tao believes that such AI systems alleviate some of the burdens of mathematical work, allowing researchers to focus on other areas. “Mathematicians are few in number globally, making it infeasible to consider every problem. However, there exists a multitude of mid-level difficulties where tools like AlphaEvolve are particularly effective,” he notes.
Jeremy Avigado, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, observes that machine learning methods are increasingly beneficial to mathematicians. “The next step is enhancing collaboration between computer scientists skilled in machine learning tools and mathematicians with domain-specific knowledge,” he emphasizes.
“We aspire to witness more outcomes like this in the future and identify methods to extend this approach into more abstract mathematical fields.”
Roblox maintains that Australia’s forthcoming social media restrictions for users under 16 should not extend to its platform, as it rolls out a new age verification feature designed to block minors from communicating with unknown adults.
The feature, which is being launched first in Australia, allows users to self-estimate their age using Persona age estimation technology built into the Roblox app. This utilizes the device’s camera to analyze facial features and provide a live age assessment.
This feature will become compulsory in Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand starting the first week of December, with plans to expand to other markets in early January.
After completing the age verification, users will be categorized into one of six age groups: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21 and older.
Roblox has stated that users within each age category will only be able to communicate with peers in their respective groups or similarly aged groups.
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These changes were initially proposed in September and received positive feedback from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, who has been in discussions with Roblox for several months regarding safety concerns on the platform, labeling this as a step forward in enhancing safety measures.
A recent Guardian Australia investigation revealed a week’s worth of virtual harassment and violence experienced by users who had set their profiles as eight years old while on Roblox.
Regulatory pressure is mounting for Roblox to be included in Australia’s under-16 social media ban, set to be implemented on December 10. Although there are exceptions for gaming platforms, Julie Inman-Grant stated earlier this month that eSafety agencies are reviewing chat functions and messaging in games.
“If online gameplay is the primary or sole purpose, would kids still utilize the messaging feature for communication if it were removed? Probably not,” she asserted.
During a discussion with Australian reporters regarding these impending changes, Roblox’s chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, characterized Roblox as an “immersive gaming platform.” He explained, “I view games as a framework for social interaction. The essence lies in bringing people together and spending time with one another.”
When asked if this suggests Roblox should be classified as a social media platform subject to the ban, Kaufman responded that Roblox considers social media as a space where individuals post content to a feed for others to view.
“People return to look at the feed, which fosters a fear of missing out,” he elaborated. “It feels like a popularity contest that encapsulates social media. In contrast, Roblox is akin to two friends playing a game after school together. That’s not social media.”
“Therefore, we don’t believe that Australia’s domestic social media regulations apply to Roblox.”
When questioned if the new features were introduced to avoid being encompassed in the ban, Kaufman stated that the company is engaged in “constructive dialogue” with regulators and that these updates showcase the largest instance of a platform utilizing age verification across its entire user base.
Persona, the age verification company partnering with Roblox, Participating in Australian Age Guarantee Technology Trial. They reported a false positive rate of 61.11% for 15-year-olds identified as 16 years old and 44.25% for 14-year-olds.
Kaufman explained that the technology would likely be accurate within a year or two and that users who disagree with the assessment could correct it using a government ID or parental controls to establish an age. He assured that there are “strict requirements” for data deletion after age verification. Roblox states that ID images will be retained for 30 days for purposes such as fraud detection and then erased.
Users who opt not to participate in the age verification will still have access to Roblox, but they will be unable to use features like chat.
More than 150 million people globally engage with Roblox every day across 180 countries, including Australia. According to Kaufman, two-thirds of users are aged 13 and above.
The online gaming platform Roblox is set to restrict interactions between children and adults, as well as older teenagers, starting next month. This decision comes in light of a new lawsuit that alleges the platform has been exploited by predators to groom children as young as seven.
Roblox, known for popular games like “Grow a Garden” and “Steal a Brainrot,” boasts 150 million daily players. However, it now faces legal action claiming that its system design facilitates the predation of minors.
Beginning next month, a facial age estimation feature will be implemented, allowing children to communicate with strangers only if they are within a certain age range.
Roblox claims it will be the first gaming or communication platform to enforce age verification for chats. Similar measures were enacted in the UK this summer for adult sites, ensuring that under-18s cannot access explicit content.
The company likened its new approach to the age structures found in schools, differentiating elementary, middle, and high school levels. The initiative will be launched first in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, where children will be prohibited from having private conversations with unknown adults starting next month, with a global rollout planned for early January.
Users will be classified into categories: under 9, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, or 21 and older. Children will only be allowed to chat with peers in their age group or a similar age range. For instance, a child whose age is estimated at 12 can only interact with users under 16. Roblox stated that any images or videos used during the age verification process will not be stored.
“We view this as a means to enhance user confidence in their conversations within the game,” stated Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer. “We see it as a genuine chance to foster trust in our platform and among our community.”
This lawsuit emerges alongside growing concerns from family attorneys regarding the “systematic predation of minors” on Roblox. Florida attorney Matt Dolman mentioned that he has filed 28 lawsuits against Roblox, which has rapidly expanded during the pandemic, asserting that “the primary allegations pertain to the systematic exploitation of minors.”
One of the more recent lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada, involves the family of a 13-year-old girl who claims that Roblox conducted its operations “recklessly and deceptively,” facilitating her sexual exploitation.
The alleged incident involved a ‘dangerous child predator’ who posed as a child, developed an emotional connection, and manipulated the girl into providing her phone number and engaging in graphic exchanges. The manipulator then coerced her into sending explicit photos and videos.
The lawsuit claims that had Roblox implemented user screening measures prior to allowing access, the girl “would not have encountered the numerous predators that litter the platform,” and if age and identity checks had been conducted, the abuse could have been prevented.
Other recent cases in the Northern District of California include a 7-year-old girl from Philadelphia and a 12-year-old girl from Texas, both of whom were reportedly groomed and sent explicit materials by predators on Roblox.
“We are profoundly concerned about any situation that places our users at risk,” a Roblox spokesperson remarked. “The safety of our community is our highest priority.”
“This is why our policies are intentionally more stringent than those on many other platforms,” they added. “We have filters aimed at protecting younger users, prohibit image sharing, and restrict sharing personal information.
“While no system is flawless, we are continually striving to enhance our safety features and platform restrictions, having launched 145 new initiatives this year to assure parents that we prioritize their children’s safety online.”
“One platform’s safety standards alone aren’t sufficient; we genuinely hope others in the industry will adopt some of the practices we’re implementing to ensure robust protections for children and teens across the board,” Kaufman commented.
Bevan Kidron, UK founder of the 5Rights Foundation, advocating for children’s digital rights, stated: “It’s imperative for game companies to prioritize their responsibility toward children within their services.
“Roblox’s announcement asserts that their forthcoming measures will represent best practices in this sector, but it is a bold statement from a company that has historically been slow to tackle predatory behavior and granted unverified adults and older children easy access to millions of young users. We sincerely hope they are correct.”
Riverbed near Latian Dam, one of Tehran’s main water sources, Iran
BAHRAM/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Iran faces an extreme drought, prompting the president to suggest a possible evacuation of Tehran. To mitigate the situation, cloud-seeding aircraft will start operations on November 15, set to persist through the rainy season until May. However, experts caution that this method is complex and unlikely to significantly alleviate the water crisis on its own.
How critical is the drought in Iran?
Iran’s rainfall is down by 85 percent, with Tehran registering only 1 mm this year. Local reservoirs are reported to be in a dire condition, with 32 dams barely holding 5 percent of their capacity. Satellite imagery shows some areas completely parched.
Residents of Tehran have cut their water usage by approximately 10 percent, yet this reduction falls short. Water pressure has diminished overnight, and officials are preparing to fine households and businesses that exceed their water limits. The president indicated that if rains do not increase by December, 14 million people in Tehran might need to relocate.
What are the causes of drought?
Experts attribute the drought, which has persisted for five years, to climate change. This autumn is the driest Iran has seen in 50 years, with temperatures reaching above 15°C (59°F) in Tehran, a city usually experiencing snowfall in November.
However, mismanagement is largely to blame. Kave Madani, a former environmental ministry official, labels Iran a “water bankrupt.” The government has expanded agriculture in arid regions excessively, stressing water resources. A staggering number of illegal wells—around half a million—have been drilled by desperate farmers, draining groundwater supplies.
What exactly is cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding originated in the 1940s with scientists like Bernard Vonnegut, brother of author Kurt Vonnegut. The process involves dispersing particles that encourage water droplets in clouds to precipitate as rain. While some studies have experimented with salt, the focus has generally been on spraying silver iodide into upper-level mixed-phase clouds. When supercooled liquid droplets encounter this crystalline material, they crystallize into ice that ultimately falls as rain or snow.
Determining the amount of precipitation caused by cloud seeding can be challenging, especially in the absence of cloud formation.
“The natural variability of clouds is significant, making it tough to quantify their impacts,” says Andrea Frosman from the University of Clermont-Auvergne, France. “Externally, clouds appear, but not all of them bring rain.”
A 2014 experiment conducted in Wyoming indicated that cloud seeding could enhance precipitation by 5 to 15 percent.
Is there hope for resolving the drought?
Previously, Iran blamed Israel and the United Arab Emirates for “stealing” rain via cloud seeding, but it’s now taking matters into its own hands. It plans to deploy cargo planes, drones, and a “ground generator”, which is essentially a smoker’s oven, commonly located in mountainous regions.
On November 15, clouds formed over the watershed surrounding Lake Urmia, which has been barren for over two decades, now reduced to a salt flat littered with decaying boats. Initial reports suggest that areas west of the lake received up to 2.7 centimeters of rain the following morning, as indicated by a precipitation map from the University of California, Irvine.
Success in cloud seeding depends on the presence of moisture-rich clouds, which might be sparse in arid Iran, where large bodies of water are limited.
“Cloud seeding becomes particularly challenging during droughts, owing to the extremely dry atmosphere that may not support moisture-laden clouds,” notes Karen Howard, a scientist with the U.S. General Accounting Office.
Yet, in recent days, numerous rain clouds have poured into Iran from the Black Sea, causing localized flooding in regions such as Iram and Kurdistan on November 16.
Cloud seeding might help “extract a few additional droplets” from these weather systems, according to Armin Sorooshian at the University of Arizona. “While it won’t create flooding or completely solve the drought issue, it may provide a minor benefit.”
In his latest book, A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time, Professor Adrian Verdon from Wake Forest University suggests that our perception of time passing is an instance of psychological projection—an error in cognition that leads to misinterpreting our experiences.
Time is an example of psychological projection. Image credit: Gemini AI.
Phrases like “Time flies,” “Time waits for no one,” and “As time passes” suggest that the movement of time is a real phenomenon influencing our lives. We navigate the present, witnessing events as they transition into memory.
Yet, articulating the concept of time’s flow is challenging. What does it mean for time to ‘pass’? Rivers flow because water moves; how does time move?
While events unfold, we speak of their positions as if they shift continuously through past, present, and future. If some events approach us as future occurrences while others recede into the past, where exactly do they reside? The notions of future and past appear to lack a physical location.
Throughout history, humans have contemplated time, ingraining it into our understanding of ourselves and the surrounding world.
This is why, as a philosopher, I have always deemed advancements in our conceptualization of time—both philosophical and scientific—to be of unique significance.
The Era of Ancient Philosophers
Many ancient philosophers expressed skepticism regarding time and change. Parmenides of Elea, a Greek philosopher from the 6th to 5th centuries BC, questioned how events could transition from future to present to past when neither the future nor the past exists.
He posited that if the future is real, it must also be real at this moment. Thus, if only the present is real, the future cannot be.
This notion implies that present events inexplicably emerge from nothing.
Parmenides wasn’t alone in his doubts; similar ideas regarding the contradictions in our discussions of time can be found in the works of Aristotle, the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of ancient Hinduism, and Augustine of Hippo, known as St. Augustine, among others.
Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity
During the early modern period, physicist Isaac Newton operated under the assumption of an unrecognized, real flow of time—time as a dynamic entity, akin to a cosmic clock that meticulously captures all motion and acceleration.
Then came Einstein.
In 1905 and 1915, Einstein introduced his special and general theories of relativity, respectively, challenging long-held beliefs about time and change.
Einstein’s theory dismisses Newton’s view of time as a universal phenomenon.
By Einstein’s era, it had been established that the speed of light remains constant, independent of the light source’s velocity. To accept this fact necessitated an understanding of object speeds as relative.
Nothing can be categorically labeled as stationary or in motion; it all hinges on your “frame of reference.”
A frame of reference provides the spatial and temporal context an observer assigns to an object or event, assuming it is stationary in relation to everything else.
For instance, an observer drifting through space may see a spaceship pass by, yet the universe remains indifferent to whether the observer is immobile and the spaceship is moving or vice versa.
This understanding alters our perspective on the function of watches. Since light’s speed is constant, two observers in motion relative to one another will record different times for the same events.
In a classic scenario, two lightning strikes occur simultaneously. An observer at a train station sees both at the same moment, while an observer on a moving train assigns differing times to each strike based on their relative motion.
Consequently, one observer approaches light from one strike and recedes from the other, leading to the time discrepancy.
The stationary observer perceives both strikes at identical moments since light reaches him simultaneously. Neither perspective is incorrect.
The duration between occurrences and the timing of events relies on the observer’s frame of reference.
Observers in relative motion will disagree on current events; what seems immediate to one may be future to another.
Einstein’s theory posits that all moments in time are equally real. Every past event and future occurrence is currently ‘happening’ to a hypothetical observer. There is no event merely categorized as a potentiality or a distant memory. No singular, absolute present exists; therefore, time does not flow through which events are ‘becoming.’
Change signifies a difference over intervals. I remember a point, and later, I recall even more moments. That encapsulates the essence of time’s passage.
This notion has gained acceptance among both physicists and philosophers, referred to as “eternalism.”
This leads us to an important inquiry: If time’s passage is nonexistent, why do we perceive it as such?
Time as a Psychological Projection
One prevailing notion posits that the sensation of time’s passage is illusory, echoing Einstein’s famous reflections.
Characterizing it as an “illusion” implies that our conviction in time’s passage results from a deceptive perception, akin to an optical trick.
However, I propose that this belief arises from a misunderstanding.
As I illustrate in my book, A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time, our feeling of time traversing is an example of psychological projection.
A simple analogy involves colors: a red rose isn’t inherently red; it reflects specific light wavelengths that evoke the sensation of redness.
In essence, roses aren’t really red nor do they create an illusion of redness—the experience of color arises from our interpretation of objective truths about roses.
It’s valid to distinguish roses by their color; enthusiasts of roses do not claim profound truths about color itself.
In a similar vein, my findings suggest that the experience of time’s passage is neither entirely real nor an illusion; it reflects how humans interpret their environment.
Just as our visual comprehension of reality cannot be fully understood without reference to colors, our understanding of the world relies on the passage of time.
I can assert that my GPS indicates I’ve strayed off course without attributing consciousness to the GPS.
My GPS is non-sentient. Although we lack a mental map of our surroundings, we can trust that the GPS accurately represents our location and destination.
Likewise, even if physics does not accommodate the concept of a dynamic passage of time, time remains effectively dynamic in the context of my experiential reality.
The sensation of time passing is deeply interconnected with how humans articulate their experiences.
Our representations of reality are inherently colored by our perspective as perceivers and thinkers.
The error lies in conflating our perception of reality with reality itself.
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Adrian Verdon. 2025. A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press, ISBN: 9780197684108
Tea tree (Camellia sinensis) is among the most vital beverage crops globally. The size of tea buds not only impacts the yield and quality of fresh leaves but also influences the compatibility of various tea types. In a recent study, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences gathered images of apical buds at the one-bud, two-leaf stage from 280 representative tea lines. Their analysis of genetic diversity revealed that the length, width, circumference, and area of tea buds followed a normal distribution. A comparative transcriptome analysis of extreme bud sizes demonstrated a significant negative correlation between the expression levels of four substances. nox genes also showed a relationship with tea bud size, indicating that CsKNOX6 could be a key gene regulating tea bud size negatively.
Tea tree (Camellia sinensis). Image credit: Kim Young Han.
The tea plant stands out as one of the world’s leading beverage crops, cultivated in over 60 countries and consumed by more than 2 billion people globally.
In premium tea production, leaves are typically harvested based on criteria including one bud, one leaf per bud, and two leaves per bud.
Tea bud size not only significantly impacts the yield and quality of fresh leaves but is also closely linked to the processing potential of tea.
Various tea types have different shapes and specific requirements for bud and leaf size.
Research into the molecular mechanisms governing tea bud and leaf size has historically been sparse, hindering genetic improvement efforts.
Understanding the genetic regulatory frameworks of tea bud size is crucial for enhancing tea plant varieties and boosting yield.
In the study led by Dr. Jiedan Chen, the dimensions—length, width, circumference, and area—of buds were quantified across 280 diverse tea strains.
These traits exhibited continuous variation with high heritability, indicating robust genetic control.
Comparative transcriptome analysis of accessions with extreme bud sizes identified four candidate class I KNOX transcription factors that had significantly elevated expression in cultivars with smaller buds.
Among these, genome-wide association mapping is emphasizing CsKNOX6 as a likely pivotal regulatory gene.
CsKNOX6 is located on chromosome 10, with its sequence indicating nuclear localization, aligning with its role in transcription regulation.
To validate its functionality, researchers modelled CsKNOX6 in the plant Arabidopsis.
Transgenic plants exhibited abnormal shoot development, yielding significantly smaller leaves, with leaf area reduced to just 13% of wild-type levels.
This functional evidence substantiates the conclusion that CsKNOX6 serves as a negative regulator of bud and leaf size.
“Bud size is a critical attribute for both agricultural productivity and the quality of tea in the market,” scientists shared.
“Identifying CsKNOX6 creates direct genetic targets for selective breeding, including marker-driven improvements.”
“Although functional tests in Arabidopsis provide substantial support, future gene editing or transgenic validation in tea plants will be vital to confirm regulatory mechanisms in these perennial woody species.”
“This discovery paves the way for precision breeding strategies that enhance yield, consistency, and suitability of tea varieties.”
Identifying CsKNOX6 opens new possibilities for developing tea varieties with optimized bud sizes for various production goals, including premium hand-picked teas or high-yield mechanical harvesting.
This gene can be integrated into molecular breeding programs via SNP marker selection or gene editing approaches to fine-tune developmental growth.
A paper detailing this discovery was published in the journal horticultural research.
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Shuran Zhang et al. 2025. Integration of digital phenotyping, GWAS, and transcriptome analysis reveals key genes for tea plant bud size (Camellia sinensis). horticultural research 12(6):uhaf051; doi: 10.1093/hr/uhaf051
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