Facebook’s parent company Meta has announced plans to scrap its fact-checking program, which was set up in 2016 to verify selected articles and posts. The move has sparked concerns about the spread of misinformation online, with experts warning that it could have serious consequences for public discourse and democracy. Despite Meta’s claims of bias among…
Earth on The Soothsayer / page 6
Climate scientists have announced that Earth’s average temperature has surpassed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time, marking a significant milestone in the fight against global warming. This development serves as a stark reminder that the world is moving into dangerous territory, with potentially devastating consequences for ecosystems, sea levels, and human societies. The…
A recent study has revealed that female scientists are quitting academic publishing earlier than their male counterparts, even in biological-science disciplines with high representation of women. The study tracked the scholarly publications of over 86,000 scientists in 38 countries and found that 19 years after publishing their first paper, only 26% of female researchers continued…
A groundbreaking study has revealed the existence of ‘lipocartilage’ cells, also known as ‘bubble wrap’ cells, which provide extra cushioning and structural support to various body parts. These cells have been found in many mammals, including humans, and have been grown from human stem cells. The discovery of these cells is expected to have significant…
Theoretical physicists have proposed the existence of a new type of particle called paraparticles, which don’t fit into the conventional classifications of fermions and bosons. This discovery could lead to the creation of paraparticles using a quantum computer, potentially making quantum computers less error-prone. Researchers have also experimentally demonstrated the existence of anyons, a type…
Researchers are making significant strides in using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the evolution of viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. AI tools can now predict which single mutations in a virus will be most successful and which variants will ‘win’ out in the short term. However, predicting combinations of mutations or variants that will…
NASA has delayed its decision on how to bring back rocks from Mars, pushing the final decision to next year. The mission, which aims to bring back 30 tubes of Martian rock, dust, and air, has been plagued by ballooning cost estimates and is now expected to launch in 2031, with samples arriving on Earth…
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has successfully collected data during its closest approach to the Sun, marking a significant milestone in solar science. The spacecraft, which has been looping around the Sun since its launch six years ago, has provided valuable insights into the solar wind and the Sun’s outer atmosphere. The data collected during the…
Researchers have launched a database of over 14,000 studies that were withdrawn from the preprint server arXiv since its launch in 1991. The database, called WithdrarXiv, aims to shed light on why these preprints were pulled and to spur the creation of automated tools that flag potential errors to researchers. The study found that the…
Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery in understanding how the brain avoids ‘catastrophic forgetting’ – the distortion and overwriting of previously established memories when new ones are created. Research has shown that the brain processes new and old memories in separate phases of sleep, which might prevent mixing between the two. This finding, published in…