Trump doubles down on AI
Donald Trump unveiled a dramatic national AI plan last week, entitled “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan”. The 28-page document outlined how America intends to keep its place as top dog in the global AI industry.
The plan commits to cutting red tape at every opportunity, be that the deregulation of online content to counter “partisan bias” or overriding climate protective measures to build massive datacentres. While critics see this as big tech’s dividend for backing Trump in his re-election, others argue it’s a much needed shot in the arm for the American tech industry.
Heartbreak hospital
Dying of a broken heart — a dramatic ending reserved for Shakespeare and poetry. However, research from Denmark has found that people bereaved from grief or break-ups at a persistent level across their life are 88 per cent more likely to die than those who don’t.
Scientists followed over 1,700 people for a decade and found that those suffering prolonged, intense grief had significantly worse health outcomes. Experts say early intervention by GPs could be key to supporting those at risk through tailored mental health care and bereavement follow-up .
History revealed through new tech
A new AI tool is set to revolutionise the way archaeologists decipher ancient texts. Inscriptions on ancient stones are the oldest form of writing and often incomplete. Aeneas, named after the Roman and Greek hero, uses a vast database of 176,000 ancient texts to date and predict incomplete inscriptions.
Led by Dr Thea Sommerschield from Nottingham University, Aeneas was tested on a Roman text found in the Temple of Augusta, Turkey. It could pinpoint the text to a precise date range of 40 years, which experts concurred with.
A striking discovery
Lightning has puzzled and frightened humankind for millennia. But now, scientists say they’ve finally solved the mystery of what happens just before it strikes. A new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research offers the first precise explanation for how lightning begins.
Researchers at Penn State found that lightning is triggered by a powerful chain reaction. Strong electric fields accelerate electrons, which smash into air molecules, creating X-rays, photons, and more electrons. This avalanche builds rapidly until it connects with a charge from the ground—unleashing the bolt we see as lightning.
Ancient tattoos
New near-infrared scans of a 2,500 year old Siberian “ice mummy” have revealed the body to have remarkably detailed tattoos across their body – even for modern day standards. The skin art depicts vivid images of a host of mythical and real creatures, including a stag, a rooster, multiple leopards, and a griffin (a cross between an eagle and lion).
The body was discovered in the 19th Century in an icy tomb in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, but new infrared imaging technology, conducted at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, made the tattoo revelation possible. The “ice mummy” is thought to have been part of the Pazyryk people – a nomadic group who roamed the Eurasian Steppe (an area of land that spreads over China, Russia and Europe).
