This week’s biggest stories
The pace of AI advances is speeding up. It seems like every week we hear of another breakthrough, and so this week’s big news is that Google’s DeepMind has taken another step closer to artificial general intelligence with a program that can learn like a human. And if that weren’t enough of a mind-flip, a study out this week that suggests it’s possible to use brain scans to spot the difference between people who committed crimes on purpose and those who broke the law through sheer reckless behaviour. All this just goes to show that humans have come a long way, whether it’s through adapting physiologically to thrive in particular climates or developing IVF techniques to prevent incurable genetic diseases being inherited by children. The latter development is an extremely exciting one, and this week the first UK clinic was granted a licence to use the three-person baby fertility technique – doctors hope to offer the procedure to the first UK patients from this summer.
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
Arctic expeditions and stars collide to create ‘quietly powerful’ show
Although her work is driven mainly by her fascination with the corrosion, compression and expansion of materials, McDonald is resolutely a visual artist, and says the climate change theme gravitated to her rather than the other way round. ‘My work is about the spirit of discovery of what is still unknown to science, going beyond the edge of the universe and exploring the layers that go back to our origins.’
The bangs, crackles and hums of Earth’s seismic orchestra
At the turn of the century, scientists discovered a new type of “sound” produced at subduction zones, known as Episodic Tremor and Slip (or ETS for short). ETS are typically low-pitched rumbling signals lasting minutes to hours that do not produce the jolts associated with normal earthquakes. These rumbles come from a type of event known as seismic tremor, which is similar to tiny earthquakes. Moreover, in subduction zones in southwest Japan, Mexico and New Zealand, the gap between the part of the fault that hosts large earthquakes and the zone of ETS is filled with an area producing silent ruptures that occur over many months. These cannot be detected using traditional seismometers.
Culls aren’t the way to balance the needs of sharks and surfers
Aquatic sports are increasing in popularity. This, along with the increased accessibility of remote locations and technological advances – such as better wetsuit design – which allow people to stay in the water for longer combine to increase the potential for more human-shark interactions.
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Alex Bellos’s Monday puzzle
This Tuesday was Pi Day and Alex Bellos got in there early with two delicious pie puzzles. Did you solve it, or did you find you’d bitten off more than you could chew?
Visit Alex Bellos’s Adventures in Numberland blog for more marvellous maths
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Science Weekly podcast
On this week’s podcast, Hannah Devlin asks science writers Sarah Moss (The Tidal Zone), David France (How to Survive a Plague) and Ed Yong (I Contain Multitudes) where they get their inspiration, how they research their chosen subject, and what strategies they have up their sleeve to turn complex scientific concepts into riveting narratives.
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Eye on science – this week’s top images
Get your eyes on some stunning science - the winners of this year’s Wellcome Image Awards were announced this week. There are some truly intriguing pictures here, and the stories behind them are just as fascinating as the work.
