Science (Page 34)

Research into psychedelics and their medical uses is making a comeback. 24K-Production via Shutterstock This is a transcript of The Conversation Weekly podcast episode: Psychedelic research: balancing trippyness with a new scientific rigor, published on September 29, 2022. NOTE: Transcripts may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. Dan: Hello, I am Dan Merino in San Francisco. Gemma: And I’m Gemma Ware in London. Welcome to The Conversation Weekly. Gemma: Dan, you just got back from the Burning Man festival, didn’t you? How are you feeling? Dan: I’m actually feeling OK. I was a little hoarse after a week in the desert, staying up all night. But it was great to be back to the partyContinue Reading

Shrödinger's cat is world famous, but what does it really mean? Robert Couse-Baker/Flickr, CC BY-SA Quantum mechanics, the theory which rules the microworld of atoms and particles, certainly has the X factor. Unlike many other areas of physics, it is bizarre and counter-intuitive, which makes it dazzling and intriguing. When the 2022 Nobel prize in physics was awarded to Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for research shedding light on quantum mechanics, it sparked excitement and discussion. But debates about quantum mechanics – be they on chat forums, in the media or in science fiction – can often get muddled thanks to a number of persistent myths and misconceptions. Here are four. 1. A cat can be dead andContinue Reading

3D rendering of an Neanderthal man RaveeCG/Shutterstock Imagine that you have an unhealthy interest in your neighbours’ lives. Unable to ask them directly, you rifle through their rubbish bins. You find the bones of cooked chickens and try and work out what else they eat. This is a bit like how archaeologists study the diets of extinct humans such as the Neanderthals and early homo sapiens. This is about more than satisfying curiosity. Understanding our ancestors’ diets may reveal critical clues about their evolutionary success or failure. A recent study which analysed zinc from the tooth of a Neanderthal from Spain reveals they were mainly carnivores, wherever they lived. This discovery helps explain why they became extinct. Neanderthals dominated EuropeContinue Reading

The Reface App on a smartphone Italy stock images / Alamy Stock Photo In the second season of BBC mystery thriller The Capture, deepfakes threaten the future of democracy and UK national security. In a dystopia set in present day London, hackers use AI to insert these highly realistic false images and videos of people into live news broadcasts to destroy the careers of politicians. But my team’s research has shown how difficult it is to create convincing deepfakes in reality. In fact, technology and creative professionals have started collaborating on solutions to help people spot bogus videos of politicians and celebrities. We stand a decent chance of staying one step ahead of fraudsters. In my research project, Virtual Maggie,Continue Reading

The mathematical concept of a fractal is a never-ending pattern. G. DAWSON/Flickr, CC BY-SA A dominant view in science is that there is a mathematical truth structuring the universe. It is assumed that the scientist’s job is to decipher these mathematical relations: once understood, they can be translated into mathematical models. Running the resulting “silicon reality” in a computer may then provide us with useful insights into how the world works. Since science keeps on revealing secrets, models keep getting bigger. They integrate discoveries and newly found mechanisms to better reflect the world around us. Many scholars assume that more detailed models produce sharper estimates and better predictions because they are closer to reality. But our new research, published inContinue Reading

Andrii Vodolazhskyi/Shutterstock The story could have been straight out of science fiction – scientists have grown human brain cells in a lab, and taught them to play the video game Pong, similar to squash or tennis. But this didn’t happen on the big screen. It happened in a lab in Melbourne, Australia, and it raises the fundamental question of the legal status of these so-called neural networks. Are they the property of the team that created them, or do they deserve some kind of special status – or even rights? The reason this question needs to be asked is because the ability to play pong may be a sign that these lab-grown brain cells have achieved sentience – often definedContinue Reading

Chimpanzees are highly social but recent research suggests they can be with gorillas too. apple2499/Shutterstock To survive, animals compete for resources, be it food, mating partners or territory. But a ground breaking recent study shows chimpanzees and gorillas form friendships, some lasting at least 20 years. They play, eat and socialise together. It is the first study of its kind to see such long-term, peaceful associations between apes. A team of scientists led by Crickette Sanz from Washington University, US, made this discovery using over 20 years of data from the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. We know many animals are fiercely territorial, including chimpanzees and gorillas. Both species will defend their territories from other groups. ChimpanzeesContinue Reading

The Ouija board was first developed in 1890. Couperfield/ Shutterstock Despite being around for more than 100 years, Ouija boards (a wooden board covered with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9 and the words “yes”, “no” and “goodbye”) continue to be a popular activity – especially around Halloween. To work, all participants must place their hands on the wooden pointer (or planchette) and ask any present “spirits” to answer their questions by moving the planchette around the board to spell out their response. While some see it as a harmless parlour game, others swear by the board’s ability to communicate with those who have passed to the “other side”. But though science suggests that ghosts aren’t behind theContinue Reading