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  • Golden rice: why has it been banned and what happens now?

    Golden rice: why has it been banned and what happens now?
    2024/06/06
    A court in the Philippines has banned the commercial growth of golden rice, a genetically modified rice which was created to help tackle vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. It’s just the latest twist in a long and controversial journey for this rice. Ian Sample hears from the Observer science and environment editor, Robin McKie, and from Glenn Stone, a research professor of environmental science at Sweet Briar College in Virginia who is also an anthropologist who has studied golden rice, about why it has taken so long for this potentially life-saving technology to reach the fields, if it is the silver bullet so many had hoped for, and whether this ban is really the end of the story. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    16 分
  • Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer: ‘The clock is ticking but the world will teach us what we need to do’

    Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer: ‘The clock is ticking but the world will teach us what we need to do’
    2024/06/04
    For a long time, western science and Indigenous knowledge have been seen as distinct ways of learning about the world. But as we plunge the planet deeper into environmental crises, it is becoming clear that it is time to pay attention to both. Bridging that gap has been the driving force behind the career of the botanist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer. She tells Madeleine Finlay what we can learn from the most ancient plants on Earth, why we need to cultivate gratitude for the natural world and what western science can learn from Indigenous knowledge. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    20 分
  • Election risks, safety summits and Scarlett Johansson: the week in AI

    Election risks, safety summits and Scarlett Johansson: the week in AI
    2024/05/30
    It’s been a busy week in the world of artificial intelligence. OpenAI found itself in hot water with Scarlett Johansson after launching its new chatbot, Sky, drawing comparisons to the Hollywood star’s character in the sci-fi film Her. In South Korea, the second global AI summit took place, and a report from the Alan Turing Institute explored how AI could influence elections. The Guardian’s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, tells Madeleine Finlay about what’s been happening. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    19 分
  • Concrete without CO2: can our biggest building material go green?

    Concrete without CO2: can our biggest building material go green?
    2024/05/28
    Concrete is strong and durable – which is why it’s the basis for so much of our infrastructure. It’s also terrible for the planet, due to one key ingredient: cement, which is responsible for almost 90% of concrete emissions. Researchers have now found a way to recover old cement while also reducing the environmental impact of recycling steel. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Julian Allwood, professor of engineering and the environment at the University Of Cambridge, to find out how the process works, and what it could mean for the emissions generated by the construction industry. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    15 分
  • Why is air turbulence getting worse?

    Why is air turbulence getting worse?
    2024/05/23
    On Tuesday a British man died and several others were injured when their plane encountered severe turbulence between London and Singapore. And it looks like this kind of turbulence is something we’ll have to get used to. Last year a study found severe clear-air turbulence had increased by 55% between 1979 and 2020. Ian Sample speaks to Guy Gratton, associate professor of aviation and the environment at Cranfield University, to find out why this is happening, and whether there’s anything we can do to reverse the trend.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    14 分
  • In their prime: how trillions of cicadas pop up right on time

    In their prime: how trillions of cicadas pop up right on time
    2024/05/21
    Right now, across much of the midwestern and eastern US, trillions of cicadas are crawling out from the soil. And this year is extra special, because two broods are erupting from the ground at once. The first brood hasn’t been seen for 13 years, the other for 17 years and the last time they emerged together Thomas Jefferson was president. Ian Sample speaks to entomologist Dr Gene Kritsky to find out what’s going on, why periodical cicadas emerge in cycles of prime numbers and how they keep time underground. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    16 分
  • AI, algorithms and apps: can dating be boiled down to a science?

    AI, algorithms and apps: can dating be boiled down to a science?
    2024/05/16
    Last week the founder of the dating app Bumble forecasted a near future dating landscape where AI ‘dating concierges’ filter out prospective partners for us. But does AI, or even science, really understand what makes two people compatible? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Amie Gordon, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, to find out what we know about why two people go the distance, and why she and her colleague associate professor of sociology Elizabeth Bruch, are designing their own dating app to learn more.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    17 分
  • Backstabbing, bluffing and playing dead: has AI learned to deceive?

    Backstabbing, bluffing and playing dead: has AI learned to deceive?
    2024/05/14
    As AI systems have grown in sophistication, so has their capacity for deception, according to a new analysis from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr Peter Park, an AI existential safety researcher at MIT and author of the research, tells Ian Sample about the different examples of deception he uncovered, and why they will be so difficult to tackle as long as AI remains a black box. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    15 分