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Table of contents

Leaders

Technology

We must regulate AI now to improve our lives and avoid its risks

DONE wisely, artificial intelligence "can be the best thing ever for humanity", says the fundamental physicist turned AI researcher Max Tegmark in our interview this week (see "If we do it wisely, AI can be the best thing ever for humanity" ). We subscribe wholeheartedly to his assessment. Seldom has there been a technology with …

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Health

The powerhouses inside cells have been gene-edited for the first time

Mitochondria, the power sources inside our cells, can now be gene edited Mitochondria, the structures inside our cells that use food to produce energy, have been gene-edited for the first time. A new kind of "base editor" was used, opening the door to treating disorders related to faulty mitochondria. These organelles  have their own genomes …

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Environment

A sprinkle of rock dust could help avoid catastrophic climate change

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Humans

Polynesians and Native Americans met 800 years ago after epic voyage

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Health

How the covid-19 pandemic is making malaria and HIV more deadly

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Environment

Almost all lemur species are now officially endangered

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Health

Damaged human lungs revived for transplant by connecting them to a pig

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Space

Alien civilisations could move their star to avoid a cosmic disaster

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Environment

European bison to be introduced in the UK for first time outside zoos

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Technology

Pliers smaller than an ant’s jaws are controlled by optical fibres

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Health

Sperm swim up to 70 per cent faster when they have a lazy tail

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Space

The moon may have stopped the early Earth from being a frozen snowball

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Technology

Teaching an AI to be less biased doesn’t have to make it less accurate

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Health

A bad UK winter could cause 120,000 hospital deaths linked to covid-19

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Health

How South American drug cartels get around coronavirus lockdowns

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Health

Why are US coronavirus deaths going down as covid-19 cases soar?

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Health

How children in the UK are coping with the coronavirus lockdown

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Analysis

Space

Elements from the universe’s earliest stars gave birth to our sun

It is easy to regard the sun as humdrum, yet it contains elements blasted from the universe’s first stars as they died and is halfway through its 9-billion-year lifespan

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Aperture

Environment

Ghostly clouds are appearing more often due to climate change

Noctilucent clouds, silvery blue wisps that float high in our atmosphere, are a rare phenomenon – but rising greenhouse gas emissions mean we are seeing more and more of them

Regulars

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Features

Technology

Max Tegmark interview: "AI can be the best thing ever for humanity"

Physicist Max Tegmark wants to make artificial intelligence work for everyone. Here he waxes lyrical about cosmology, consciousness and why AI is like fire

Features

Environment

The secret power of the tequila plant that could help feed the world

Features

Health

How changing the way you sit could add years to your life

Features

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Culture

Technology

The Last of Us Part II review: Grim revenge with a glimmer of hope

Ellie from The Last of Us Part II The end of the world is utterly miserable, but there are bright spots if you look closely enough. That was the message I took away from The Last of Us Part II – although it is perhaps not the one developer Naughty Dog was looking to convey. …

Culture

Humans

Alice Ball pioneered leprosy treatment and then had her work stolen

Culture

Humans

Don't miss: Netflix updates classic sci-fi novel Japan Sinks

Culture

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More

Puzzle #68: Tackle a riddle involving diamonds in vases in palaces

#68 Diamonds "Once upon a time," began Ivan the storyteller, with children at his feet, "there lived a queen called Factoria who had six daughters and many palaces. In each palace, she kept as many crystal vases as she had palaces, and in each vase were as many diamonds as there were vases in that …

Regulars

Tom Gauld on dropping a bowling ball out of a balloon for science

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on graphs that speak for themselves

Regulars

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Regulars

We may have finally settled just how far penguins can poop

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

Regulars

Regulars

Letters

Regulars

The last word