51¶¯Âþ

Applying the same logic that gave rise to the big bang theory to the apparent slowdown in the accelerating expansion of the cosmos argues for a cyclical universe, in which expansion gives way to progressive contraction, and ultimately to an inconceivably dense, atom-like singularity of the sort that led to the big bang ( 22 …

Annalee Newitz's comments, saying we shouldn't blame communication technology for authoritarian regimes abusing social media or the nightmare of AI chatbots generating lies, apply to most inventions. Tempering steel and splitting the atom had the potential to hugely improve our lives, but it didn't take long for us to kill one another using both. Any …

The techniques involved in the futuristic "nose job" you imagined could have better uses than smell augmentation. Implanting programmed stem cells and reconnecting neurons could restore normal function to all sorts of organs, eliminating diabetes, paralysis, anosmia, blindness, hearing loss and more. Increased neuroplasticity could help with stroke, dementia and intellectual training. The nose job …

The interview with Jaap de Roode made me wonder why people are surprised that animals do things to treat their ailments. Many have been around a lot longer than us and they have developed an understanding of the healing properties of plants, etc. Humans sought cures for the basic reason that they wanted to survive, …

This rekindled memories of the start of my veterinary career in north-east Scotland in 1981. It was common then for a suckler beef farm to have an area of "rough ground": a field of wild bushes, rushes, weeds and, simply put, whatever grew in that region that wasn't a tree. It was commonly used as …

On the idea of learning to be less fooled by optical illusions, I do some lecture-performances to illusion-savvy audiences about pataphysics, art, zombie theory and so on. I tell them they just can't trust their brains, and build up to... the Müller-Lyer illusion, the one with two identical lines where one looks longer because of …

I enjoyed your look at old code, having written a fair bit myself in the programming language C. Some of that may well still run in home gadgets, maybe even your TV. It isn't just business systems that are powered by old code ( 8 March, p 34 ).

I have been reading with amusement the discussion on how to cook the perfect boiled egg. 51¶¯Âþ put the matter to bed for me when the Last Word ( 13 June 1998) published a formula from reader Charles Williams for this. It went as follows: Cooking time = (m (2/3) ) × /c, where …

Surely additional years at school or in higher education wouldn't be the sole means of building the cognitive reserve now regarded as a means of postponing the onset of dementia. A number of trades requiring an apprenticeship and continual accumulation of technical skills and know-how, perhaps over an entire lifetime of employment, could be equally …

Brian Horton makes a good point about the need for versatility within a single robot design, but there is no reason a specifically human form is needed for this. A quadruped with a many-armed torso, or some sort of tentacled octopoid design, could serve just as well. As could a robot composed of reconfigurable jointed …