Mars lift off: First flight on another planet as Ingenuity drone takes off
NASA has pulled off the first powered flight on another world. Ingenuity, the robot rotorcraft that is part of the agency’s Perseverance mission, lifted off from the surface of Mars on April 19, in a 39.1-second flight that is a landmark in interplanetary aviation. “We can now say that human...
Driving while under influence of drugs, like alcohol, has become pervasive
As drug abuse has become prevalent, so, too, has the crime of driving while under the influence of drugs. Today, a police officer who observes someone driving erratically but finds no alcohol in their breath must decide if the putative offender is ill, tired, distressed or whether they are under...
Yes, work without play makes John a dull boy, so what’s in play that turns him on?
Anyone who has ever chucked a tennis ball in the general vicinity of a border collie knows that some animals take play very seriously. The intense stare, the tremble of anticipation, the apparent joy with every bounce, all in pursuit of inedible prey that tastes like the backyard. Dogs are...
‘Screening of emotions harmful to lives of suspects in criminal investigations’
In an experiment on how determine truth from lies, some volunteers were told to try to blend into the crowd and not look “suspicious,” because people would be trying to identify them. The other half of the group were given a regular cell phone to transport with no instructions to...
Scientists awed after bonobos in Congo Forest adopt infants outside their group
Attentive parenting appears across the animal world, but adoption is rarer, especially when youngsters taken in are not kin. Now researchers have witnessed bonobos adopting infants from outside of their own communities. Two females, each from a different bonobo group, in the Luo Scientific Reserve in Congo took charge of...
Press Freedom bodies push for revisit of Mexican journalist’s assassination
Leading press freedom organisations in Mexican want federal authorities to re-open the case and bring the killers journalist Regina Martinez to justice. The demand follows new findings of an inquest that point to obstruction of justice by local authorities. The report, The Murder of Regina Martínez Pérez: An Opportunity for...
Academic scientific workers experiencing chronic exhaustion
A year into the coronavirus pandemic, many in the academic scientific workforce are experiencing a state of chronic exhaustion known as burnout. Although it is not a medical condition and can occur in any workplace where there is stress, burnout is recognised by the World Health Organization as a syndrome....
Scientists celebrate Perseverance Rover’s daring touchdown into Mars’ Jezero Crater
Humanity has just been given a front-row seat to a Mars landing, thanks to a high-resolution, full-colour video that NASA released of its Perseverance Rover descending into Jezero Crater on 18 February. The video shows the drama of the spacecraft’s final descent, from the 21.5-metre-wide parachute billowing overhead to slow...
Big Tech focuses more on engineered fixes rather than how AI exacerbate biases
The most prestigious machine learning conference, NeurIPS, has had at least two Big Tech companies as primary sponsors since 2015, according to the same 2020 study that analysed the influence of Big Tech money in universities. “When considering workshops relating to ethics or fairness, all but one has...
Researchers piloting system that alerts users of possible coronavirus infection
Stanford University is piloting a system that alerts wearable-device users to possible Covid-19 infection, using a two-alarm system. If signals surpass a certain threshold, it produces a yellow alarm. If they remain elevated for 12 hours, it produces a red alarm, strongly suggesting testing or isolating. If there were only...
