Large genome model: Open source AI trained on trillions of bases
Late in 2025, we covered the development of an AI system called Evo that was trained on massive numbers of bacterial genomes. So many that, when prompted with sequences from…
Tech
Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
Archaeologists are keen to learn more about the specific diets and culinary practices of ancient populations around the globe. An interdisciplinary team of scientists analyzed the residues on prehistoric ceramic…
Windshield wipers’ overlooked female inventor
Before cars and buses became ubiquitous features of the modern cityscape, many cities installed streetcars to shuttle residents from neighborhood to neighborhood. In the summer months, the journey was a…
Downdetector, Speedtest sold to IT service provider Accenture in $1.2B deal
IT consultant and services provider Accenture has agreed to buy Speedtest and Downdetector owner Ookla from Ziff Davis for $1.2 billion in cash. Accenture plans to integrate Ookla’s data products…
What we can learn from scientific analysis of Renaissance recipes
Forget “eye of newt and toe of frog/wool of bat and tongue of dog.” People in the 16th century were more akin to DIY scientists than Macbeth’s three witches when…
Watch a classified FM radio training video from WW2
It’s worth remembering that one of today’s most commonplace pieces of technology frequently confounded the public when it first hit the marker. While fewer and fewer people are listening to…
LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy
Burner accounts on social media sites can increasingly be analyzed to identify the pseudonymous users who post to them using AI in research that has far-reaching consequences for privacy on…
Smoke Rises Over Big Cypress National Preserve
Earth Observatory Science Earth Observatory Smoke Rises Over Big Cypress… Earth Earth Observatory Image of the Day EO Explorer Topics All Topics Atmosphere Land Heat & Radiation Life on Earth…
Washington state moves to ban forced employee microchips
It’s a common trope in dystopian sci-fi stories: an evil corporation requires its employees to receive microchip implants in order to constantly monitor their whereabouts. While there aren’t any known…
Computer run on human brain cells learned to play ‘Doom’
A biocomputer powered by lab-grown human brain cells has leveled up from Pong to Doom. While nowhere ready to handle the video game shooter’s most challenging levels, researchers at Cortical…