Latest posts

  • A little bird told her: scientist wins $100,000 prize for decoding birdsong

    Julie Elie worked out how zebra finches announce who they are, what they are doing and use individual signatures A scientist who decoded the dictionary that a bird uses to communicate has won a $100,000 prize for making progress towards a world in which humans can talk to the animals – without being met with…

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  • AI could help win ‘race against extinction’ of vital plants, say botanists

    Tech is helping to identify and save new specimens and could open ‘genomic goldmine’ of fungi data The rise of AI and digitisation could be a turning point in the “race against extinction” faced by botanists trying to identify and save vital plants before they vanish, according to a major report from Royal Botanic Gardens,…

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  • Google DeepMind launches AI tool to help identify genetic drivers of disease

    AlphaGenome can analyse up to 1m letters of DNA code at once and could pave way for new treatments Researchers at Google DeepMind have unveiled their latest artificial intelligence tool and claimed it will help scientists identify the genetic drivers of disease and ultimately pave the way for new treatments. AlphaGenome predicts how mutations interfere…

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  • AI study gives insights into why super-recognisers excel at identifying faces

    Research uses eye-tracking data to examine some people’s extraordinary recognition ability They have been used in the search for the Salisbury novichok poisoners, finding murder suspects and even spotting sexual predators. Now, research has revealed fresh insights into why super-recognisers are so good at identifying faces. Previous research has suggested people with an extraordinary ability…

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