AI agents representing papers could foster cross-disciplinary collaboration. Credit: Getty A new artificial-intelligence tool quickly transforms a research paper into a bespoke AI agent that serves as a “virtual corresponding author”. The agent can respond immediately to questions about the paper, providing a convenient way for scientists to grasp advances in unfamiliar fields. It can
It’s 5:52 a.m. in Moynihan Train Hall. I’m balancing a container of fruit and my water bottle in one hand while tightening the straps of a backpack that’s weighed down by two laptops with the other. It’s the start of my twice-weekly commute between New York City and Washington, DC. I’m five months into this
When Petra Ferraz de Novaes isn’t at work, she’s probably lost in a fantasy crafted with the help of artificial intelligence. Novaes, a 36-year-old software engineer from Brazil, has always loved storytelling. But making every little decision that goes into it—from style and syntax to character development—felt impossible. So in 2024 she asked an AI
Researcher Miki Takahara accepts an Ig Nobel on behalf of the late Tokuji Unno.Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Hands up if you’ve been to a science awards ceremony. Black tie, fine dining, long speeches and polite applause. Any humour has to be calibrated carefully. Compare this with the Ig Nobel awards. These also celebrate genuine, published research
Brian Nosek, the executive director for the Open Science Framework, announced last month that the platform will soon stop hosting code, data and supplementary materials for researchers. Credit: Kirsten Luce/New York Times/Redux/eyevine The co-founder of a prominent open-science platform has announced that funding uncertainties have forced the site to make changes to some of its
The World Bank’s headquarters in Washington DC.Credit: J. David Ake/Getty For years, the social and behavioural sciences have lived with an open secret: findings from studies in these fields can be difficult to reproduce. When independent researchers are unable to arrive at the same result as the original team despite using identical data and the
