Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Solar prominences protruding from the Sun’s corona during a total solar eclipse in Dallas in 2024.Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber On 12 August, researchers will get roughly two minutes to study the Sun’s outermost layer — the solar
The video opens with a man in his 80s slumped in a hospital bed, his face hollow as he scrunches his eyes. A jump cut advances the scene three days: the man is alert now, words gathering as he identifies his son. Six months later, he is pictured sitting upright, engaged in conversation. His gaze
Activists in San Marcos, Texas, protested against proposed data centres that would power artificial-intelligence systems.Credit: Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty As public opposition grows against the soaring energy and water demands of data centres powering the artificial-intelligence boom, some technology companies are talking about putting these facilities in space. For instance, businessman Elon Musk’s
For the first time, an artificial intelligence system has created a series of previously unknown viruses capable of infecting and eliminating certain types of bacteria. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for combating bacterial resistance. However, it also raises concerns about the potential misuse of this technology to design biological weapons. For several years now,
The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, UK, faces closure if alternative funding is not secured.Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty A growing clamour of voices is calling for the United Kingdom’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, to reinstate funding for the iconic Lovell radio telescope, at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the
A paramedic moves a person to an ambulance in Spain during a 2022 heatwave that killed more than 300 people in five days. Credit: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg/Getty Extreme heat is killing hundreds of thousands of people every year — and the annual toll is growing. An estimated 210,000 more people died of heat-related causes each year