Artificial Intelligence
A new book tackles AI hype – and how to spot it
In AI Snake Oil, two computer scientists set us straight on the power and limits of AI and offer advice for moving forward.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Squall line tornadoes are sneaky, dangerous and difficult to forecast
New research is revealing the secrets of these destructive twisters, which dodge radar scans and often form at night.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Paleontology
This spiky fossil shows what early mollusks looked like
The fossil, plus 17 others from more than 500 million years ago, reveal that early mollusks were slug-like creatures with prickly armor.
Notebook
Space
Scientists want to send endangered species’ cells to the moon
Climate change is threatening Earth’s biodiversity banks. It might be time to build a backup on the moon.
Features
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A next-gen pain drug shows promise, but chronic sufferers need more options
A new painkiller nearing approval called suzetrigine may prove to be an opioid alternative. But for many with chronic pain, treatment must go beyond pills.
More Stories from the September 7, 2024 issue
- Astronomy
Some meteors leave trails lasting up to an hour. Now we may know why
A new survey of meteors that leave persistent trails found that speed and brightness don’t matter as much as atmospheric chemistry.
- Health & Medicine
Why mpox is a global health emergency — again
The WHO made the declaration as a potentially more infectious version of the deadly virus has emerged and mpox cases are rapidly rising across Africa.
- Oceans
This AI can predict ship-sinking ‘freak’ waves minutes in advance
The model, which was trained on data from ocean buoys to identify potential rogue waves, could help save lives.
- Animals
This spider makes its home in the burrows of extinct giant ground sloths
Caves made by extinct giant ground sloths make the perfect home for a newly discovered type of long-spinneret ground spider from Brazil.
- Health & Medicine
Your medications might make it harder for you to beat the heat
Chronic illnesses and the medications that treat them may make it harder to handle extreme heat. It’s even harder to study how.
- Animals
Hundreds of snake species get a new origin story
Elapoid snakes, including cobras, mambas and sea snakes, may have evolved in Asia, not Africa as many researchers once thought.
- Environment
More than 4 billion people may not have access to clean water
The new estimate, based on data from 135 low- and middle-income countries, is more than double the World Health Organization’s official count.
- Paleontology
The asteroid that may have killed the dinosaurs came from beyond Jupiter
The Chicxulub crater, left behind by the impact, contains elemental traces that suggest the origins of the notorious projectile.
- Anthropology
An Egyptian mummy’s silent ‘scream’ might have been fixed at death
A rare muscle-stiffening reaction could explain the open-mouthed expression of a mummy known as the Screaming Woman, scientists suggest.
- Neuroscience
Alzheimer’s blood tests are getting better, but still have a ways to go
Blood biomarker tests could help doctors know if a person's cognitive symptoms are due to Alzheimer's or something else.
- Climate
Earth’s jet stream helps create the seeds of clouds
The newly discovered process for making aerosols might also be the most productive.
- Archaeology
Was Egypt’s first pyramid built with hydraulics? The theory may hold water
A controversial analysis contends that ancient engineers designed a water-powered elevator to hoist stones for King Djoser’s pyramid.
- Climate
Record-breaking Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef
Near-annual extreme heat in the Coral Sea, including in 2024, is causing back-to-back mass bleaching events in the iconic Great Barrier Reef.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, some of plastic’s toxic hazards were exposed
Worker exposure to vinyl chloride became tightly regulated after the chemical was linked with liver cancer. Now, its use may be on the chopping block.
