Science
Science
Living Like It's the Paleolithic: New Research Challenges the Dogmas of the Famous Paleo Diet
A Paleolithic lifestyle, involving giving up grains, dairy, and processed foods, still has its followers — though new archaeological discoveries make things awkward for them. By Łukasz Kwiatek It's 1987. The biologist Jared Diamond — already a respected scientist and science writer, but not yet the author of bestsellers like
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History Under Pressure: Peter Frankopan on How Nature Writes the Planet's History With Us
Peter Frankopan, historian: If we go back to the beginnings of recorded history, we'll notice that nearly all the world's great texts warn of some environmental catastrophe. By Jacek Stawiski and Peter Frankopan Jacek Stawiski: Your monumental book The Earth Transformed: An Untold History was published
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Blank Spots in Earth's History: When the Planet Nearly Froze
A vast hole yawns in our planet's geological record, spanning as much as a billion years. Perhaps this is because the entire Earth was once locked in ice — ice that put life to an extreme test and ground down thick layers of rock. By Łukasz Kwiatek The American
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Robots Can Outrun Humans. But at Home, They Need Our Help
A humanoid can lose to a dirty sock. Whether robots built in our own image find a place in the world will depend on how well AI copes with the mess of real life. By Agata Kaźmierska and Wojciech Brzeziński This August in Beijing, the robot Tiangong Ultra ran 100
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What Are Birds Singing About? They Say More Than We Thought
Artificial intelligence has firmly established itself in many fields of science. It may help us uncover the rules governing birdsong — and even its meanings. By Wojciech Mamak For a long time, studying bird communication meant a lot of squinting. The human ear is too slow to catch the split-second
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Punishment Without a Crime. Why Do People Confess to Crimes They Didn't Commit?
Aggressive interrogation techniques sometimes lead suspects to confess to crimes they didn't commit. And they begin to believe they deserve the punishment coming to them. By Kaja Głomb A few months ago, Paul Heaton, a respected criminologist from the University of Pennsylvania, announced that he had got ChatGPT
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What Happened to the Cro-Magnons? The Tangled History of Europe's Hunter-Gatherers
More than 50,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans began migrating into Europe and interbreeding with Neanderthals. The genes of some of them survive to this day. By Łukasz Kwiatek The name Paul Broca is most often encountered in neurobiology textbooks. This French physician made his name performing the autopsy
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The Secret Life Of Bats. Species From Three Continents Have Made Their Home In Israeli Bunkers
Eran Levin, zoologist: Mouse-tailed bats would make ideal pets. They are clean, smell wonderfully of fruit, don't take up any space because they hang from the ceiling, like people, and can be trained just like dogs. By Maria Hawranek and Eran Levin Maria Hawranek: I was surprised
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Human Cannibalism. When Did It First Appear And What Does It Tell Us About Ourselves?
Why has a behaviour that is widespread in the natural world and has recurred many times throughout human history become subject to one of the strongest human taboos? By Kasper Kalinowski On 9 March 1945, at 9 am, the commander of a Japanese battalion, Major Matoba – who was later taken
Science
One Universe Is Not Enough
FR PROF. MICHAŁ HELLER, cosmologist: The mathematics underlying multiverse theory can enchant. But some people find these concepts infuriating. By Fr Michał Heller, Łukasz Kwiatek, Tomasz Miller ŁUKASZ KWIATEK, TOMASZ MILLER: How did it come about that science started talking about the "multiverse" — the existence of universes other
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Sweet Killer. What exactly are cats for?
They don't catch thieves, don't detect drugs, and their positive impact on our health is questionable. So what exactly are cats for? By Zuza Lamża At the end of 2019, sad news spread across the media: after a long struggle with a bone disease, Lil Bub