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Stay informed with commentary and opinion pieces on the latest issues in science, technology, health and the environment, written by expert 91av journalists and world-leading researchers and thinkers.

Technology

Children are being overlooked in conversations about AI

We need to stop ignoring young people's firsthand experience with artificial intelligence. They are already at the sharp end of its development, says Mhairi Aitken

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2W8RE1K Medical AI outlined by varied pills, showcasing the blend of pharmaceuticals with artificial intelligent tech innovation. Multi colored pills.

Technology

A healthy dose of AI can improve medical care and save lives

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Health

How the covid-19 pandemic distorted our experience of time

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MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2024/09/20: Participant seen holding a sign at the protest. Youth climate activists and allies rallied and marched through New York City calling on world leaders to tear down the pillars of fossil fuels, shortly before the beginning of the United Nations General Assembly and the concurrent Climate Week NYC. (Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Environment

There’s a new way to make everyday products without using fossil fuels

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2NR8F5N Two workers try to get boxes of vegetables over the barriers in the empty road outside the Union Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. The city badly-hit by the COVID-19 escalated its ban on vehicles in the outbreak. (FeatureChina via AP Images)

Health

We must revisit the covid-19 pandemic to prepare for future outbreaks

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On 22 August 2024, summit staff reinstalled Rubin Observatory's commissioning camera (ComCam) on the telescope. ComCam has previously been on the telescope, but was removed before the installation of the secondary mirror in late July. ComCam ??? a smaller (144 megapixel), simpler version of the full 3200-megapixel LSST Camera ??? is being used for testing activities prior to installing the LSST Camera, anticipated to happen late 2024. In the coming weeks the summit team will install the primary/tertiary mirror, enabling ComCam to produce the first astronomical data from the Simonyi Survey Telescope.

Space

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory gets started next year. I can’t wait

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False-colour scanning electron micrograph of skin from the palm of the hand of a 30 year old man. The skin here is neatly arranged in ridges. Sweat pores are seen as miniature craters along the ridges. The cells forming the external surface of the skin, or epidermis, have been flattened & hardened by deposition within them of the fibrous protein keratin. This tough, dead layer of cells is shed continuously & is replaced by new, maturing cells which take a month to migrate from the base of the epidermis. Magnification: x20 at 6x4.5cm size

Health

Forget aesthetics, the reason to look after our skin should be health

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Technology

Should chatbots have rights – and should we care?

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Humans

Could hibernation technology allow humans to skip winters?

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2KEFP4Y London, England, UK. 12th Nov, 2022. A protester outside Shell HQ holds a sign referencing the film 'Don't Look Up'. Thousands of people gathered outside Shell Headquarters in London and marched to Trafalgar Square as part of the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice as world leaders meet in Egypt for COP27. (Credit Image: ?? Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire) Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News

Environment

After another dire year for the environment, here’s to better times

Red lights continued to flash on the climate dashboard as many aspects of the natural world declined in 2024, although there were a few green shoots of hope to cling to, says Graham Lawton

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Physics

Science can be our trusty shield in a time of deepening crises

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Technology

High-tech archaeology shows we aren’t the first to endure hard times

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Environment

To fix the world’s problems, we need both optimism and pessimism

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Space

How a space elevator could make trips to the moon affordable for all

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