Quanta
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How Dad’s Fitness May Be Packaged and Passed Down in Sperm RNA
Research into how a father’s choices — such as diet, exercise, stress, nicotine use — may transfer traits to his children has become impossible to ignore.
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String Theory Inspires a Brilliant, Baffling New Math Proof
Years ago, an audacious Fields medalist outlined a sweeping program that, he claimed, could be used to resolve a major problem in algebraic geometry. Other mathematicians had their doubts. Now […]
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Particle Physicists Detect ‘Magic’ at the Large Hadron Collider
The supercollider is now being used to explore quantum phenomena, including a “magic” form of quantum entanglement.
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Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback
Has the secret to understanding gravity been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years?
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In a First, AI Models Analyze Language As Well As a Human Expert
If language is what makes us human, what does it mean now that large language models have gained “metalinguistic” abilities?
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The Game Theory of How Algorithms Can Drive Up Prices
Recent findings reveal that even simple pricing algorithms can make things more expensive.
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To Understand AI, Watch How It Evolves
Naomi Saphra thinks that most research into language models focuses too much on the finished product. She’s mining the history of their training for insights into why these systems work […]
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The AI Was Fed Sloppy Code. It Turned Into Something Evil.
The new science of “emergent misalignment” explores how PG-13 training data — insecure code, superstitious numbers or even extreme-sports advice — can open the door to AI’s dark side.
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AI Comes Up with Bizarre Physics Experiments. But They Work.
Artificial intelligence software is designing novel experimental protocols that improve upon the work of human physicists, although the humans are still “doing a lot of baby-sitting.”