Helen Pearson’s post summarizes findings from her Nature article on how artificial intelligence may affect critical-thinking skills and how educators can help preserve them. Although AI is often portr
A Space Weather paper argues that a famous 1871 report of solar activity disrupting a railway telegraph should be dated to 18 October 1848, not 1841. The original Nature note claimed that a severe mag
Researchers now able to stop, restart light
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news.harvard.edu
IrregularChat: Research/PAI
2w ago
Physicist Lene Hau and her colleagues developed a method to slow, stop, and restart light by manipulating ultracold atoms. In 1999, Hau’s team slowed light roughly 20 million-fold, from its normal spe
The article describes early optogenetics research at Stanford University, led by Karl Deisseroth, showing how light can be used to control the brains of living mice and rats. Scientists insert genes f
Researchers have used tidal tomography to probe the interiors of Earth, the Moon, and now Mars by measuring how a body deforms under tidal forces. In Mars’s case, Alexander Berne and colleagues analyz
This demo supports the paper *Large language models can predict the results of social science experiments* (Nature, 2026; OSF) and is designed to predict experimental treatment effects on U.S. adults.
book by Charles Perrow
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en.wikipedia.org
IrregularChat: AI & Autonomy
Aug 13
*Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies* is a 1984 book by Yale sociologist Charles Perrow that examines complex systems and why major accidents are often inevitable. Perrow argues that
The "mechanical miracle" that ruined Mark Twain's life
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resobscura.substack.com
IrregularChat: AI & Autonomy
Aug 11
Mark Twain’s disastrous investment in the Paige Compositor, a highly complex typesetting machine, became a cautionary tale about automation, invention, and misplaced faith in technological progress. T
A new NASA-led study published in *Nature* suggests the most extreme solar storms may be far more powerful than scientists have assumed. Researchers found that current space weather measurements may b
A new Ars Technica report argues that AI data centers’ total water use is small compared with overall water consumption, even though individual facilities can heavily affect local supplies. Amazon sai
Researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital and Columbia University have created a modified version of a psychoactive toxin produced by the Colorado River toad that may offer antidepressant and anti-anxiety
Forty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, wolves in the exclusion zone may be adapting to chronic radiation exposure. The area, which has been largely off-limits to humans since the 1986 react
The article reports a major advance in generating efficient relativistic plasma harmonics, a process that can produce extreme ultraviolet and X-ray radiation and potentially intensities approaching th
In the study published in *Nature Communications*, researchers investigate the low-frequency electronic noise in quasi-one-dimensional (1D) charge-density-wave (CDW) nanowires, specifically focusing o
How AI slop is causing a crisis in computer science
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nature.com
8n0vhvZbQGW0UuFl3TtWs4+yUkhVlesOw1hPSDyLFXY=
Feb 19
The surge in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, particularly large language models (LLMs), is leading to a crisis in computer science research. Researchers, such as Raphael Wimmer, have no
Examining the Case for AGI
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amardashehu.substack.com
Ehzd1ZUbifpck9XyJf9d/9rX0i3KTg3rh/c4Kceg1iI=
Feb 18
In her essay, Amarda Shehu critiques a recent article in *Nature* that claims AI has achieved human-level intelligence, arguing that the assertions within lack rigorous empirical support. Shehu emphas
Rumors of AGI’s arrival have been greatly exaggerated
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garymarcus.substack.com
IrregularChat: AI & Autonomy
Feb 17
Gary Marcus, Walter Quattrociocchi, and Valerio Capraro argue that claims of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) are overstated, fueled by high performance in benchmarks that do not equate
Rumors of AGI’s arrival have been greatly exaggerated
news
garymarcus.substack.com
Ehzd1ZUbifpck9XyJf9d/9rX0i3KTg3rh/c4Kceg1iI=
Feb 17
Gary Marcus, Walter Quattrociocchi, and Valerio Capraro argue that claims of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) are overstated, fueled by high performance in benchmarks that do not equate
In a commentary published in *Nature*, the authors assert that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has been achieved through large language models (LLMs) based on a functionalist perspective, which
In a commentary published in *Nature*, the authors assert that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has been achieved through large language models (LLMs) based on a functionalist perspective, which
The Tale of 3I/ATLAS and Sterile Neutrinos
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avi-loeb.medium.com
46Yfd7MDnWyGPnUToU4dvZvT2veU1atNOkHUVExTcVM=
Dec 10, 2025
The article discusses the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, highlighting its unique features, particularly an unexplained anti-tail that challenges current cometary models. The author criticizes the reluc
The Tale of 3I/ATLAS and Sterile Neutrinos
news
avi-loeb.medium.com
OHQ2Kkqn+32BLQcMgK7reTL8EAcI9mVgOyE+TDSTIfo=
Dec 10, 2025
The article discusses the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS and its unique features, particularly an "anti-tail" that deviates from traditional comet behavior, raising questions about its composition. The