A lab leak was once dismissed by many as a conspiracy theory. But the idea is gaining traction, even as evidence builds that the virus emerged from a market.
Tag Archives: Science and Technology
GPT-4 Is Here, and the Silicon Valley Bank Fallout
Then, Mark Zuckerberg rethinks Meta’s strategy.
Guidelines Warn Against Racial Categories in Genetic Research
A new report from the National Academies of Science noted that race was a poor proxy for genetic diversity.
A Representative Goes to A.I. School, and How to Ban TikTok
Also, how Waluigi may explain why A.I. chatbots are misbehaving.
Everyone Pivots to A.I., and Bad News for Crypto
Is crypto dead? Or only mostly dead?
‘What Is This Thing?’: How a Jurassic-Era Insect Was Rediscovered
A giant lacewing found at a Walmart in 2012 is being heralded as the first specimen of its kind seen in eastern North America in more than 50 years.
The Return of the Magician
Why we are seeing so many attempts to link magic to science.
We’ve Been Talking About the Lab-Leak Hypothesis All Wrong
When are we going to get more serious about the highest-security labs?
Microsoft Reined in Bing and Reddit’s Chief Executive Steve Huffman Defends Section 230
And what Meta’s new paid verification program means for the future of social media.
After Long Delay, Moderna Pays N.I.H. for Covid Vaccine Technique
Moderna has paid $400 million to the government for a chemical technique key to its vaccine. But the parties are still locked in a high-stakes dispute over a different patent.
Bing’s Chatbot Declares its Love and Elon Musk Rewrites the Twitter Algorithm
Then, online ads have gotten bad — and that might be OK.
Bing’s Revenge and Google’s A.I. Face-Plant
OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, and Microsoft’s chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, on an A.I.-powered Bing.
At This School, Computer Science Class Now Includes Critiquing Chatbots
Move over, coding. Some schools are asking student programmers to think critically about rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
TikTok’s “Transparency and Accountability Center” + ChatGPT’s Origin Story + Kevin Systrom’s Artifact App
Casey becomes a content moderator, Kevin breaks some news on OpenAI and Instagram’s co-founder reveals his new project.
A.I.: Actually Insipid Until It’s Actively Insidious
ChatGPT ain’t Shakespeare, but it’s still a threat to humanity.
Meta’s Trump Calculus and Regime Change at Netflix
Plus, we play the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s video game “Dookey Dash.”
Ukraine’s Scientists Receive a Funding Lifeline From Abroad
The Simons Foundation in New York is providing annual grants to the country’s chemists, biologists, physicists and mathematicians.
Elon’s Crumbling Empire and Generative A.I. Goes to Court
And, a cautionary tale for the media using A.I.
NOAA Program Gathers Data Far Above the Pacific to Forecast Deadly Storms
A Times reporter and photographer rode along with a team gathering data on the colossal atmospheric rivers that have drenched the state.
A Teacher Who Loves ChatGPT and Is ‘M3GAN’ Real?
Also, why teenagers are buying old digital cameras.
Exxon Scientists Predicted Global Warming, Even as Company Cast Doubts, Study Finds
Starting in the 1970s, scientists working for the oil giant made remarkably accurate projections of just how much burning fossil fuels would warm the planet.
TikTok Spied on Journalists and ChatGPT is Challenging Google
TikTok skeptics now have a smoking gun.
Asian Researchers Face Disparity With Key U.S. Science Funding Source
White researchers fared best in winning grants from the National Science Foundation, a study says. Asians encounter the highest rate of rejections, challenging an academic stereotype.
Cheer Up! The World Is Better Off Than You Think.
The year 2022 was not great. But even in the midst of overlapping calamities, progress is being made.
A New Chat Bot Is a ‘Code Red’ for Google’s Search Business
A new wave of chat bots like ChatGPT use artificial intelligence that could reinvent or even replace the traditional internet search engine.
Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested + Predicitions for 2023 + Listener Q&A
The disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried used “old-fashioned embezzlement,” according to the new FTX chief executive.
Why Some Scientists Choose China’s Space Station for Research
A project led by researchers from a Swiss university highlights China’s ambition to make the Tiangong outpost broadly available for science.
Anthony Fauci: A Message to the Next Generation of Scientists
As he prepares to retire, “America’s doctor” reflects on his long career.
Can ChatGPT Make This Podcast?
OpenAI’s new chatbot is a coder, a teacher, a potential Google killer, and … a friend?
‘Innovation Hubs’ Aim to Lift Distressed Areas. Congress Just Has to Fund Them.
A new report suggests where 20 newly created research centers could best revitalize struggling economies and accelerate new technologies
Elon’s Two-Day War with Apple + How to Beat an A.I. Censor + S.B.F.’s ‘Bad Month’
Musk takes on tech’s fight against the Apple “tax.”
Yellowstone Supervolcano Contains More Magma, New Study Finds
The extra magma doesn’t mean it’s more likely to erupt, scientists say. In fact, the better measurement helps them to understand its future.
NYU Putting $1 Billion Into Its Engineering School in Brooklyn
The university is seeking to improve its ranking among competitors and raise New York City’s profile in the technology sector.
Parent Company of Yandex, Known as ‘Russia’s Google,’ Wants to Cut Ties With Country
The move would be a setback to President Vladimir V. Putin’s efforts to develop homegrown substitutes for Western technology.
Science Twitter Shaped the Pandemic. Are We Better for It?
Reflecting on what worked and what didn’t.
The End of Covid Vaccines at ‘Warp Speed’
Financial and bureaucratic barriers in the United States mean that the next generation of Covid vaccines may well be designed here, but used elsewhere.
FTX’s Unraveling and Elon Musk’s Ultimatum to Twitter Employees
Sam Bankman-Fried’s DMs go public, and Congress announces an investigation. Tech’s nightmare November continues.
With Artemis, NASA Returns to the Moon This Week. Why Do We Feel Conflicted?
A retired NASA astronaut, former NASA leader and an astrobiologist discuss.
A Verified Mess: Turmoil From Twitter to FTX
Plus: Is the latest round of tech layoffs a sign of impending doom, or a much-needed structural correction?
NASA Launched and Landed LOFTID, an Inflatable Flying Saucer Heat Shield
The LOFTID mission tested a novel approach to guiding spacecraft through the extreme heat of returning from orbit, which could be used to put people on Mars.
Twitter Employees on Life Under Elon Musk
A radical shake-up is underway at the social media company.
What Do Middle Schools Teach About Climate Change? Not Much.
Around the United States, middle school science standards have minimal references to climate change and teachers on average spend just a few hours a year teaching it.
Elon Owns Twitter + Apple’s Developer Tax + Meta’s Dismal Earning Report
The world’s richest man just closed the deal, promising that the company won’t become a ‘hellscape’, appointing himself ‘Chief Twit’ and promptly firing top executives.
Lab Manipulations of Covid Virus Fall Under Murky Government Rules
Mouse experiments at Boston University have spotlighted an ambiguous U.S. policy for research on potentially dangerous pathogens.
Generative A.I. Is Here. Who Should Control It?
Emad Mostaque, the founder of Stability AI, says his Stable Diffusion image generator is the key to unlocking creativity. His critics say it’s a potential threat.
On tech, Xi points to self-reliance and state-led initiatives.
Mr. Xi signaled that little would change on tech policy, as he emphasized internet controls, state-led innovation projects and a battle for key core technology.
China Doubles Down on ‘Covid Zero’ Despite Economic Toll
Xi Jinping doubled down on the idea that the measures have saved lives and vowed to continue the stringent set of policies.
John Fetterman Is a Disabled American Who Needs Technology to Do His Job. So What?
It is our accommodations, often but not exclusively technological in nature, that make it possible for many of us to do our jobs.
Elon Musk’s Hidden Twitter Motives and a Metaverse Meetup
Is the $44 billion Twitter deal actually for real this time? Our hosts disagree.
‘Hard Fork’: A New Technology Podcast from The New York Times
A weekly look at the future that’s already here. Listen to the trailer of our new tech podcast.