atlas news
The Economist : science and technology
24 janvier
17h50
Should you worry about microplastics?
Little is known about the effects on humans but limiting exposure to them seems prudent
22 janvier
19h07
Wasps stole genes from viruses
That probably assisted their evolutionary diversification
18h40
America’s departure from the WHO would harm everyone
Whether it is a negotiating ploy remains to be seen
18h35
Genetic engineering could help rid Australia of toxic cane toads
It is better than freezing them to death
21 janvier
18h13
High-tech antidotes for snake bites
Genetic engineering and AI are powering the search for antivenins
17 janvier
19h23
Can you breathe stress away?
It won’t hurt to try. But scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind
11h39
The Economist’s science and technology internship
We invite applications for the Richard Casement internship
16 janvier
16h00
A better understanding of Huntington’s disease brings hope
Previous research seems to have misinterpreted what is going on
15 janvier
17h54
Is obesity a disease?
It wasn’t. But it is now
17h50
Volunteers with Down’s syndrome could help find Alzheimer’s drugs
Those with the syndrome have more of a protein implicated in dementia
10 janvier
19h12
Should you start lifting weights?
You’ll stay healthier for longer if you’re strong
08 janvier
18h53
Does melatonin work for jet lag?
It can help. But it depends where you’re going
18h52
Training AI models might not need enormous data centres
Eventually, models could be trained without any dedicated hardware at all
07 janvier
19h56
How the Gulf’s rulers want to harness the power of science
A stronger R D base, they hope, will transform their countries’ economies. Will their plan work
01 janvier
17h53
Cancer vaccines are showing promise at last
Trials are under way against skin, brain and lung tumours
17h51
New firefighting tech is being trialled in Sardinia’s ancient forests
It could sniff out blazes long before they spread out of control
17h50
Can Jeff Bezos match Elon Musk in space?
After years, Blue Origin finally heads to orbit, and hopes to become a contender in the private space race
28 décembre
15h41
Why some doctors are reassessing hypnosis
There is growing evidence that it can help with pain, depression and more
18 décembre
18h04
Academic writing is getting harder to read the humanities most of all
We analyse two centuries of scholarly work
18h00
Giving children the wrong (or not enough) toys may doom a society
Survival is a case of child’s play
16 décembre
18h15
Earth is warming faster. Scientists are closing in on why
Paradoxically, cleaner emissions from ships and power plants are playing a role
12 décembre
19h01
Humans and Neanderthals met often, but only one event matters
The mystery of exactly how people left Africa deepens
11 décembre
19h23
Machine translation is almost a solved problem
But interpreting meanings, rather than just words and sentences, will be a daunting task
19h21
AI can bring back a person’s own voice
And it can generate sentences trained on their own writing
18h57
Carbon emissions from tourism are rising disproportionately fast
The industry is failing to make itself greener
06 décembre
15h06
Why China is building a Starlink system of its own
When it is finished, Qianfan could number , satellites, rivalling Elon Musk’s system
04 décembre
19h01
Lots of hunting. Not much gathering. The diet of early Americans
What they ate is given away by the isotopes in their bodies
18h54
Stimulating parts of the brain can help the paralysed to walk again
Implanted electrodes allowed one man to climb stairs unaided
18h54
Can anyone realistically challenge SpaceX’s launch supremacy?
And if its boss now tries to kill NASA’s own heavy lifter, will that matter
03 décembre
17h33
Dreams of asteroid mining, orbital manufacturing and much more
Ideas for making money in orbit that seemed mad in the s now look sane
28 novembre
13h53
Elon Musk is causing problems for the Royal Society
His continued membership has led to a high profile resignation
27 novembre
18h51
Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions
Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier
18h15
Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques
They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes
25 novembre
20h40
Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you
A mystery is finally being solved
20 novembre
18h17
Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
17h47
The two types of human laugh
One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else
17h45
Scientists are building a catalogue of every type of cell in our bodies
It has thus far shed light on everything from organ formation to the causes of inflammation
17h41
How squid could help people get over their needle phobia
Cephalopod ink propulsion is inspiring an alternative to syringes
13 novembre
18h16
Norway’s Atlantic salmon risks going the way of the panda
Climate change and fish farming are endangering its future
18h15
Artificial intelligence is helping improve climate models
More accurate predictions will lead to better policy making
18h15
Physics reveals the best design for a badminton arena
The key is minimising the disruptive effects of ventilation
11 novembre
17h24
There’s lots of gold in urban waste dumps
The pay dirt could be times richer than natural deposits
06 novembre
17h40
A battle is raging over the definition of open-source AI
Companies that bet on the right one could win big
17h34
As wellness trends take off, iodine deficiency makes a quiet comeback
Levels of the vital nutrient are falling rapidly in America
17h21
How blood-sucking vampire bats get their energy
They pull off a trick previously thought unique to a few insects
05 novembre
15h03
China plans to crash a spacecraft into a distant asteroid
It will be only the second country to conduct such a planetary defence experiment
30 octobre
18h18
Researchers are questioning if ADHD should be seen as a disorder
It should, instead, be seen as a different way of being normal
17h41
Airships may finally prove useful for transporting cargo
The problem of variable buoyancy is being overcome
17h39
Space may be worse for humans than thought
Why going into orbit sends cells haywire
28 octobre
15h45
Heart-cockle shells may work like fibre-optic cables
Inbuilt lenses transmit sunlight to symbiotic algae