Survival is a case of childs play

We analyse two centuries of scholarly work

Paradoxically, cleaner emissions from ships and power plants are playing a role

Science & technology | Vexing visitsCarbon emissions fromtourismare rising disproportionately fastThe industry is failing to make itself greenerPhotograph: Magnum Dec 11th 2024Tourists have been getting a lot of flak recently. Venice has started charging 5 ($5.30) for day-trippers and limits the size of tour groups. Rome is considering a 2 fee to see the Trevi fountain. New Zealand has upped fees for visitors.Explore moreClimate changeThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Vexing visitsFrom the December 14th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Science & technology | The Babel wishMachine translation is almost a solved problemBut interpreting meanings, rather than just words and sentences, will be a daunting taskIllustration: Mark Pernice Dec 11th 2024|LisbonVasco Pedro had always believed that, despite the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), getting machines to translate languages as well as professional translators do would always need a human in the loop. Then he saw the results of a competition run by his Lisbon-based startup, Unbabel, pitting its latest AI model against the companys human translators. I was likeno, were done, he says. Humans are done in translation. Mr Pedro estimates that human labour currently accounts for around 95% of the global translation industry. In the next three years, he reckons, human involvement will drop to near zero.Explore moreArtificial intelligenceThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline The Babel wishFrom the December 14th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Science & technology | Mystery storyHumans and Neanderthals met often, but only one event matters The mystery of exactly how people left Africa deepensPhotograph: Tom Bjrklund Dec 12th 2024In 2010 researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (EVA), in Leipzig, published the genome of Homo neanderthalensis, a species known in less progressive days as Neanderthal man. This contained stretches of DNA also found in Homo sapiens genomesspecifically, non-African ones. That suggested past interbreeding between the two, but only outside Africa. This is not surprising. Homo sapiens began in Africa but Neanderthals were Eurasian. Any miscegenation would have happened after sapiens left its homeland to embark on its conquest of the world. But the details were unclear.This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Mystery storyFrom the December 14th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

And it can generate sentences trained on their own writing

Interpreting meanings, rather than just words and sentences, will be a daunting task

When it is finished, Qianfan could number 14,000 satellites

And if its boss now tries to kill NASAs own heavy lifter, will that matter?

Implanted electrodes allowed one man to climb stairs unaided

What they ate is given away by the isotopes in their bodies

Ideas for making money in orbit that seemed mad in the 1960s now look sane

Science & technology | Fellow feelingsElon Musk is causing problems for the Royal SocietyHis continued membership has led to a high-profile resignationThe great resignationPhotograph: Alicia Canter/Eyevine Nov 28th 2024ISAAC NEWTON was a self-interested tyrant. James Watson, a Nobel laureate, spouted racist and sexist notions all his life. These men nevertheless managed to keep hold of one of the British scientific establishments highest baublesfellowship of the Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy in the world. The latest member of that club to be accused of unbecoming behaviour is Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and, now, a confidant of President-elect Donald Trump. His continued inclusiondespite what some other scientists have called anti-scientific behaviourhas led to a fracas.Explore moreElon MuskThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Fellow feelingsFrom the November 30th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes

Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier

A mystery is finally being solved

But scientists are racing to find out

Scientists are racing to find out

Cephalopod ink propulsion is inspiring an alternative to syringes

It has thus far shed light on everything from organ formation to the causes of inflammation

One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else

Concerns about some of their business models are building

The key is minimising the disruptive effects of ventilation

More accurate predictions will lead to better policy-making

Climate change and fish farming are endangering its future

The pay dirt could be 15 times richer than natural deposits

They pull off a trick previously thought unique to a few insects

Levels of the vital nutrient are falling rapidly in America

Companies that bet on the right one could win big

It will be only the second country to conduct such a planetary defence experiment

Why going into orbit sends cells haywire

The problem of variable buoyancy is being overcome

It should, instead, be seen as a different way of being normal

Science & technology | The new Moon raceSpaceX is NASAs biggest lunar rivalThe companys successes are also showing up the agencys failingsPhotograph: NASA Oct 17th 2024It was something amazingan expensive, delicate ship falling out of the sky with such precision that it could be caught in a waiting pair of giant, gentle arms. If you wanted an illustration of the fact that Americans can do things in space beyond the reach of other earthlings the return of the booster stage of SpaceXs fifth Starship test flight on October 13th could hardly be bettered.Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Team of rivalsFrom the October 19th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Inbuilt lenses transmit sunlight to symbiotic algae

Science & technology | Sunny side upPerovskite crystals may represent the future of solar powerTheir efficiency rates far exceed those of conventional silicon panelsPhotograph: Luca Abbiento/Oxford PV Oct 21st 2024|OXFORDIT is commonly claimed, and also true, that enough sunlight falls on Earth in the course of an hour to meet a years worth of global power needs. Some of that sunlight is currently converted into electricity by arrays of solar panels: by the end of 2023, these panels covered almost 10,000 square kilometres of Earths surface, producing some 1,600 terawatt-hours of electricity, about 6% of that generated worldwide.This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Sunny side upFrom the October 26th 2024 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Such techniques have helped secure two convictions this year

They can guzzle extreme amounts for their size, without suffering ill effects

Automating this delicate task is harder than it seems