AI-powered personas are becoming so realistic that they can infiltrate online communities and subtly steer public opinion。 Unlike traditional bots, they adapt, coordinate, and refine their messaging at a massive scale, creating a false sense of consensus。 Early warning signs—like deepfakes and fake news networks—have already appeared in global elec
Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces
A team at King’s College London has created a powerful new aluminum compound capable of doing the work of expensive rare metals。 Its unique triangular structure gives it remarkable stability and reactivity, allowing it to drive chemical reactions in ways never seen before。 The discovery could lead to greener and far more affordable industrial proce
A mysterious cosmic explosion has astronomers buzzing, as a strange event may hint at an entirely new kind of stellar cataclysm。 After detecting ripples in space-time, scientists spotted a fast-fading red glow that initially looked like a rare kilonova—the kind of collision that forges gold and uranium。 But just days later, the signal shifted, beha
Researchers have, for the first time, directly visualized how electronic patterns known as charge density waves evolve across a phase transition。 Using cutting-edge microscopy, they found these patterns form unevenly, breaking into patches influenced by tiny structural distortions。 Unexpectedly, small pockets of order persist even above the transit
In the chaotic first moments after the Big Bang, ripples in spacetime may have done more than just echo through the cosmos—they could have helped create dark matter itself。 New research suggests that faint, ancient gravitational waves might have transformed into particles that eventually became the invisible substance shaping galaxies today
For decades, psychologists have debated whether the human mind can be explained by one unified theory or must be broken into separate parts like memory and attention。 A recent AI model called Centaur seemed to offer a breakthrough, claiming it could mimic human thinking across 160 different cognitive tasks。 But new research is challenging that bold
Scientists have discovered unexpected water-ice clouds on a distant, Jupiter-like exoplanet, challenging current atmospheric models。 By directly imaging Epsilon Indi Ab with the James Webb Space Telescope, they found less ammonia than expected—likely hidden by thick, patchy clouds。 The finding reveals new layers of complexity in giant planets and s
A mysterious magnetic material once thought to host an exotic “quantum spin liquid” has turned out to be something entirely different—and possibly just as intriguing。 Scientists studying cerium magnesium hexalluminate found it showed the hallmark signs of this elusive quantum state, like a lack of magnetic order and a spread of energy states。 But a
A spectacular cosmic event nicknamed “SN Winny” could help solve one of astronomy’s biggest mysteries: how fast the universe is expanding。 This rare superluminous supernova, located 10 billion light-years away, appears five times in the sky thanks to gravitational lensing, creating a dazzling “cosmic fireworks” effect。 By measuring the slight delay
In a striking glimpse into extreme physics, scientists have captured the split-second chaos that unfolds when powerful laser flashes blast matter into a superheated plasma。 By combining two cutting-edge lasers, researchers were able to track how copper atoms lose and regain electrons in trillionths of a second, creating and dissolving highly charge
Scientists have uncovered the true boundary of the Milky Way’s star-forming region using stellar “age mapping。” They found a telltale U-shaped pattern showing that star formation drops sharply around 35,000–40,000 light-years from the center。 Beyond that, stars are mostly migrants, slowly drifting outward rather than forming in place