Science News

Explore  with us some of the latest developments in science, including physics, biology, mathematics, chemistry, information, and astronomy.  Imagine what the future holds with today’s discoveries in these and other scientific pursuits.  Along the way we will encounter fascinating people and their ideas that push the boundaries of science and shape the future direction of knowledge.

We feature some of the latest developments in a range of scientific branches, highlighting the human ingenuity and circumstances that lead to discovery and new technologies.   We explain the ideas, the problems that led to the solutions, and the function of the discoveries, in words designed for the general audience so no background in science is required to appreciate the work of the scientists.  The ideas for our stories are drawn from other freely-available publications as well as paid subscriptions, and we welcome contributions and story ideas from volunteer contributors.  Join our science writers Mariana Meneses and Saulo Silvestre as we explore the exciting new developments in science and the showcase the good people who dedicate their life’s work to the advancement of knowledge and the human mission.

In Focus

New Technologies Bring Us Closer to Communicating With Animals. Will the Experience be Humbling?

If we could learn to speak dog, elephant, or any of the vast array of sounds that animals communicate with, how would our perception of life change? Machine learning could soon help answer the question, as algorithms enable scientists to detect patterns and meaning in animal sounds. The studies of bioacoustics and ecoacoustics, and technologies like passive acoustic localization, have already led to important discoveries. As science comes closer to cracking the code of animal language, will legal and ethical systems respond to preserve nature, recognize animal intelligence, and prevent human manipulation?

Do We Live Inside a Black Hole? New Evidence Could Redefine Distance and Time

What difference would it make if we knew that we’re living inside a black hole? New evidence of galactic rotation patterns suggests that we do, and that we should reconsider how we measure distance and time. Is time linear, on a one-way trip from past to future, or is time actually circular? Evidence that galaxies rotate on a universal axis revives black hole cosmology and shockwave cosmology theories first proposed decades ago.

Cleaning the Mirror: Increasing Concerns Over Data Quality, Distortion, and Decision-Making

As AI systems become more powerful, the spotlight often focuses on models—yet the real bottleneck may lie in the data they consume. From flawed training sets to recursive feedback loops of AI-generated content, recent studies reveal that data quality is not just a technical detail—it’s a foundational concern for the future of trustworthy machine intelligence, especially in crucial functions like healthcare.

Latest Science News

  • In Digits We Trust: Cryptocurrencies and Central Banks are Competing to Reshape the Economic Landscape

    As financial transactions are increasingly electronic and physical currency use becomes rare, three central banks have introduced digital currencies and more are planning for the potential. But will blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin become widely accepted instead, or will they continue as a favoured method for criminal payments? Whatever digital payment method takes hold in the future, public demand for transactional privacy may be at odds with regulatory efforts to rein in crime.

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    Emerging Risks of AI Chatbots Include Suicide and “AI Psychosis,” Particularly for Vulnerable Youth

    Evidence shows how young people are relying on AI agents like ChatGPT as “life advisors,” and tragic suicides are a warning of risks to vulnerable kids from AI companions. Jeopardy extends beyond youth, as adults increasingly fall victim to “AI psychosis,” becoming delusional or paranoid from false information provided by AIs. There is little time to implement safeguards when, as one teen says, “Everyone uses AI for everything now. It’s really taking over.”

  • Problem Solved: Mathematicians Show How Time is Both Reversible and Irreversible, With Potential for Major Discoveries

    David Hilbert famously set out 23 problems for fellow mathematicians, the 6th of which was to create axioms for physical sciences in which mathematics plays an important part. Now, 125 years later, Hilbert’s 6th problem has been answered by three mathematicians whose axioms for the physical motion of gases and gas particles explain the connection between time-reversible equations of physical motion and the irreversibility of time as we experience it. Physicists have had to use three different equations for the evolution of a gas, but the new axioms open the door for exploring the mathematical relationships and more complex particle interactions.

  • Physicists Discover New Formula for \(\pi\): Could the Human Power for Pattern Recognition Unlock the Universe’s Secrets?

    We’re surrounded by numbers, like changing prices and the minutes of an hour. Some numbers, like those in the ratio of a circle’s circumference to diameter, pi = 3.14159…, go on infinitely, and the intuition of two physicists has found a way for capturing infinity in a new formula for pi. We look at the new formula’s relationship to one that’s 600-years old, and how others in history like Archimedes and Ramanujan used intuition to uncover patterns in pi. Knowing more about pi, as a key factor in physics, could unlock some of the universe’s hidden secrets.

  • Why Artificial Neural Networks Fail in Processing Emotions Essential for Human Memory—and How Failure Can Lead to Blackmail

    Artificial neural networks behind ChatGPT, Claude, and other popular large language models fall short in processing emotions, which are essential to human memory and motivation. The fault lines that lead machines to sycophancy, blackmail, jailbreaking, and other serious output errors are rooted in machine learning and choices made by human trainers. We look at examples of algorithmic failures and the reasons why.

  • CRISPR, AI, and the Human Code: The Case of Personalized Human Gene Editing 

    A baby in the U.S. was recently saved by the first-ever personalized CRISPR gene-editing therapy. At the same time, embryo screening is being marketed to parents as a way to select for traits like intelligence and low anxiety. Gene editing is also advancing in brain and heart research, and while these innovations promise to transform medicine, major ethical and scientific gaps remain. A landmark study in Brazil has uncovered over 8 million previously undocumented genetic variants, most absent from global databases, raising urgent concerns about whose genomes shape the future of healthcare.

The Quantum Record is a non-profit journal of philosophy, science, technology, and time. The potential of the future is in the human mind and heart, and in the common ground that we all share on the road to tomorrow. Promoting reflection, discussion, and imagination, The Quantum Record highlights the good work of good people and aims to join many perspectives in shaping the best possible time to come. We would love to stay in touch with you, and add your voice to the dialogue.

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