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Science + Tech – Articles, Analysis, Comment

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Wax figures of the Beatles in Madame Tussauds Berlin represent the pop stars in their youth — the two surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, are in their 80s. (Shutterstock)

The ghosts of the past: Pop music is haunted by our anxieties about the future

Artificial intelligence helped produce the Beatles’ 2023 hit “Now and Then.” But despite the sophisticated technology, the song reveals our obsession with the past and our anxieties about the future.
As apps are direct-to-consumer health technologies, they represent a new folk medicine. Users adopt these technologies based on trust rather than understanding how they operate. (Shutterstock)

Health-care AI: The potential and pitfalls of diagnosis by app

Future AI large language models like Google’s AMIE might prove to fill gaps in health-care delivery, however, they must be adopted with caution.
Flares burn at the Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex in 2021, in Norco, La. Plants like this produce not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also excess heat. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Thermoelectric technologies can help power a zero-carbon future

Human societies produce huge amounts of excess heat. Turning it into electricity could play a key role in achieving a net-zero society.
Collecting genetic information for the purposes of determining life insurance protections could lead to genetic discrimination. (Shutterstock)

Canada’s Genetic Non-Discrimination Act has only had a limited impact on the use of genetic information by life insurers

Canada needs additional regulation, developed through public consultations, stakeholder collaborations and community partnerships, to help regulate genetic testing and prevent genetic discrimination.
A disabled young female macaque named Monmo at the Awajishima Monkey Center in Japan. (Sarah E. Turner)

Defying expectations, disabled Japanese macaques survive by adjusting their behaviours and receiving support

A community of macaques in Japan has a high rate of disabled individuals who survive with behavioural flexibility and maternal care. Globally, primate disabilities are often related to human causes.
Almost every website — both for-profit and not-for-profit — commodifies user data. (Shutterstock)

To protect user privacy online, governments need to reconsider their use of opt-in policies

New research shows that opt-in policies may not be as effective as intended when it comes to data protection and privacy regulations.
In addition to a player’s ability to throw it, a number of factors will influence a ball’s flight, including its size, inflation pressure and texture. (Shutterstock)

Higher, faster: what influences the aerodynamics of a football?

A football’s dimensions, pressure and texture affect its aerodynamics, i.e. the forces exerted by the air on the ball as it flies.
Artist reconstruction of Alienacanthus malkowskii, a 365-million-year-old placoderm fish from Poland and Morocco. (Beat Scheffold & Christian Klug)

A 365-million-year-old fish with an extreme underbite showcases vertebrate diversity

What paleontologists had believed to be spiny fins turned out to be elongated jaws. New examination of fossils that were 365 million years old revealed a fish with a remarkable lower jaw.