Riviste scientifiche

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here. We are now in decade of Philip K Dick's dystopian novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and AI is already capable of driving our cars. But self-driving cars have harmed pedestrians and AI has been credited with delivering misinformation in curated social media feeds that threaten democracy. AI has also entered medicine, with uses in medical imaging and many other areas. However, there is increasing attention on how some algorithms in health care are racially biased.

Psychiatrist who sought to destigmatise mental illness. Born on Dec 1, 1934, in St Louis, MO, USA, she died of complications from a non-COVID-19 viral infection on Sept 4, 2021, in Pasadena, CA, USA, aged 86 years.

The People's Covid Inquiry anticipated that any official public investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic would be much delayed. It was a citizens’ tribunal —ie, part legal proceedings, part theatre, part publicly speaking truth to power—aimed at raising issues to more visible levels than government or the media were prepared to do on their own. The renowned human rights barrister, Michael Mansfield, acted as chair. A final report in December, 2021, set out conclusions and recommendations on the basis of the evidence collected.

Halperin SA, Ye L, MacKinnon-Cameron D, et al. Final efficacy analysis, interim safety analysis, and immunogenicity of a single dose of recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine (adenovirus type 5 vector) in adults 18 years and older: an international, multicentre, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet 2021; 399: 237–48—In this Article, the third section of the Procedures section should have stated “A single 0·5 mL dose of either the Ad5-nCoV vaccine or placebo was administered to each participant in the deltoid muscle of the non-dominant arm.” This correction has been made to the online version as of Jan 13, 2022, and the printed version is correct.

An 83-year-old man was admitted to our hospital reporting a 3-week history of cough and exertional dyspnoea. At the time of admission, the patient was 4 weeks into a 6-week course of daptomycin and rifampicin because he had an infected prosthetic knee joint; he also had a history of pituitary hypoplasia and had not been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.

Early Bronze Age people in Syria crossed donkeys with wild asses to make prized horse-like hybrids, demonstrating advanced understanding of animal breeding

Lidar uses lasers to create 3D images, but these can be hard to interpret because they are black and white. A new scanner adds cameras to make colour images that could be useful for infrastructure inspection or robot vision

Evidence shows that getting a flu jab during pregnancy provides substantial protection to young babies, but uptake in many countries is still concerningly low

A new milestone this week points to how these environmental levies are more likely the solution, not the problem, when it comes to avoiding energy price shocks

Reassuring findings from the UK and South Africa suggest that omicron isn't more severe in kids. Record numbers of hospitalisations probably reflect sheer number of cases and lack of vaccination

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic

By placing a marimo, a naturally forming ball of algae, inside a plastic shell, researchers have created a robot that can move through water powered only by photosynthesis

In 2004, my investigation into the bomb-laden wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery revealed the danger to people living nearby. Almost 20 years later, the UK government has finally agreed to do something about it

A huge study of US military personnel suggests almost all cases of multiple sclerosis are triggered by the common Epstein-Barr virus, meaning a vaccine could largely eradicate the condition

Declines in birds and mammals are hampering plants by curbing the dispersal of their seeds, in a "clear intersection of the biodiversity crisis heavily impacting the climate crisis"

Molecules containing carbon atoms, called organics, have been found all over Mars and could hypothetically have been formed by living organisms, but it seems they were not

Life on Earth is made possible by our planet’s magnetosphere – an invisible radiation shield that protects the surface – now it turns out that super-Earths could have magnetospheres too

The term "endemic" usually means that an infection is stable, not that it is less deadly or that protective measures are no longer required. With the omicron variant surging, covid-19 is unlikely to become endemic soon

There’s a new explanation for the moon’s former magnetic field, and it involves 60-kilometre-wide slabs of rock sinking through the lunar mantle

In the Weddell Sea near Antarctica, scientists have found the largest colony of fish nests in the world, covering 240 square kilometres