# science
Despite dire warnings, we may never be able to custom design humans. And if we ever learn how, we may accidentally drive ourselves into extinction if we try.
# evolution
Do we owe our ability to walk on two legs to a sudden burst of supernovae activity lasting for nearly five million years, or are researchers connecting dots that don't need to be connected?
# tech
A new artificial intelligence system called GROVER can create extremely plausible fake news stories. Why would anyone build something like this? Why, to fight fake news of course!
# science
For some inexplicable reason, Google funded an experiment to test whether cold fusion is possible. It's not and can't be unless everything we know about physics is wrong.
# tech
Resistance to Huawei's technology being implemented across the world for new 5G networks isn't xenophobia or tech feudalism. It's a sober stance based on China's behavior.
# tech
Universal basic income is pitched as the best possible solution to tens of millions of jobs being taken over by code and machines. But it's another populist bumper sticker solution to a complicated problem.
# oddities
Both Finland and the United States have a serious fake news problem, but only one of them has been successful in tacking it. How this played out is both instructive and disturbing
# tech
Computer scientists at MIT are spearheading an effort to make designing and training artificial neural networks a lot faster and more efficient by powering through a paradox in their implementation.
# science
Toxic algal blooms are on the rise thanks to warming oceans, and that's bad news for nations that rely on calories from seafood…
# space
According to a new study, Earth's collision with a Mars-sized protoplanet 4.5 billion years ago didn't just create the Moon. It also gave us our oceans and helped life get started.
# longform
In the last 25 years, there's been a steep decline in our average empathy. Why? We're stuck in a self-created loop of misery, woe, anger, and conspiracies. And we must break the wheel.
# sex
People in polyamorous relationships often say it's unfair to expect to have all their needs met by one person. According to psychologists, they might have a good point.
# tech
A recent experiment shows that artificial intelligence can now slightly outperform human experts in diagnosing lung cancer. So, what's next for medical AI?
# science
Polluters have two ways of cleaning up their act. They can pollute less and diversify into renewables, or pretend they're not actually causing illness and deaths. Guess which they prefer.
# astrobiology
According to numerous pop sci outlets, the Wow! Signal is a comet in a strange orbit around the sun. But according to experts, this explanation just doesn't fit the relevant data…
