Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. NASA’s Perseverance rover collects a sample from a Martian rock using a drill bit on the end of its robotic arm.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA is seeking fresh ideas for delivering Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover … Read more
A first-of-its-kind study in northwestern Saudi Arabia suggests that humans and their livestock have been using a cave for shelter sporadically for up to 10,000 years. The finding1 offers insight into the region’s history and ecology. In the past decade, satellite data and fossil finds have suggested that the Arabian Peninsula was not always an … Read more
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as the chatbot ChatGPT, have become so advanced that they now very nearly match or exceed human performance in tasks including reading comprehension, image classification and competition-level mathematics, according to a new report (see ‘Speedy advances’). Rapid progress in the development of these systems also means that many common benchmarks … Read more
Credit: Stuart Bebb/Wolfson College Archives Anthony (Tony) Epstein, co-discoverer of the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), was the founding father of research into the part that viruses play in the development of human cancers. Today, seven types of viral infection — more than one of which can be prevented by vaccination — are known to cause specific … Read more
A stone tool from the archaeological site of Korolevo in western Ukraine.Credit: Roman Garba Stone tools found in western Ukraine date to roughly 1.4 million years ago1, archaeologists say. That means the tools are the oldest known artefacts in Europe made by ancient humans and offer insight into how and when our early relatives first … Read more
Scientists have long accepted the existence of animal culture, be that tool use in New Caledonian crows, or Japanese macaques washing sweet potatoes. Read the paper here: Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone But one thing thought to distinguish human culture is our ability to do things too complex to work out … Read more
xMEMS Labs manufacturers and designers of solid-state, all-silicon micro speakers has this week announced a breakthrough in sound reproduction, changing the way true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds create ultra high-quality, high-resolution sound experiences across all audio frequencies. The MEMS speaker, Cypress is set to redefine the audio quality of true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds, offering … Read more