“Competition will be fierce,” says Christian Catalini, founder at MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab and cocreator of Diem, the now-defunct stablecoin project funded by Meta. “You will see many more issuers enter the market and compete. Many of those issuers will be more traditional banks and fintechs.” Crypto advocates argue that stablecoins will strengthen the US Dollar…
Dean Leitersdorf introduces himself over Zoom, then types a prompt that makes me feel like I’ve just taken psychedelic mushrooms: “wild west, cosmic, Roman Empire, golden, underwater.” He feeds the words into an artificial intelligence model developed by his startup, Decart, which manipulates live video in real time. “I have no idea what’s going to…
Early warnings can save lives before earthquakes like the 5.6-magnitude quake that killed and injured hundreds in Indonesia in 2022 ADITYA AJI/AFP via Getty Images Your phone may be among the billions of devices worldwide that already serve as an earthquake early-warning system in dozens of countries. Since launching in 2020, Google’s Android Earthquake Alerts…
The human gut microbiome has a big influence on health Science Photo Library/Alamy Genetically engineered gut bacteria can break down the compounds that contribute to kidney stones. Tailoring bacteria to tweak the gut microbiome in this way could go beyond treating kidney stones and lead to new treatments for a range of conditions, including inflammatory…
Using the internet in the UK will soon mean having to verify your age to access certain services Luis Alvarez/Getty Images If you live in the UK, the way you access the internet is about to fundamentally change. A new law, the Online Safety Act, comes into force on 25 July and will see a…
The babies were conceived via IVF ZEPHYR/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Eight young children appear to have been protected from serious genetic conditions after being born using DNA from three people. The procedure involved replacing defective mitochondria from their mothers with those from a female donor. Around 1 in 5000 people have defective mitochondria, which ordinarily provide…
Will robots routinely take cheek swabs in the future – and if so, how soon will this happen? KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images Hacking HumanityLara Lewington (W. H. Allen: UK, available now US, 14 October) Smart toilets that track your gut health. Robotic pets that boost well-being. Mirrors that measure your blood pressure. It is hard…
Slag heaps in Lens, France Caroline Vancoillie/Alamy Almost 20 years ago, New Scientist ran a feature called “Imagine Earth without people”, a thought experiment about what would happen to our planet over thousands of years if humanity suddenly disappeared. It was an entertaining way to discuss all the impacts our species has had on the…
Encounter Within One Second © Zhang Yanguang The International Space Station (ISS) scrolling across the sun, a relative close-up of a comet and an otherworldly tree framed by rotating stars are all shortlisted for this year’s ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. Pictured above is Zhang Yanguang’s Encounter Within One Second: a superimposed series…
12 minutes ago Andrew Harding BBC correspondent Reporting fromEcault beach, south of Boulogne Watch: BBC on French beach as police slash migrant ‘taxi-boat’ heading to UK French police have waded into shallow waters off a beach south of Boulogne and used knives to slash an inflatable small boat – packed with men, women and children…