The discovery by two local fossil hunters on a river bank in Victoria has ‘potentially far-reaching implications’, scientists say Fossilised claw prints found in Australia suggest amniotes – the ancestors of reptiles, birds and mammals – evolved about 40m years earlier than thought. The footprints, in sandstone dated 354m to...
AI can spontaneously develop human-like communication, study finds
Groups of large language model artificial intelligence agents can adopt social norms as humans do, report says Artificial intelligence can spontaneously develop human-like social conventions, a study has found. The research, undertaken in collaboration between City St George’s, University of London and the IT University of Copenhagen, suggests that when...
Is it time to try geoengineering? – podcast
Geoengineering, the controversial set of techniques that aim to deliberately alter the Earth’s climate system, may be inching a step closer to reality with the announcement that UK scientists will be conducting real-world experiments in the coming years. To understand what’s happening, Ian Sample is joined by the Guardian environment...
Dan Seavey, patriarch of Alaska mushing family who helped organize Iditarod, dies
Dan Seavey, who helped organize the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and whose son and grandson have each won the famous Alaska race multiple times, has died
Lawmakers seek investigation into South Carolina’s firing squad execution
Two South Carolina legislators are seeking an investigation into the state’s firing squad execution last month
Massachusetts man pleads guilty to attacking a flight attendant with a broken spoon
A Massachusetts man has pleaded guilty to attacking a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon and attempting to open an emergency door on a cross-country flight
Federal judge OKs use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans who are labeled gang members
A federal judge says President Donald Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan citizens who are shown to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang
US-China deal to slash tariffs also eases burden on cheap packages
Online shoppers in the U.S. will see a price break on their purchases valued at less than $800 and shipped from China after the Trump administration reached a truce with Beijing over sky-high tariffs
Thumbprint on cigarette carton leads to arrest in 1977 death of young woman
Officials say a thumbprint on a carton of cigarettes has led to an arrest nearly half a century after a young California woman was strangled to death
Three climbers fell 400 feet to their death. One climber survived and went for help
Four men who were climbing in Washington’s North Cascades mountains fell roughly 400 feet, a drop that killed three of them