Hacker News with Generative AI: Science

Possible evidence of windborne H5N1 viral infections in chickens (phys.org)
A team of government veterinarians with the State Veterinary Institute Prague in the Czech Republic has found possible evidence of windborne H5N1 infections in chickens.

Science, Avian Flu, Veterinary Medicine

4 points by bikenaga 2 hours ago | 0 comments

AI cracks superbug problem in two days that took scientists years (bbc.co.uk)
A complex problem that took microbiologists a decade to get to the bottom of has been solved in just two days by a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool.

Artificial Intelligence, Microbiology, Medical Research, Science

11 points by monkeydust 4 hours ago | 3 comments

Trillions of Viruses Live in Your Body. A.I. Is Trying to Find Them. (nytimes.com)
The viruses we know best are the ones that make us sick — the influenza viruses that send us to bed and the smallpox viruses that may send us to the grave.

Viruses, Artificial Intelligence, Human Body, Science, Health

6 points by bookofjoe 5 hours ago | 1 comments

Show HN: ArXiv-txt, LLM-friendly ArXiv papers (arxiv-txt.org)
Make arXiv papers easily available in LLM-friendly formats.

Research, Science, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source

17 points by jerpint 15 hours ago | 6 comments

France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes (newatlas.com)
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record.

France, Nuclear Fusion, Energy, Science

11 points by jonbaer 18 hours ago | 1 comments

Staphylococcus aureus 'steals' iron from our blood during infections (phys.org)
Researchers have revealed how Staphylococcus aureus bacteria extract iron from hemoglobin—a process crucial to their survival during infections.

Science, Bacteria, Biology, Health, Medicine

20 points by gmays 1 day ago | 1 comments

National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce (npr.org)
The National Science Foundation fired 168 employees on Tuesday. According to an NSF spokesperson, the firings are to ensure compliance with President Trump's executive order aimed at reducing the federal workforce in the name of efficiency.

Government, Employment, Science, Politics

82 points by pseudolus 1 day ago | 131 comments

France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes (newatlas.com)
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record.

France, Fusion Energy, Energy, Science, Records

9 points by brohee 1 day ago | 1 comments

Accelerating scientific breakthroughs with an AI co-scientist (research.google)
We introduce AI co-scientist, a multi-agent AI system built with Gemini 2.0 as a virtual scientific collaborator to help scientists generate novel hypotheses and research proposals, and to accelerate the clock speed of scientific and biomedical discoveries.

Generative AI, Science, Artificial Intelligence, Research

354 points by Jimmc414 1 day ago | 188 comments

NASA says 'City killer' asteroid now has 3.1% chance of hitting Earth (france24.com)
An asteroid that could level a city now has a 3.1-percent chance of striking Earth in 2032, according to NASA data released on Tuesday, making it the most threatening space rock ever recorded by modern forecasting.

Space, Asteroids, Science, Earth, Risk

40 points by doener 1 day ago | 75 comments

Terence Tao on how we measure the cosmos – Distance ladder [video] (youtube.com)

Cosmology, Mathematics, Astronomy, Video, Science

14 points by ProAm 2 days ago | 0 comments

NASA rover discovers liquid water 'ripples' carved into Mars rock (livescience.com)

Mars, Space Exploration, Science, Geology, Water

10 points by Brajeshwar 2 days ago | 1 comments

Older AI models show signs of cognitive decline, study shows (livescience.com)

Artificial Intelligence, Science, Research, Aging

7 points by Brajeshwar 2 days ago | 5 comments

The Planetary Society Strongly Opposes Mass Layoffs of Employees at NASA (planetary.org)
The Planetary Society strongly opposes the sudden, indiscriminate dismissal of upwards of 1,000 scientists, engineers, and explorers at NASA — the largest involuntary workforce reduction since the end of the Apollo program.

Space Exploration, NASA, Science, Layoffs

9 points by xqcgrek2 2 days ago | 2 comments

Nuclear fusion: WEST beats the world record for plasma duration (cea.fr)
On 12 February, the CEA’s WEST machine was able to maintain a plasma for more than 22 minutes. In doing so, it smashed the previous record for plasma duration achieved with a tokamak. This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more mature, and offers hope that fusion plasmas can be stabilised for greater amounts of time in machines such as ITER.

Nuclear Fusion, Science, Energy, Technology, France

478 points by mpweiher 2 days ago | 486 comments

Odds of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 have reached new high (newscientist.com)
NASA has upgraded the risk of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 to 3.1 per cent, or about a 1-in-32 chance, the highest odds yet of collision.

Space, Asteroids, Science, Earth, Risk

20 points by wlkr 2 days ago | 8 comments

Among top researchers 10% publish at unrealistic levels, analysis finds (chemistryworld.com)
About 10% of the most influential researchers worldwide in various scientific fields, including chemistry, are achieving ‘implausibly high’ publication and new co-author rates.

Science, Research, Publishing, Academia, Chemistry

188 points by crescit_eundo 2 days ago | 111 comments

Cuts Target Next Generation of Scientists (nytimes.com)
The notices came all weekend, landing in the inboxes of federal scientists, doctors and public health professionals: Your work is no longer needed.

Science, Government, Funding, Public Health

5 points by strangeloops85 2 days ago | 2 comments

Woman who had pioneering cancer treatment 18 years ago still in remission (theguardian.com)
A woman treated with a pioneering type of immunotherapy for a solid tumour has been in remission for more than 18 years with no further treatments, experts have revealed.

Cancer Treatment, Medical Breakthrough, Immunology, Health, Science

45 points by ranit 3 days ago | 2 comments

Antarctic Sea Ice Levels Five Standard Deviations Below the Mean (2023) (abc.net.au)
This winter has confirmed what scientists had feared — the sea ice around Antarctica is in sharp decline, with experts now concerned it may not recover.

Climate Change, Antarctica, Science, Environment

22 points by BLKNSLVR 3 days ago | 4 comments

Why Artificial General Intelligence Is and Remains a Fiction (osf.io)

Philosophy, Science

11 points by ketlag 4 days ago | 6 comments

Opposing arrows of time can theoretically emerge from certain quantum systems (surrey.ac.uk)
What if time is not as fixed as we thought? Imagine that instead of flowing in one direction – from past to future – time could flow forward or backward due to processes taking place at the quantum level. This is the thought-provoking discovery made by researchers at the University of Surrey, as a new study reveals that opposing arrows of time can theoretically emerge from certain quantum systems.

Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Time, Science

96 points by jnord 4 days ago | 95 comments

Incised artefacts from the Middle Palaeolithic and human behavioural complexity (springer.com)
In recent years, archaeological research has demonstrated the presence of abstract non-utilitarian behaviour amongst palaeolithic hominins, fuelling discussions concerning the origin and implications of such complex behaviours.

Archaeology, Palaeolithic, Human Behavior, Science

3 points by benbreen 4 days ago | 0 comments

670nm red light exposure improved aged mitochondrial function, colour vision (nature.com)
Mitochondrial decline in ageing robs cells of ATP. However, animal studies show that long wavelength exposure (650–900 nm) over weeks partially restores ATP and improves function.

Science, Biology, Aging, Health, Light Therapy

323 points by walterbell 4 days ago | 207 comments

Science needs reason to be trusted (2017) (nature.com)
That we now live in the grip of post-factualism would seem naturally repellent to most physicists. But in championing theory without demanding empirical evidence, we're guilty of ignoring the facts ourselves.

Science, Trust, Scientific Method

9 points by waonderer 5 days ago | 4 comments

World's Sea-ice falls to record low (bbc.com)
The world's frozen oceans, which help to keep the planet cool, currently have less ice than ever previously recorded, satellite data shows.

Climate Change, Environment, Science, Arctic, Global Warming

7 points by adrian_mrd 5 days ago | 0 comments

Is the ArXiv safe from the current US Government attacks? (mathstodon.xyz)

Science, Academia, Government, Security

127 points by ColinWright 5 days ago | 101 comments

Sabine Hossenfelder: I was asked to keep this confidential (youtube.com)

Physics, Science, YouTube, Interviews

40 points by ta8645 5 days ago | 29 comments

Scientists trace deadly cell-to-cell message chain that spreads in sepsis (phys.org)
Like a poison pen, dying cells prick their neighbors with a lethal message. This may worsen sepsis, Vijay Rathinam and colleagues in the UConn School of Medicine report in the Jan. 23 issue of Cell. Their findings could lead to a new understanding of this dangerous illness.

Science, Biology, Medicine, Sepsis

5 points by PaulHoule 5 days ago | 1 comments

New Specimen of Archaeopteryx Unearthed in Germany (sci.news)
Paleontologists have described a new specimen of the genus Archaeopteryx from the Mörnsheim Formation in the Franconian Alb of Bavaria, Germany.

Paleontology, Fossils, Germany, Science

4 points by bookofjoe 5 days ago | 0 comments