An extract from Claire North’s Slow Gods introduces a far-future society where every citizen is born into measurable debt to their corporate Venture, with social standing quantified as ‘Shine.’ The narrator describes growing up on Glastya Row, where names, debts, and even infant cries are inscribed into a totalizing economic system framed as fairness. Teaching:…
New Scientist surveys the growing field of quantum video games, from Tetris-inspired Quantris to horror title Quantum Backrooms, where superposition and observation become game mechanics. While quantum computers aren’t yet powerful enough to run games in real time, developers use them in design pipelines and simulators to translate counterintuitive physics into playable systems. The piece…
Researchers engineered bacteria-infecting phages to bind tumor-specific integrins and deliver malaria antigen instructions, redirecting vaccine-built immunity to attack cancer cells. In mice previously vaccinated against malaria, this approach eradicated tumors in 44% of cases with no recurrence at one year. The principle could extend to any pre-existing vaccine immunity, including flu or covid, and human…
New genomic analysis of 27 late Neanderthal remains from Belgium and France reveals these northwestern populations were more genetically diverse and well-connected than previously assumed, contradicting the inbreeding-as-extinction narrative drawn from Siberian samples. The study suggests regional Neanderthal groups had very different population histories, and curiously shows no modern human gene flow into these Neanderthals…
Researchers using the Vesuvius Challenge have used AI and high-resolution 3D scans to virtually unwrap carbonised Herculaneum scrolls without physically damaging them, recovering 1.5 metres of previously unreadable text. The recovered text appears to include lost Stoic philosophy possibly authored by Chrysippus, plus a new book by Philodemus, opening the door to decades of further…