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Schools warm to AI

Sep 19, 2024
"They've kind of come around," says a school superintendent in Fargo, North Dakota.
More companies are seeing an opportunity to expand AI into schools.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Nevada leads pack in race for federal energy, climate cash

Sep 6, 2024
The states with the biggest clean energy investments, backed by Inflation Reduction Act funds, are not the typical climate change leaders.
Inflation Reduction Act funding is incentivizing states to invest in clean energy, but some are investing more than others.
Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

The U.S. electrical grid is getting more gigawatts. But is it enough?

Aug 19, 2024
The U.S. electrical grid added more than 20 gigawatts of capacity the first half of this year, much of it from renewables.
A lot of new electricity-generation projects are being built, like those using solar and wind power. But more transmission lines are also needed.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A tour of "emotionally intelligent" AI

Jul 16, 2024
Creators say the new AI is capable of inferring users' emotions, but some experts are wary of the dangers of adaptive AI.
Hume AI believes its AI voice product, which can recognize 48 human emotions, could be put to use as a personalized virtual assistant.
Ilya Lukichev/Getty Images

Climate change is expensive, and it could add to overall inflation

Jul 11, 2024
High temperatures can lead to price spikes and headline inflation, a study finds. Sarah Kaplan of The Washington Post explains.
Global olive oil prices have surged after extreme heat and drought in Europe last year cut production nearly in half, says Sarah Kaplan of The Washington Post.
Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images

Honeybee populations are hitting record numbers. Weren't they dying off before?

Scientists were ringing alarm bells about colony collapse disorder a decade ago. Brian Walsh of Vox explains what happened.
Honeybees were too valuable to fail.
Barbara Gindl/APA/AFP via Getty Images

What an evolutionary biologist got wrong about cats

Sep 7, 2023
Jonathan Losos, author or "The Cat's Meow," shares an insight that will have cat owners purring in agreement.
Jonathan Losos with his cat, Nelson.

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Superconductor breakthrough claims draw interest and skepticism

Aug 2, 2023
Claims of a room-temperature superconductor have gone viral, but others' earlier claims to have achieved this have been debunked.
A superconductor chilled to a very cold temperature levitates under magnets. It's called the Meissner effect.
iStock/Getty Images

More wildfires mean worsening air quality. How do we adapt?

Jun 8, 2023
Some pandemic-related tools get a second life, while investors look at more high-tech solutions.
A person wears a face mask as smoke from Canada wildfires blankets Manhattan on June 7, 2023 in New York City.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

El Niño could return this year to crank global temperatures even higher

Apr 24, 2023
The next two years could end up being the hottest on record.
View of the dried lake of La Sabana Metropolitan Park in San Jose, Costa Rica. The lake was affected by droughts caused by the El Niño phenomenon.
EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images