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How light-based computers could cut AI’s energy needs
Computer components based on specialised LEDs could reduce the energy consumption of power hungry AI systems, according to new research. AI chips with components that compute using light can run more efficiently than those using digital electronics, but these light-based systems typically use lasers that can be bulky and difficult to control. To overcome these obstacles, a team has developed a way to replace these lasers with LEDs, which are cheaper and more efficient to run. Although only a proof of concept, they demonstrate that their system can perform some tasks as well as laser-based computers.
Research Article: Dong et al.
News and Views: Cheap light sources could make AI more energy efficient
10:36 Research Highlights
The genes that make roses smell so sweet, and how blocking inflammation could reduce heart injury after a stroke.
Research Highlight: How the rose got its iconic fragrance
Research Highlight: Strokes can damage the heart — but reining in the immune system might help
13:02 What researchers know about H5N1 influenza in cows
The highly-pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was first identified in US cattle in March 2024 and has been detected in multiple herds across the country. We round up what researchers currently know about this spread, what can be done to prevent it, and the risks this outbreak may pose to humans.
Nature News: Can H5N1 spread through cow sneezes? Experiment offers clues
Nature News: Huge amounts of bird-flu virus found in raw milk of infected cows
Nature News: Could bird flu in cows lead to a human outbreak? Slow response worries scientists
Research article: Eisfeld et al.
22:38 Briefing Chat
NASA’s Perseverance rover finds a Martian rock containing features associated with fossilized microbial life, and how metallic nodules on the ocean floor could be the source of mysterious ‘dark oxygen’
Space.com: NASA's Perseverance Mars rover finds possible signs of ancient Red Planet life
Nature News: Mystery oxygen source discovered on the sea floor — bewildering scientists
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Briefing Chat: What tickling a chimpanzee can tell us about the evolution of speech
11:30|Nature staff discuss how apes share a rhythm of laughter, and how AI use may degrade skills in medicine and computer science.00:32 Early evidence suggests that AI use causes skills to atrophyNature: Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good06:42 Humans and chimps share a laughNature: Oo oo, ha ha: why humans and great apes giggle alike when tickledSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Medical records could be revealed by AI training-data vulnerability
19:54|In this episode:00:46 How sensitive information can be gleaned from medical AIsResearch article: Knolle et al.Correction: The story about medical AI-data privacy incorrectly stated that the number of individuals at high risk of a membership inference attack increases as training-dataset size grows. It should have stated that the increase in risk occurs when the AI model increases in capacity and size.11:31 Research HighlightsNature: A long-lived butterfly’s secret to graceful ageingNature: It slices! It dices! Sashimi-Bot handles seafood with ease13:57 Across the Universe, galaxies clump together more than physicists thought they shouldResearch article: Labini & GaloppoSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: Testosterone and sperm may get a boost from obesity drugs
12:16|Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.00:18 Brain-computer interface makes a life-changing impactNature: At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back05:39 The possible benefits of obesity drugs on testosteroneNature: The latest benefit of obesity drugs: boosting testosterone and sperm qualitySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.DNA from hunter-gatherer teeth reveals secrets of ancient plague
26:42|In this episode:00:45 Ancient evidence of deadly plague outbreaksResearch article: Macleod et al.12:33 Research HighlightsNature: Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into toolsNature: Giant crustacean of the deep sea steals a trick from bacteria14:52 A prototype atom interferometerResearch article: Baynham et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: The epic journey of Stonehenge’s central stone
11:20|In this episode:00:37 Evidence that Stonehenge's Altar Stone travelled by glacierBBC Science Focus: We may have just cracked one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries05:44 Fossilized faeces reveal DNA from ancient ecosystemNature: Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ‘zombies of the Pleistocene’Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Newly-discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years
21:38|In this episode:00:46 A giant, ancient whale necropolisResearch article: Peng et al.News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found08:52 Research HighlightsNature: Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parentsNature: Earliest signs of vision recorded in ancient sea-floor tracks11:11 Turning plant material into chemical building-blocksResearch article: Mains et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing chat: Spinosaurs with salt glands could have lived in marine environments
11:25|In this episode:00:23 Fossil evidence that spinosaurs had an aquatic lifestyleScience: Some spinosaurs cried salty tears to thrive in brackish waters04:57 The explosive immune cells that kill in minutesNature: Bang! Exploding immune cells splatter potent toxins everywhereSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Your phone can use tiny skin-colour changes to measure your heart rate
18:23|In this episode:00:57 How your smartphone’s camera could measure your heart rateResearch article: Liao et al.08:55 Research HighlightsNature: A star gone rogue tears through the GalaxyNature: Gold keeps glittering courtesy of surface chemistry11:04 Should you try something new in a restaurant? Maths has the answerNature: Feynman solved the ‘restaurant dilemma’ 50 years ago — now a study confirms his mathematicsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: When to trust eyewitness memory – according to science
17:14|In this episode:00:21 When witnesses identify suspects from police line-ups, confidence mattersNature: Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony07:15 Registered Reports: how this ‘double peer review’ process could benefit scientists and their resultsNature: Nature is expanding Registered Reports to all the fields in which we publish