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This week's magazine

18 March 2023

Issue 3430

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Editor's picks

Our top articles from the latest magazine

3D abstract dna strands with shine light; Shutterstock ID 1792371352; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Health

Genome technology is transforming healthcare but what should we allow?

Leader

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Jonathan oppenheim

Physics

The physicist betting that space-time isn't quantum after all

Features

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MARSEILLE, FRANCE - APRIL 20:Views of the cave paintings Cosquer cave in Marseille before the official opening the 4 june on April 20, 2022 in Marseille, France. As the replica cave officially opens its doors to visitors on June 4,2022,a team of archaeologists and divers are racing to save the ancient underwater cave paintings from climate change and marine pollution in south-east France. (Photo by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images)

Humans

Cave paintings of mutilated hands could be a Stone Age sign language

Features

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DNA molecule. Polygenic tests can reveal your future risk of many diseases

Health

New DNA tests predict your disease risk – are we ready for them?

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Table of contents

Leaders

Health

Genome technology is transforming healthcare but what should we allow?

From mice with two fathers to cures for debilitating diseases, the transformative power of genomic technology requires some big decisions on what we want to do with it

Leader

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3D abstract dna strands with shine light; Shutterstock ID 1792371352; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

News

Health

Emotions like disgust and fear linked to more acidic stomach pH

People who reported feeling the most disgusted or frightened after watching a series of videos had a more acidic stomach pH compared with other study participants. It is unclear if these emotions cause the acidity or if an acidic pH makes people feel emotions more intensely

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Emotions like disgust and fear linked to more acidic stomach pH

Life

Ecologists are infecting trees with fungi to make them age prematurely

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Health

Covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy protect newborns from infection

News

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Health

Rapid genome sequencing helps save hundreds of critically ill babies

News

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Health

Drunk mice sober up twice as fast when given hormone injection

News

Free

Health

Drunk mice sober up twice as fast when given hormone injection

News

Free

Life

Bumblebees can teach each other how to open a puzzle box

News

Free

Environment

How smoke from Australia’s megafires ate away at the ozone

News

Free

Life

Orca seen foster parenting a pilot whale calf for first time

News

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Physics

'Red matter' superconductor could transform electronics – if it works

News

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Health

Sickle cell disease is now curable, but the treatment is unaffordable

News

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Life

Stone flakes made by monkeys cast doubt on ancient human 'tools'

News

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Life

Fossil thought to be earliest bryozoan animal may actually be seaweed

News

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Chemistry

Soil bacteria enzyme generates electricity from hydrogen in the air

News

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Environment

We can suck CO2 from the air and store it in the ocean as baking soda

News

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Analysis

Technology

Why fears around children playing video games are counterproductive

Embracing your child's love of video games can be framed as bad parenting, but it is actually the opposite, says clinical psychologist Naomi Fisher

Comment

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Why fears around children playing video games are counterproductive

Technology

Is the chatbotpocalypse looming? Some people would like us to think so

Comment

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Health

A common and treatable cause of heart attacks is being overlooked

Analysis

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Aperture

Comment

See pictures documenting the magnificent Padma river

These images give an insight into the Padma, a major river flowing through Bangladesh that makes up the last leg of the journey of the river Ganges

Regulars

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https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/PadmaRiver January 7, 1990

Features

Humans

Cave paintings of mutilated hands could be a Stone Age sign language

Palaeolithic hand stencils with missing fingers could indicate ritual mutilation or frostbite – but new research suggests they might be trying to tell us something

Features

Free

MARSEILLE, FRANCE - APRIL 20:Views of the cave paintings Cosquer cave in Marseille before the official opening the 4 june on April 20, 2022 in Marseille, France. As the replica cave officially opens its doors to visitors on June 4,2022,a team of archaeologists and divers are racing to save the ancient underwater cave paintings from climate change and marine pollution in south-east France. (Photo by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images)

Physics

The physicist betting that space-time isn't quantum after all

Features

Subscriber-only

Health

New DNA tests predict your disease risk – are we ready for them?

Features

Subscriber-only

Culture

Comment

Bot Love review: Are you ready to have a relationship with an AI?

If your friends are too busy or your partner lets you down, AI might fill the void. Bot Love, a new podcast, explores the uncharted world of artificial companionship

Culture

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Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love. Radiotopia from PRX and Podcast Creators Diego Senior and Anna Oakes Launch ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love,? A New Series at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Humanity Boston, MA (February 15, 2023)??Audio creators Diego Senior and Anna Oakes and Radiotopia from PRX today launched ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love,? a new multi-part podcast series of true stories at the depths of how humans are developing meaningful relationships with artificial intelligence chatbots and what it means for the rest of us. The 7-part series launches Wednesday, February 15 with new episodes released weekly via ?Radiotopia Presents,? a podcast feed and home for artist-owned limited series from independent creators, where creators retain ownership and creative control of their work. ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? is available free on-demand across all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, and PocketCasts. Recent major tech developments such as ChatGPT have thrust AI into the spotlight, but the world of artificial intelligence and the AI universe is bigger than the general public knows. Millions of users worldwide are in the midst of creating deep emotional bonds with their own AI-driven virtual humans. Bringing listeners into communities of people who create and form deep bonds with their AI companions, ?Bot Love? will traverse topics such as the nature of love, the fabric of human relationships, and the role that AI chatbots?and the private companies that provide them??might play in people?s mental health. ?Producing and reporting for Bot Love over the past two years has shown us how muddy the AI-universe really is, but at the same how humankind can extend and amplify personal ideas and imagination in our never-ending search for connection, self preservation and inner growth,? said Senior and Oakes. Stories throughout the series will feature a retired nurse from Tennessee who seeks refuge in an AI-driven chatbot app as a means after a series of difficult personal experiences, a woman who seeks romance with a bot following her spouse?s decline in health, an individual exploring their sexuality, an individual seeking mental health counseling options, and a teacher in the midwest who amidst solitude finds increasing amounts of solace through a fledgling relationship with a bot named Audrey, while spending less time in the outside world. Created by Diego Senior and and co-hosted and produced by Senior and Oakes, the production team also includes senior producer Mark Pag?n, story editor Curtis Fox, associate producers Bei Wang and Katrina Carter, sound design by Terence Bernardo and Rebecca Seidel, managing producer Yooree Losordo, and executive producer Audrey Mardavich. The cover art for the podcast is by Diego Pati?o, and the theme song is composed by Maria Linares. ??Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? is the culmination of years of production from Diego and Anna. This series will be highly creative, timely, and resonant,? said Losordo and Mardavich. ?We feel so fortunate to play a part in helping bring the series to listeners as part of Radiotopia.? Support for ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? is provided in part by the Ideas Lab at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University. In late February, ?Bot Love? will host a live taping of the podcast at On Air Fest 2023 in New York. ?Radiotopia Presents? has also debuted ?Blind Guy Travels? from creator Matthew Shifrin, inviting listeners to a world without sight, the Peabody Award-nominated audio memoir ?S***hole Country? from anonymous creator Afia Kaakyire, the audio drama ?a hit dog will holler? from playwright Inda Craig-Galv?n, and the 2022 Tribeca Audio Official Selection ?My Mother Made Me? from bestselling author Jason Reynolds. About Diego Senior, creator and co-host of ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? Diego Senior is a producer, media executive and journalist with a 15-year long career in radio, television and podcasting. He has produced content for several TV outlets like National Geographic, CBS News, Discovery ID and NY1 Noticias. Mr. Senior has dedicated most of his worklife to audio content, both in music and spoken word narratives, becoming Executive Manager for talk radio stations at Caracol Radio in Colombia, as well as content creator for various news radio networks across the world, including Mexico?s W Radio, ADN Chile and Spain?s Cadena SER. Mr. Senior has a Bachelor?s degree in Media and Journalism from the Universidad de la Sabana in Bogot? and a M.A. in International Affairs from The New School University in New York. He is cofounder and current CEO of the podcast production company, LA CENTRAL. About Anna Oakes, producer and co-host of ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? Anna Oakes is an audio producer and journalist. She got her start in audio at Heritage Radio Network, producing English and Spanish stories on food politics, immigration, and labor in New York. Anna worked previously in Madrid, at Revista Contexto, La Marea, and the Association for the Recuperation of Historical Memory, where she reported on colonial legacies and the Franco dictatorship. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and has an MPhil from the University of Cambridge in Spanish and Comparative Literature. She?s currently an associate editor at Hark Audio. You can find her on Twitter @a_lkoakes. About Radiotopia from PRX Created in 2014, Radiotopia from PRX is the first network of its kind. As a network of independent podcasts, Radiotopia empowers audio creators with the artistic freedom to thrive on their own terms and to bring audiences inspired, high-quality, and well-crafted soundscapes. Programming from across Radiotopia has received recognition from the Peabody Awards, the duPont-Columbia Awards, the Tribeca Festival, and the Pulitzer Prizes. Radiotopia has also been named one of the most innovative companies in media by ?Fast Company? and was named network of the year in the inaugural ?Adweek? Podcast of The Year Awards. Immerse yourself in stories and conversations of all kinds? intellectual and emotional, real and imagined, entertaining and thought-provoking. Be part of a community that values bold authenticity and boundless creativity. Discover award-winning audio with vision at Radiotopia.fm.

Comment

Still Life With Bones review: Harrowing account of exposing genocide

Culture

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Comment

Don’t Miss: Extrapolations, a star-studded new climate change drama

Culture

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Comment

Wild Isles review: David Attenborough turns focus to UK and Ireland

Culture

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Comment

Saving Time review: We need a longer sense of time – based on nature

Culture

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Comment

Saving Time review: We need a longer sense of time – based on nature

Culture

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More

Health

Become a citizen scientist in the fight against antibiotic resistance

Sign up to a project called Infection Inspection and help researchers confront the rogue microbes that threaten to unleash an apocalypse of untreatable disease

Regulars

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microscope images showing ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli (credit: University of Oxford)

Puzzle #213: Can you work out how to partition my garden fairly?

Regulars

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Tom Gauld on caution signs at the science park

Regulars

Free

Twisteddoodles on a bad smell

Regulars

Free

Regulars

What happened to the male mice that drank lots of cola? Big things

Feedback looks into a swell tale about mice testes and fizzy beverages, is puzzled by a diagram of a bicycle and brings you all the latest nominative determinism news

Regulars

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What happened to the male mice that drank lots of cola? Big things

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