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'Veronika' Is the First Cow Known to Use a Tool
'Veronika' Is the First Cow Known to Use a Tool This is the first recorded instance of a bovine using tools from her environment to relieve an itch--leaving scientists astonished. Justice for cartoonist Gary Larson: A team of scientists has observed, for the first time, a cow using a tool in a flexible manner. The ingenuity of "Veronika," as the animal is called, shows that cattle possess enough intelligence to manipulate elements of their environment and solve challenges they would otherwise be unable to overcome. Veronika is a pet cow in Austria. Nor was she trained to do tricks; on the contrary, for the past 10 years she has developed the ability to find branches in the grass, choose one, hold it with her mouth, and scratch herself with it to relieve skin irritation. Until now, only chimpanzees had convincingly demonstrated the ability to employ tools to improve their living conditions.
Mum gives CPR to her baby with rare condition after seizure in Tesco
A baby with a rare neurological disorder, airlifted to hospital after collapsing in a supermarket, is not out of the woods yet, said his father. Seven-month-old Rupert Smith, from Broughton, Flintshire, stopped breathing in a Tesco store in Broughton Park, on Monday. His mother Siobhan, 35, immediately called for help and administered CPR before emergency services, including paramedics, police and an air ambulance arrived. Rupert, who has a disorder called alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), was flown to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool for treatment. Dad Dave Smith said Rupert had continued to have quite significant seizures [in hospital] so they have been giving him medication and he has undergone various different tests.
The UK government is backing AI that can run its own lab experiments
A competition calling for research projects involving so-called AI scientists shows just how fast this technology is moving. A number of startups and universities that are building "AI scientists" to design and run experiments in the lab, including robot biologists and chemists, have just won extra funding from the UK government agency that funds moonshot R&D. The competition, set up by ARIA (the Advanced Research and Invention Agency), gives a clear sense of how fast this technology is moving: The agency received 245 proposals from research teams that are already building tools capable of automating increasing amounts of lab work. ARIA defines an AI scientist as a system that can run an entire scientific workflow, coming up with hypotheses, designing and running experiments to test those hypotheses, and then analyzing the results. In many cases, the system may then feed those results back into itself and run the loop again and again. Human scientists become overseers, coming up with the initial research questions and then letting the AI scientist get on with the grunt work.
The Download: digitizing India, and scoring embryos
The man who made India digital isn't done yet Nandan Nilekani can't stop trying to push India into the future. He started nearly 30 years ago, masterminding an ongoing experiment in technological state capacity that started with Aadhaar--the world's largest digital identity system. Using Aadhaar as the bedrock, Nilekani and people working with him went on to build a sprawling collection of free, interoperating online tools that add up to nothing less than a digital infrastructure for society, covering government services, banking, and health care. They offer convenience and access that would be eye-popping in wealthy countries a tenth of India's size. At 70 years old, Nilekani should be retired. But he has a few more ideas.
NASA reveals the sharpest EVER look at the edge of a black hole - and it could solve a long-standing galactic mystery
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz's wedding guest speaks out and claims Victoria DID dance inappropriately with her son Stocks set to plunge and Wall Street fear gauge surges over Trump's Greenland tariff threats AMANDA PLATELL: This single line in Brooklyn Beckham's nuclear outburst is brutal... but it's made me rethink EVERYTHING about Victoria and David Cut BACK on breakfast cereal. Knott's Berry Farm thrill seeker taught painful lesson after trying to cut line at crowded theme park Denver man is arrested for first degree murder of two-year-old... as his sordid child abuse history comes to light I got the'taboo' cancer soaring among women. Treatment saved my life... but I can NEVER have sex again. It didn't have to be like this The six WORST foods for your gut health, revealed by experts.. and it's bad news if you're a fan of sliced bread, fizzy drinks and oysters The Alexander brothers' glittering real estate empire and untouchable playboy status hangs in the balance as sex trafficking trial begins The children of the Iranian regime elite flaunting their wealth and luxury lifestyles... as thousands are slaughtered for daring to stand up to their families Indiana coach Curt Cignetti's obsession with Chipotle goes viral during college playoff final Dark side of America's favorite vacation hotspot... where women are subjected to the most horrific sex attacks imaginable Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the hottest actor in Hollywood... then vanished: Unearthing family tragedy that sparked disappearance and has left'lasting' scars Tragic details emerge about Canadian woman, 19, found dead and surrounded by dingoes on K'gari We were $460,000 in debt. We weren't high earners and paid it off using simple but life-changing tricks... anyone can do it Meghan Markle's series With Love, Meghan'won't be returning to Netflix for another season' China's real-life'robocops': City deploys AI-powered humanoid police officer that barks orders at civilians and works'around the clock' NASA has revealed the sharpest ever look at the edge of a black hole, and it could solve a decades-old galactic mystery.
Russian strikes again leave half of Kyiv with no heating in winter cold snap
A large Russian aerial strike on Ukraine has again left half of Kyiv's residential buildings without heating or power as temperatures across the country continue to hover around -10C. Drones, ballistic and cruise missiles targeted several locations in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Dnipro in the centre and Odesa in the south. Air raid alerts in the capital lasted for most of the night. On Tuesday, sirens rang out again as Russian drones and cruise missiles approached the capital. President Volodymyr Zelensky said a significant number of targets had been intercepted.
Chinese EV Batteries Are Eating the World
China's lithium batteries aren't always "made in China." Companies like BYD and CATL are building factories on nearly every continent. THE symbolism was clear last June when Emmanuel Macron, surrounded by factory workers, held up a sleek lithium battery in his right hand and a mining lamp in his left. He was in Douai, a northern French city with a coal mining history dating back to the 1700s. The city is now also the site of a battery factory, which would allow France to produce all parts of electric vehicles domestically. This factory, Macron declared, represented an "economic and ecological revolution."
23 Ways You're Already Living in the Chinese Century
It's everything you wanted for the United States--but done better in China. China's political leaders laid out an ambitious industrial plan: By 2025, they pledged, their country would be a world capital, with the goal of moving from "Chinese speed to Chinese quality, the transformation of Chinese products to Chinese brands." This is the difference, they wrote, between "Made in China" and "Created in China." At WIRED, we never take what the government (ours or anybody else's) says at face value. Still, as journalists, we respect the ability to hit a deadline.