Why so many animals have a third eyelid, including our pets – yet humans don’t

It’s a question of evolution and adaptation.

Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol • conversation
May 16, 2024 • ~7 min

Humans have been altering nature for thousands of years – to shape a sustainable future, it’s important to understand that deep history

Understanding how humans came to exert such enormous pressure on Earth’s ecosystems can inform more sustainable ways of living.

Todd Braje, Executive Director, Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon • conversation
May 16, 2024 • ~8 min

New tool empowers users to fight online misinformation

The Trustnet browser extension lets individuals assess the accuracy of any content on any website.

Adam Zewe | MIT News • mit
May 16, 2024 • ~7 min

Using ideas from game theory to improve the reliability of language models

A new “consensus game,” developed by MIT CSAIL researchers, elevates AI’s text comprehension and generation skills.

Rachel Gordon | MIT CSAIL • mit
May 14, 2024 • ~8 min

A new campaign wants to redefine the word ‘nature’ to include humans – here’s why this linguistic argument matters

The meaning of nature has shifted since the word was first used in the 15th century. But is changing the dictionary definition a good idea?

Tom Oliver, Professor of Applied Ecology, University of Reading • conversation
May 10, 2024 • ~8 min

Everyday life and its variability influenced human evolution at least as much as rare activities like big-game hunting

Some anthropologists question how much rare activities like big-game hunting could have affected how our species evolved. Instead they’re looking at daily activities like carrying water or firewood.

Cara Wall-Scheffler, Professor and Chair of Biology at Seattle Pacific University and Affiliate Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Washington • conversation
May 8, 2024 • ~9 min

How AI might shape LGBTQIA+ advocacy

New “AI Comes Out of the Closet” system seeks to merge artificial intelligence and LGBTQIA+ support.

David Sweeney | Media Lab • mit
May 7, 2024 • ~11 min

Natural language boosts LLM performance in coding, planning, and robotics

Three neurosymbolic methods help language models find better abstractions within natural language, then use those representations to execute complex tasks.

Alex Shipps | MIT CSAIL • mit
May 1, 2024 • ~13 min

‘What is a fact?’ A humanities class prepares STEM students to be better scientists

A professor shows science students how humanities classes are the real stem that other disciplines sprout from. They learn that critical thinking and skepticism don’t stop when they leave the lab.

Timothy Morton, Rita Shea Guffey Chair of English, Rice University • conversation
April 30, 2024 • ~4 min

To build a better AI helper, start by modeling the irrational behavior of humans

A new technique can be used to predict the actions of human or AI agents who behave suboptimally while working toward unknown goals.

Adam Zewe | MIT News • mit
April 19, 2024 • ~7 min

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