Climate change is not new: temperatures have been rising for decades as a result of global warming. In South Africa's city of Pietermaritzburg, four low-income urban communities have experienced drought, heat waves, severe hailstorms, devastating flooding events that killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands, and wildfires as a result of climate change. Environmental scientist Sithabile Hlahla interviewed people in 378 homes there and found that they were not coping well with climate ...| phys.org
A public‑private partnership between Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory has led to a new artificial intelligence (AI) approach that is faster at finding what's known as "magnetic shadows" in a fusion vessel: safe havens protected from the intense heat of the plasma.| phys.org
A network analysis of more than 26,000 dogs and their health conditions helps reveal which diseases tend to go together, providing data that veterinarians and researchers can use to help treat the problems that dogs face, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology by Antoinette Fang from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, U.S., and colleagues.| phys.org
Large language models (LLMs), advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models trained to analyze and generate texts in different human languages, have become increasingly widespread over the past few years. Since the release of the conversational platform ChatGPT, which relies on different versions of an LLM called GPT, these models have become widely used by individuals worldwide, while also making their way into some professional and research settings.| phys.org
Deep neural networks (DNNs), the machine learning algorithms underpinning the functioning of large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence (AI) models, learn to make accurate predictions by analyzing large amounts of data. These networks are structured in layers, each of which transforms input data into 'features' that guide the analysis of the next layer.| phys.org
A belief that individual actions do make a meaningful difference is among the common factors that motivate people to voluntarily reduce their consumption of single-use plastics (SUP), a Griffith University study has discovered.| phys.org
Conservation should focus on protecting natural "processes"—not just specific species, researchers say. Current policies often focus on flagship animals, with priority given to rare and well-known species like pandas and polar bears.| phys.org
Archaeologists have analyzed more than 200 coins from the first millennium AD mainland Southeast Asia, revealing long-distance economic connections across the region which facilitated extensive trade and cultural interaction.| phys.org
A new method, which uses synthetic datasets and transfer learning to overcome data scarcity and variability, significantly outperforms conventional techniques in multi-year field trials.| phys.org
Half of U.S. adults report using at least one "major AI tool," but public attitudes about artificial intelligence regulation remain divided nationwide, according to a new survey.| phys.org
The latest featured stories on science including: Physics, Space Science, Earth Science, Health and Medicine| phys.org