Science & technology
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The weather underground
What a Serbian cave tells you about the weather 2,500 years ago
Like ice cores, stalagmites preserve a long record of the climate
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Unrolled at last
AI could help unearth a trove of lost classical texts
Computers could let archaeologists read hundreds of burnt scrolls from a Roman library
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Sleep tight!
It’s not just Paris. Bedbugs are resurgent everywhere
Like bacteria, the insects are becoming resistant to the chemicals used to kill them
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Neuro-philately
Scientists have published an atlas of the brain
Cataloguing its components may help understand how it works
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It’s all academic
American and Chinese scientists are decoupling, too
That will be bad for both countries
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Camp followers
Like human armies, army ants trail crowds of hangers-on
One insect’s leavings is another’s dinner
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Meet George Jetson
A flying car that anyone can use will soon go on sale
No pilot’s licence will be necessary to fly the Helix
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Scientific gong season
The 2023 Nobel prizes honour work that touched millions of lives
Besides mRNA vaccines, they celebrate ultra-fast lasers and tiny prisons for light
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Don’t you see, it all makes sense!
Did bitcoin leak from an American spy lab?
No. But the theory is spreading online
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What’s yours is mine
How plundered Gaulish silver ended up in Roman coins
Ancient monetary policy could be seriously aggressive
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Prisons for light
A Nobel prize for quantum dottiness
Best known in high-end TVs, quantum dots could also end up in quantum computers