You can love an AI but can it love you back? Philosophy has the answer
We often speak of loving things like a cosy sweater or new camera. But this talk is not generally taken literally. It’s a kind of emotional shorthand. We use it to express our fondness for precious objects. Life and love are complicated, however. And sometimes, people do proclaim romantic love for inanimate objects. They form […]
Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi Bazaar: a world made from shipping containers and a city within a city
When I left Ainura’s container-shop at the Dordoi Bazaar in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I found the market eerily quiet. I had not noticed the passing of time, while she generously shared her life story with me. Walking towards the mini-bus stop at the square in front of the bazaar, the echo of her […]
Confused about carbon capture? Experts explain why we need different types
Wang An Qi/Shutterstock The production of steel, concrete, fuel and agriculture chemicals is energy intensive. These industries critically rely on vast amounts of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) because the electricity grid doesn’t yet have enough capacity to distribute, store and supply renewables at scale. Fossil resources are also locked into these industries, with […]
The UK is building a fighter jet with Japan and Italy – an aviation expert explains why it could be a defence gamechanger
The UK is building a next generation fighter jet in collaboration with Italy and Japan. The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) has taken on even greater significance since the collapse of a rival project called the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a collaboration between France, Germany and Spain. The GCAP aircraft, which will be known […]
How Israeli conduct in the West Bank could derail Donald Trump’s latest peace plan for Gaza
Hamas’s agreement to US president Donald Trump’s disarmament roadmap is welcome news. It potentially unlocks the stalemate that has kept 2 million Gazans living in catastrophic conditions since the ceasefire was announced more than nine months ago. But there are concerns. Israel is unlikely to accept the plan, as it will require the withdrawal of […]
Unbound Forms at the Hepworth: how Indian and Bangladeshi artists turned craft traditions into contemporary sculpture
Craft traditions are often imagined as practices rooted in the past: carefully preserved techniques passed from one generation to the next. But Unbound Forms at The Hepworth Wakefield reveals a more dynamic story. Bringing together the work of five pioneering women artists from India and Bangladesh, the exhibition shows how materials such as textiles, metal, […]
What happens to pupils’ Welsh after they leave school?
Ade Lukmanul Hakimmm/Shutterstock Wales has an ambitious goal: to achieve one million Welsh speakers by 2050. Schools are central to this. For many children, particularly those who do not speak Welsh at home, school is where they learn the language. But learning Welsh at school is not the same as continuing to use it after […]
How pigeon fanciers are helping scientists understand lung disease
samoila ionut/Shutterstock In November 2020, a Belgian racing pigeon called New Kim sold at auction for £1.44 million. The record price offered a striking insight into the money, competition and international interest surrounding pigeon fancying. The breeding and keeping of pigeons for racing or showing is practised worldwide, with particularly valuable European birds attracting buyers […]
AI translators are getting more fluent – but communication is never just a matter of words
raker/Shutterstock Speak into a phone and an app can render your words in another language in seconds. AI-powered speech translation can be fast, convenient and fluent. But fluency does not guarantee that people will understand one another. In the most recent census, 880,000 people in England and Wales (excluding tourists and other short-term visitors) said […]
Clickgate: what cricket cheating scandal reveals about the nebulous ‘spirit’ of the game
Yogifromhills/Shutterstock Cricket, by some metrics the world’s second most popular sport, has a penchant for producing rather peculiar scandals. UK-Australian relations were put under significant strain over the way that Harold Larwood, a coal miner from Nottinghamshire who could hurl cricket balls at batters very quickly, bowled at Don Bradman and the rest of his […]