New Scientist: Artificial intelligence hits prime time this week when a computer squares off against two human opponents on the popular quiz show Jeopardy! Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, is one of the most advanced supercomputers to date. In a first-of-its-kind competition, Watson will face two former Jeopardy! champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. In a related article, the New York Times‘s John Markoff reflects on the subject of artificial intelligence and its history since the dawn of the modern computer era.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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