Science

AI chatbots are more likely to recommend the death penalty when a person writes in African American English (AAE) compared to standardised American English, according to new research.  AI was also more likely to match AAE speakers with less prestigious jobs. African American English is generally spoken by black Americans and Canadians. The paper, which has not been peer reviewed ...

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No – it’s a comet that has been spotted from Earth for the first time in 71 years. The 12P/Pons-Brooks comet is growing brighter and is now visible in the night sky – but you’ll still need binoculars or a telescope to see it. However, it may be visible to the naked eye ...

An Australian computer scientist is not ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, the pseudonym attributed to the unknown person widely credited with inventing Bitcoin, a High Court judge has ruled. Dr Craig Wright, who claimed he was Satoshi, was sued by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (Copa), a non-profit group that includes cryptocurrency firms. During the five-week trial, the group claimed he had created ...

SpaceX’s Starship completed nearly its entire test flight after blasting off in a successful launch. The rocket cleared its launch pad in Texas, separated from its “Super Heavy Booster” and began coasting at an altitude of 145 miles. But it was eventually destroyed as it re-entered the atmosphere, the company said. However, it’s still the most successful test flight of ...

An enormous volcano has been “hiding in plain sight” on Mars for decades, according to scientists. The volcano, which is 280 miles wide, was found alongside a possible sheet of buried glacier ice in the eastern part of Mars’ Tharsis volcanic province, near the planet’s equator, scientists revealed at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in Texas on ...

Bitcoin has suffered a sharp pullback from record highs. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency fell to $66,885 in the early hours of Friday – down 9%. Only yesterday, the digital asset had been touching an unprecedented price of $74,000. It is difficult to pinpoint a single reason for Bitcoin’s sudden contraction, as several are at play. For one, many crypto traders ...

Applications are open to work in Antarctica’s famous ‘penguin post office’. Successful applicants will be ‘self-motivated’, ’empathetic’ and fine with showering once every two weeks. The shop in Port Lockroy is the southernmost post office in the world and frequently smells like penguin poo. Every year, the Antarctic Heritage Trust is flooded with applications for the jobs. This year, there ...

Children first see violent online content at primary school and believe it is “unavoidable”, according to an Ofcom study. All 247 children who the watchdog spoke to said they had seen things such as adult-only video game content, fighting and verbal discrimination. Social media and group chats were the most common way they came across the content, and many said ...

McDonald’s customers say they were turned away from restaurants around the world, including in the UK, after the fast food chain was hit by major IT problems. British diners complained about outlets being shut, despite many being able to place orders through the company’s app. Follow live:Updates on McDonald’s tech issues McDonald’s Japan also halted operations at most of its ...

The menopause could be the reason some female whales live around 40 years longer than others, scientists have said. Five species of whales go through menopause, the only other mammals to do so aside from humans. Short-finned pilot whales, false killer whales, orcas, narwhals and beluga whales all stop releasing eggs. Researchers say the menopause could have evolved to allow ...