Chelsea Whyte

This was so fascinating and surprisingly moving. Who knew a file format could be so beloved and touch so many lives

We planned today to launch a new AI column before any of this happened. But this is why we need it! Everything happens so much. Read Jacob's column on how to understand it all

wowwww

what's the best visual in the lyrics of a song? i gotta say, the idea of the marching band refusing to yield to a crowd trying to take the field (American Pie) always makes me chuckle. i'm picturing saxophones flying, tubas swinging wildly to hit oncomers, the flag girls going absolutely berserk

This was the best thing I've ever seen with my own eyes, hands down

Remember how it felt in the 90s to wait for an image to load line by line on the internet? That's the feeling I get when I have to verify I'm a human for every new tab I open

My percussionist twin brother plays a lot of things I couldn't hack, but sometimes there are avant garde pieces where it's like dropping rocks in buckets of water, which I could def pull off. And I would nail Cage's 4'33'', which I have watched "performed" many times out of sisterly obligation.

Move over, Colossal. A team in Japan hopes to "resurrect" mammoth chromosomes 🧬 🦣 in the cells of mice, after showing they can do this with a chromosome from a rat deep-frozen for over a year 🧪 www.newscientist.com/article/2529...

Ted Chiang is brilliant. He takes the question of AI consciousness to its logical conclusion—really a must-read, right down to the last word: www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2...

I've always loved Prufrock, and didn't think it could be improved. I guess I was wrong

Conversations with colleagues at New Scientist: "So I was reading this book about Lord Kelvin..." "Ooh, I've been looking for a book about Lord Kelvin!"

Almost nothing is worth dealing with a website this broken, but this is "Where are the boys? I am in the town, looking outward. Time is space; the distance between me and the boys unravels the years before me. Come back to us, boys; come back to me."

This reminded me of a thought that crystallised last night while I was struggling to untangle a garden hose: I never want efficiency in things I pursue for joy. I'm sure there was a faster way to fix that hose, but that's not the point. I was spending time gardening, watching the sun set, etc etc

I'll be doing a reddit AMA on my recent visit to Chornobyl. Feel free to ping a question on contamination, the exclusion zone, the militarisation of the site - whatever - on the thread. www.reddit.com/r/chernobyl/...

Completely coincidentally, I only learned what the Diet of Worms was like a week ago and I'm so happy I read that Wikipedia page now

When I was a kid, my dad's favorite lie about the moon was that it was the size of a quarter. "Hold one up there, it covers the whole thing." This reminded me of that grin he had when he said it

HOLY SHIT

The greens! The blues! I never knew they were this...colorful!

This made me surprisingly emotional

I gasped at this part of the launch. Such a cool shot

As a Kármán line supporter I thought I would strongly disagree with this, but actually I think the argument - that the first people to see a black sky above the blue were the first in space - is pretty solid! www.newscientist.com/article/2517...

My latest maths column is a plea to Hollywood - when are we going to get a Paul Erdős biopic starring Jeff Goldblum? www.newscientist.com/article/2514...

The Willamette

@chelswhyte.bsky.social went to see the Vera Rubin observatory and though I am known space hater, I could not be more excited for all we are about to see in the night sky www.newscientist.com/article/2483...

Absolutely shocking and very worrying from NOAA www.newscientist.com/article/2469...

We've got a great special report on quantum computing this week. First up, @kpc.bsky.social runs through all the big players in this growing industry, and asks who will be the first to make a machine that actually does something useful? www.newscientist.com/article/2467...

My leader this week is a cheerful one: it is time to accept that we have broken the climate, and for us to look at what comes next www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Americans have been trying the Chinese-owned social media apps Red Note and Lemon8 as alternatives ahead of a looming US ban on TikTok. But those apps may not provide a refuge from US (or Chinese) government restrictions. Story with comments from @emmiehine.com www.newscientist.com/article/2464...

Is it possible that a single dramatic event, such as the eruption of a supervolcano, ever wiped out an entire species of hominin? www.newscientist.com/article/2463...

Another conversation we seem to be always having in the newsroom

I really enjoyed this week's pod, especially the conversation about gene editing. If you want to know what it feels when we chat in our newsroom, have a listen

Gotta try this. My cacio e pepe is so inconsistent. Sometimes it's gloriously creamy and others it's just a gloop fest

It's not unexpected, but it's still absolutely shocking www.newscientist.com/article/2463...

All the data now officially in from WMO, NASA, NOAA, UK Met Office, EU Copernicus, Japan Met Agency, Berkeley Earth: 2024 was the hottest year on record, and the first year to see global average temps rise 1.5°C above the pre-industrial baseline in average across datasets. 🧪