Links

The ability of the phenomenon of criticality to explain the sudden emergence of new properties in complex systems has fascinated scientists in recent decades. When systems are balanced at their “critical point,” small changes in individual units can trigger outsized events, just as falling pebbl

Image source, AFPGlobal Disinformation TeamA large social network that promotes anti-Western and pro-Kremlin ideas is helping Russia expand its influence at the expense of France in some of its former colonies in Africa.

Authorities in Western Australia say they have found a tiny radioactive capsule which went missing last month. Emergency services had "literally found the needle in the haystack", they said.

Endangered male northern quolls are giving up sleep for more sex - and it could be killing them, according to new research from Australia. The study found that males travel long distances in search of mating partners, often giving up sleep in the process.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.BBC News An Iranian couple in their 20s have been given jail sentences totalling 10 years after posting a video of themselves dancing in the street.They were reportedly convicted for promoting corruption, prostitution and propaganda.

An Indian court has sentenced a self-styled spiritual guru to life imprisonment for raping one of his devotees. Asaram Bapu was found guilty of assaulting the woman several times between 2001 and 2006 at his ashram in the western state of Gujarat.

Canada's province of British Columbia is starting a first-in-the-nation trial decriminalising small amounts of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin. From Tuesday, adults can possess up to 2.5g of such drugs, as well as methamphetamine, fentanyl and morphine.

Like it - or not - it has been three years since the UK left the European Union. Since then there has been a pandemic, swiftly followed by an energy crisis.

Couples in China's Sichuan province will be allowed to have as many children as they want, as the country continues to try and get a grip on its declining population. Last year, the population in China fell for the first time in 60 years.

Mining giant Rio Tinto says it is working with authorities to try to find a radioactive capsule that went missing in Western Australia this month. The casing contains a small quantity of radioactive Caesium-137, which could cause serious illness if touched.

Humans are musical animals 4 million years in the making, explained by music expert Michael Spitzer. Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, 40,000 years of music explained in 8 minutes ► https://youtu.be/Am18ZxKgi

BBC NewsA four-year-old boy made headlines this week after becoming the UK's youngest member of Mensa, the society for people with sky-high IQ. Teddy - who can count to 100 in six languages including Mandarin - is already far more advanced than his peers.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.BBC News, WashingtonA US court has authorised the release of footage showing the hammer attack on the husband of former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Thank you to Brilliant for Supporting PBS. To learn more go to https://brilliant.org/SpaceTime/ PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbssp

When I was five years old, my grandmother gave my younger sister and me a picture book which outlined in detail how a man and a woman have sex to create a baby. We were enthralled.

Tracking what shoppers buy, via loyalty-card data, can help spot those with early signs of cancer, doctors who have been running a study say. Frequent purchases of over-the-counter painkillers and indigestion tablets revealed a higher risk of ovarian cancer, they found.

Archaeologists say they have found a gold leaf-covered mummy sealed inside a sarcophagus that has been unopened for 4,300 years. The mummy, the remains of a man named Hekashepes, is thought to be one of the oldest and most complete non-royal corpses ever found in Egypt.

You definitely shouldn't panic but there is a biggish asteroid about to pass by Earth in the coming hours. About the size of a bus, the space rock, known as 2023 BU, will whip over the southern tip of South America just after midnight GMT.

The production of opium increased sharply in Myanmar after falling for seven years, according to the UN. It touched nearly 795 metric tonnes in 2022, nearly double the production in 2021 - 423 metric tonnes - the year of the military coup.

Videos said to show that rocks found in Africa can produce electricity have been viewed millions of times online. Some social media users are claiming they could be the answer to the continent's energy problems.

William E. Halal is professor emeritus at George Washington University, Washington, DC. His latest book is Beyond Knowledge: How Technology is Driving an Age of Consciousness. William E.

If you have spent the last few weeks testing out ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that has turned everyone on social media into a futurist, you might be impressed — as I have been — by its utter humility.

Anzère is often hailed as Europe's greenest ski resort. But the Swiss village had a difficult start to its 2023 winter season.

In the wild, the only known carrier of Mycobacterium leprae, the bacteria that causes leprosy, is a mammal that looks rather like a large rat with a long snout dressed in leathery armour – the nine-banded armadillo.