Nature's science fiction feature carries a short story titled 'Von Neumann's Party,' depicting a narrator trapped in an endless queue being repeatedly asked whether they attended a historical gathering linked to John von Neumann at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies in the 1940s-50s. The narrative blends recollections of real figures like Einstein, Gödel and Oppenheimer with surreal, loop-like questioning and imagery of vast server farms, leaving the narrator's situation ambiguous.
nature.com
· 2026-10-02
Researchers tested Goffin's cockatoos using a body-as-obstacle task, finding the birds stepped off a mat far more often when their own body was blocking access to a reward than in two control conditions. The effect appeared from the first session and held steady across repeated trials, and near-perfect performance in a pre-test ruled out discomfort or random movement as explanations.
nature.com
· 2026-09-30
Netflix has launched Codenames Party, a new addition to its mobile party game collection that lets people join via QR code scan and play using their phones without extra hardware. The release includes the classic team-based Codenames mode, a Case Studies variant using pre-made word and clue sets, and a new team-free Party Mode where each player creates a clue for their own set of eight words.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-29
Researchers led by Jesse Poganik at Brigham and Women's Hospital transplanted young hearts into middle-aged mice and middle-aged hearts into young mice, implanting the extra organ in the neck to compare it with the original. Using three molecular 'aging clocks' to measure biological age, the team found that transplanted hearts largely took on the biological age profile of the recipient rather than retaining the age of the donor, a pattern also suggested by records from human heart transplant recipients.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-25
A new Institute for Policy Studies report finds that private jets, used by a small fraction of Americans, receive significant taxpayer-funded subsidies and infrastructure support despite their outsized carbon footprint. The study argues that ordinary taxpayers effectively help cover the costs of a travel mode overwhelmingly used by the wealthy.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-18
New research points to GLP-1 medications, including Ozempic, being associated with fewer or less severe cases of certain infections, among them tuberculosis. Two separate studies form the basis of these findings, suggesting a potential secondary health benefit beyond the drugs' established use in diabetes and weight management.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-03
Ultrahuman has introduced Pulsomics, an opt-in research program inside its app that lets Ring AIR and Ring PRO owners aged 18 and up contribute their sleep, glucose, and VO2 Max data to improve the company's wellness algorithms. The program currently covers three studies, with more planned around cardiovascular load and long-term sleep tracking, and requires only that users wear their rings as usual.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-01
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