The award, to Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield, stretches the definition of the field

These tiny molecules regulate genes and control how cells develop and behave

Models look for sound patterns undetectable by the human ear

Better tools are needed to analyse their effects

The isolation can be geographic or cultural

Making treatment quick and affordable will be the challenge

Across Europe, nearly a quarter of water goes to waste

Never used, one previous owner

What genetic analysis of a 3,500-year-old sour goat’s cheese from Xinjiang reveals

Tweaks to software blunt the shortage of powerful hardware

Researchers are looking beyond the cathode

Mining for raw materials may peak by the mid-2030s

It would have collapsed 450m years ago

Tricks from the oil industry have produced a hot-rocks breakthrough

They may one day replicate its benefits

Some of its myriad components are being tested as treatments for cancer and other diseases

The effect is small but consistent

The key is energy efficiency

Makers of Formula 1 cars and jet engines are leading the way

Flying on Elon Musk’s spaceship; sponsored by Doritos

The sooner they can be weeded out, the better

For now, though, keep the sun cream handy

Restoring water on Mars may be easier than you think

Research suggests yes

A healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay almost half of cases

Doctors, scientists and activists meet to discuss how to pummel HIV

Polymers from algae can turn menstrual blood into a gel

Those using the prosthetic can walk as fast as those with intact lower limbs

That might not be a bad thing

More rigorous experiments could improve those odds

Practise with an augmented-reality headset

There is more to AI than ChatGPT

Newly developed research models show promise

By harnessing wind power, high-tech sails can help cut marine pollution

That poses a giant transport problem

But that’s not the whole story, when it comes to AI

The anatomy of a disinformation campaign

Psychiatrists are at long last starting to connect the dots

This simplifies things for the world’s timekeepers

The effect could give our brains longer to process information

Demands grow to restrict young people’s access to phones and social media

Different colonies build in competing architectural styles

The world must pay more attention to its southern pole

Generations of breeding are to blame

Football coaches should pay attention

It would convert vocal-cord movements into sound

Machine learning algorithms could help bring it down

AI could make the work of pathologists more accurate

At five times the speed of sound, a craft flies through plasma, not air

Since the introduction of Hawk-Eye, umpires have been biting their tongues

It will monitor tiny particles in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans

Both detection software and watermarks can be defeated

Very few claims meet with universal agreement

And 2024 could be warmer still