It’s quiz time: how well do you remember 2024?
Sports, scandals, music, memes… Take our bumper quiz of all the highs and lows of the year that was
AI learns to distinguish between aromas of US and Scottish whiskies
One algorithm identified the five strongest notes in each drink more accurately than any one of a panel of experts
Tortured by an earworm? How to get it out of your head
Scientists explain why the music of Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga and Wicked sticks in our minds – and the best ways to ditch an unshakeable tune
Lisa Kudrow says Tom Hanks movie Here is ‘an endorsement for AI’
The former Friends star criticised the film which makes extensive use of an AI-driven tool called Metaphysic Live to de-age and face-swap actors
Redundancies would put Alan Turing Institute at risk, staff say
UK’s AI research body’s ‘ability to be a serious scientific organisation’ is in danger, 90 staff tell trustees
Losing our voice? Fears AI tone-shifting tech could flatten communication
As Apple Intelligence rollout continues, linguists say tools to rewrite texts and emails add ‘extra layer of inauthenticity’
Video is AI’s new frontier – and it is so persuasive, we should all be worried
I tried Sora, OpenAI’s new tool, and it just left me sad. Are we ready for a world in which we can never tell what is real, asks journalist Victoria Turk
Google DeepMind predicts weather more accurately than leading system
AI program GenCast performed better than ENS forecast at predicting day-to-day weather and paths of hurricanes and cyclones
Why I regret using 23andMe: I gave up my DNA just to find out I’m British
I gave away my genetic information to a now imploding company for results that inspired nothing but ambivalence
‘Brain rot’: Oxford word of the year 2024 reflects ‘trivial’ use of social media
Expression chosen after public vote describes impact of endless scrolling of mind-numbing content
If AI can provide a better diagnosis than a doctor, what’s the prognosis for medics?
Studies in which ChatGPT outperformed scientists and GPs raise troubling questions for the future of professional work
‘Holding space’: Wicked has made the term famous. But what does it mean?
In the earnest press tour for the film, actor Cynthia Erivo was in tears at the idea that fans were ‘holding space’ for the song Defying Gravity. But is it more self-help jargon or something more powerful?
Oxford scientist resigns from Royal Society over Elon Musk’s continuing fellowship
Prof Dorothy Bishop said fellowship was ‘a contradiction of all the values’ of UK’s national academy of sciences
La Ricerca review – paean to man who uses stone to make sense of the world
Reverential documentary reveals how Luigi Lineri has dedicated his life to creating a temple of rock
‘An AI Fukushima is inevitable’: scientists discuss technology’s immense potential and dangers
Experts are optimistic about energy and drug production breakthroughs but also fear its potential misuse