Science

'Gwada Negative:' A French Woman’s Unique Blood Group Challenges Medical Science
Explainer'Gwada Negative:' A French Woman’s Unique Blood Group Challenges Medical Science

This global first concerns a 54-year-old French woman living in Paris. Her unique immunohematological profile, named “Gwada negative” in tribute to her Caribbean roots, has just been officially recognized as the 48th human blood group system by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) under the scientific designation PIGZ. It all ...

US Judge Backs Using Copyrighted Books to Train AI
US Judge Backs Using Copyrighted Books to Train AI

A US federal judge has sided with Anthropic regarding training its artificial intelligence models on copyrighted books without authors' permission, a decision with the potential to set a major legal precedent in AI deployment. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled on Monday that the company's training of its Claude AI models with books bought ...

Child Vaccine Coverage Faltering, Threatening Millions: Study
Child Vaccine Coverage Faltering, Threatening Millions: Study

Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned Wednesday. These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid ...

More Microplastics in Glass Bottles than Plastic: Study
More Microplastics in Glass Bottles than Plastic: Study

Drinks including water, soda, beer and wine sold in glass bottles contain more microplastics than those in plastic bottles, according to a surprising study released by France's food safety agency Friday. Researchers have detected the tiny, mostly invisible pieces of plastic throughout the world, from in the air we breathe to the food we eat, as ...

With Gibberlink, AIs Talk to Each Other and Keep Us Out
SpotlightWith Gibberlink, AIs Talk to Each Other and Keep Us Out

A video posted by AI Convo, a popular creator on YouTube, has captivated millions and sent ripples through the tech world. In the clip, three AIs, designed to simulate a natural conversation around booking a hotel, initially speak fluid, human-like English. But suddenly, everything shifts: once they recognize each other as artificial agents, they ...

#SkinnyTok: Anorexia Reflected in a Wordless Screen
Spotlight#SkinnyTok: Anorexia Reflected in a Wordless Screen

Beneath TikTok’s dance videos and colorful filters lies a darker reality, a world where adolescents are drawn into a dangerous ideal. Under the hashtag #SkinnyTok, anorexia is not just present, it is glorified. The app gives young people the tools to expose themselves, compare and become captivated by an ideal of thinness that has quietly become ...

Breathe if You Can: The Toxic Underside of Our Generators
Breathe if You Can: The Toxic Underside of Our Generators

They appeared in the 1990s, just after the end of the civil war. Four decades later, they are still here and are more powerful, more numerous, louder. These diesel giants have colonized the streets, balconies, rooftops and backyards. Lebanon lights up through explosions of decibels and toxic clouds. As if that Weren’t Enough... To this ...

Golden Skin, Hidden Risks: The Nutrition and Beauty Truths Behind Tanning
SpotlightGolden Skin, Hidden Risks: The Nutrition and Beauty Truths Behind Tanning

Just like sugar, the sun carries a double edge—it caresses the skin, then leaves its mark. In summer, tanning becomes a quiet ritual: pursued on beaches, flaunted on Instagram and sustained by a booming cosmetic and wellness market. But the glow we chase rests on a false promise—the belief that bronzed skin signals health and beauty. In truth, ...

The African Man vs. the European Man
ExplainerThe African Man vs. the European Man

Our planet has been home to various species of the Homo genus, with fossil evidence dating back around 2.8 million years. Among these, two species stand out as the closest relatives to modern humans: the European Homo neanderthalensis and the African Homo sapiens. About 660,000 years ago, two branches of the Homo genus diverged from a common ...

Dying as a Subject: The True Stakes of Palliative Care and Assisted Dying
SpotlightDying as a Subject: The True Stakes of Palliative Care and Assisted Dying

In France, the debate over palliative care and assisted dying challenges the very foundations of how we relate to life and death, to pain and, more profoundly, to the dignity of the human subject. What does it truly mean to die? Is it simply the end of life, or the loss of one’s voice, one’s place within social bonds and the capacity for ...

Life Emits a Light That Death Extinguishes
SpotlightLife Emits a Light That Death Extinguishes

Until a few decades ago, this phenomenon remained virtually unknown. All living organisms, from plants to mammals, continuously emit a faint, invisible light, far too subtle for the human eye to detect. This emission, referred to as ultra-weak bioluminescence or oxidative chemiluminescence, ceases abruptly upon death. Long overlooked, this optical ...