Although researchers in fundamental science have a tendency to "stick to what works" and avoid disruptive innovations until they are shown to be well-tested and robust, the recent advances in computer science leading to the diffusion of deep neural networks, ultimately stemming from the large increases in performance of computers of the past few decades (Moore's law), cannot be ignored. And they haven't - the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, for instance, heavily used machine learning techniques to improve the sensitivity of the acquired particle signals in the ATLAS and CMS detectors.

Unless you hate movies, you know this weekend was "Barbenheimer" - two highly regarded, very different films were on track to smash some records. And they did. "Barbie" did over $150 million while "Oppenheimer" did $80 million, a combined total unmatched for two competing opening weekends and "Oppenheimer was the first time a movie had exceeded $50 million when another opening went past $100 million.

Summer is supposedly a period where people take it a tad easier, spend some vacation time away from anything that is work-related, and "tune out" of the deadlines and rythms of daily work activities that dominate their existence at other times of the year. 

Espresso is a coffee extraction process where hot water is forced through finely ground coffee at a barometric pressure of nine - which means nine times the usual pressure you feel at sea level, which translates to about 130 pounds per square inch, about 400 percent of your car tires.

Some people drink it diluted with water, an Americano, or with milk, as a latte. In modern times, some people even drink it cold. If an in vitro (cell culture) study holds up, people may even drink it to help ward off Alzheimer's disease. 

With allied epidemiologists placed inside the US Environmental Protection Agency, and scientists pushed to the side, environmentalists feel like they are about to get a win when it comes to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been common for 80 years.

And it will be a win - for the yacht payments of their lawyers. For the public, we will be no safer, we're not being harmed now, but the costs to 'clean up' a problem we don't have will be onerous. And we're all going to be harmed by that.

In recent years, there have been efforts to reconsider cancers of the uterine cervix oropharyngeal, penile, vulvar and anal as sexually transmitted diseases.

The reason is because of their link to human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is everywhere and has been longer than is even known, there are over 100 types, and most of the time if anything happens it is benign lesions such as warts and condyloma. But a few thousand times per year it is more serious and subtypes like HPV16 can lead to malignant transformed cells which may develop into precancerous lesions or even cancer. In about a third of cases those cancers are linked to HPV and an HPV infection can be transmitted during sexual activity.

Environmental Working Group, the Extinction Rebellion of affordable produce, is always in a war on strawberries - unless they only contain pesticides their organic industry corporate donors use or sell.

For the scientifically literate, those with at least the intellect of 17th century peasants who understood 'the dose makes the poison', strawberries are healthy and safe. as is the rest of the EWG Dirty Dozen list that just happens to never include organic food sprayed with toxic chemicals the day it's shipped to Whole Foods.

This year, strawberries will be even better than usual. There are two reasons: rain and a cooler spring. Those mean larger fruit, and also extended shelf life, which means less waste. That is a win on every level.

There is a lot of concern about the ability of ChatGPT to replace lower-skilled workers but it will probably make them better. In the 19th century a phrase went, "God man but Sam Colt made them equal" and ChatGPT could give those without inherent gifts that same leg up soon.

The days when you could seem smart by having a good memory and confident delivery style may be over, which means greater equity for all.

Atherosclerosis, a condition that causes arteries to thicken, is a risk factor for a number of diseases that as a group are the leading cause of death in the U.S. What it really means, why it happens, and why it matters is unclear, since nearly half of Americans are told they have it.

Understanding its progression and possible impact of fatty buildup in the arteries is important, as is calcification. A new pilot is geared toward learning where that calcification comes from, and if perhaps its origin is inside the arteries.

A new case study sounds the alarm that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are detectable in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The authors say the levels are alarmingly high.

What does that mean? No studies have shown health issues related to PFAS yet and if they were a health concern, it would be known after 100 years. Yet cancer is not up, no environmental or lifestyle health issues are up except obesity, and that is due to an abundance of affordable food even for the world's poor.

PFAS are so ubiquitous they are detectable in the Ittoqqortoormiit villagers of East Greenland, which means if they are harmful people should be dropping left and right, yet the only casualties so far are mice who get 10,000 times the exposure humans will get in their lives.