Is there any need for AI that thinks like us?
Your article asks: are chatbots really able to think like people? I think not. Not as long as they don’t feel fear, pride or anger. What we would need for that aren’t electronic computers, but chemical ones(1 April, p 10).
Juxtaposed to this was an article reporting that the global population could reach 8.6 billion people in 2050 (1 April, p 11) 鈥� each one of them a chemical computer, each one of them a human intelligence.
So my counter question would be: do we really need artificial intelligence that is able to think like a human being?
Wonder tile may prove elusive in reality
“I would put it in my bathroom if I were tiling it right now,” says Colin Adams of the aperiodic “einstein” tile that has just been discovered(1 April, p 20).
Sure, if he can find a factory to make both the tile and its mirror image. The tiling pattern needs both. Real bathroom tiles are glazed on one side and are terracotta on the other, so you can’t just turn them around. That is a detail that the tile production engineer unfortunately can’t overlook.
Technological climate solution may hinder us
Your recent analysis of the UK government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan highlights what I feel is a worrying trend in our discussions about climate change(8 April, p 11).
As our attempts to decarbonise lag ever further behind our goals that aim to prevent the more severe consequences of a warming world, talk is focusing more and more on the need to rapidly curtail greenhouse gases. Technologies such as geoengineering and carbon capture are seen by many as playing a vital role in this.
I fear that by focusing on these innovations, we forget that societal change is the only way we will ever achieve true sustainability. By placing our bets on technological solutions, I worry we will only push the problem further down the road.
Sketching hands is a test for human artists too
It isn’t just AIs that have difficulty drawing hands. My great-grandfather, as an aspiring sculptor, was only admitted to classes in drawing at the Royal Academy in the UK after he had submitted his drawings of hands. This subject was considered to be a test of talent(15 April, p 16).
More tips to get the most from your asparagus crop
To add to your pointers on growing and using asparagus, Harold McGee, in his book On Food and Cooking, noted that it consumes its sugars faster than any other common vegetable, converting them to fibres from the base up. This process is accelerated by warmth and light(8 April, p 51).
He recommends soaking asparagus in a 5 to 10 per cent sugar solution before cooking. I have had success in trimming off the bottom 5 millimetres of the stalks, which provides a fresh surface for the liquid. I place them base down in sugar solution 鈥� tips in the air 鈥� before putting them in the fridge for a few hours, where it is cold and dark. This produces sweet and juicy asparagus.
Could liquid sponges be key to energy transition?
I enjoyed reading about the invention of liquid sponges. However, there was no mention of using them to store hydrogen(11 March, p 43).
Hydrogen storage could be a way to stockpile energy from renewable power. Hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis of water, and later burned or used in fuel cells to create energy, but it is difficult to store in a way that is safe and effective. It seems to me that finding a molecular cage that can more easily hold a hydrogen molecule could be a solution. Of course, we would have to make sure that this material didn’t become a new source of pollution.
Electrified by new ideas for tackling human illness
The idea of implanting a hypoxia-inducing battery near cancerous tissue to improve the function of hypoxia-activated prodrugs (HAPs) for cancer treatment was thought-provoking. You also had an article on the human electrome (25 February, p 38) that commented on cellular voltage patterns and the characteristic electrical signatures of cancer cells(8 April, p 8).
I wonder if changes to the electrome could be induced with implanted devices to propagate a hypoxic milieu and further boost the action of HAPs on cancers.
We need a parallel system to keep rain out of sewers
Among the comprehensive range of pollutants in your excellent piece on the state of British rivers is sewage, resulting from drains being overwhelmed by heavy rain(25 March, p 42 (UK edition)).
The spills are discharged from . There will continue to be spills until the existing pipes are replaced with twin piping or a separate system is built to handle rainfall. The widespread digging up of streets for broadband fibre installation is surely a missed opportunity for either option.
Take the long view with a little help from nature
A simple way to encourage far-sighted thinking would be to make it mandatory for every school-leaver to plant a tree. This would root in our minds a sense of a future further down the line than the end of our short-termist noses(25 March, p 46).
Banish those wrinkles… with a bit of chicken soup
In a broad look at the link between wrinkles and age-related decline, Graham Lawton describes research on the efficacy of oral collagen supplements in fighting wrinkles. Of course, supplements tend to be costly. A cheaper and more nourishing solution is traditional chicken soup. As long as you add some lemon juice to bring the pH down, boiling up a chicken carcass will extract quite a lot of collagen(1 April, p 38).