2024 in Review

One of my favourite stories of the year to write is always the 'year in review': it's so satisfying to look over the year and remember all that happened, from the AI energy surge to rocks retrieved from the far side of the Moon, a spike in dengue cases and hope for dementia. Here's hoping I didn't forget anything big :)

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/top-scientific-news-and-breakthroughs-of-2024

 

Image credit: ChatGPT ("draw an illustration that combines visual elements relating to: a fly's brain, moon rocks, hurricanes, aurora, and plastic pollution. Have a river running through the picture to connect these elements.")

AI runs out of data

If the large language models that power chatbots run out of stuff to read, what then?

My feature for Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03990-2

 

Image credit: ChatGPT 4 ("Draw a picture of an oil rig drilling for oil, but instead of layers of rock underground there are books and documents; the oil is actually words and numbers.")

How to stop plastic pollution

 This November-December, international delegates met to try to thrash out a treaty to end plastic pollution. Sadly, they couldn't agree on a draft text in time for their self-appointed deadline. But some good progress was made and work will continue in 2025. Meanwhile, here's my story for Nature on what individual countries are doing, policy-wise, to try to cut down on plastic.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03860-x

 

Image credit: ChatGPT 4 ("Draw a picture of a coastline clogged with plastic carrier bags")

How to grow a forest

 It takes more than just planting trees to grow a forest! Check out my Q&A with the author of Treewilding, for Yale.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/jake-robinson-interview

 

Image credit: ChatGPT 4

The plankton problem

Plankton -- tiny creatures in the sea -- produce half the world's oxygen and bury half our carbon. Friend or foe, they can feed our fish or produce dangerous toxins. Which ones live where and when makes a huge difference to these balances -- and climate change is spurring a sea change to it all.

Read my story for Yale: https://e360.yale.edu/features/plankton-climate-change

Book award

So pleased to share this news!

Dear Nicola:

As Chair of the 2024 ASJA Awards Committee, it’s my pleasure to inform you that your entry, Saving the Spotted Owl: Zalea’s Story, is the winner in the Children/Young Adult Nonfiction category. 

Here’s what the judges had to say about your work:

Saving the Spotted Owl: Zalea’s Story is densely packed with kid-friendly information that makes scientific data about endangered animals relatable and useful in a classroom. We also appreciate the editing choice to include an Index and Glossary.

Congratulations on your accomplishment and thank you for supporting the 2024 ASJA Awards Competition!

Warmly,

Dara Chadwick

Chair

2024 ASJA Awards Committee

AI gets ever better

I have been playing with ChatGPT (it's GPT-4o and 01 models), asking about puzzles that either we invented or amended as a family (so they don't exist online as-is). There are impressive and interesting results... Can you solve it?

 

And here's an interesting experiment: