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Stephen Ornes

science writer

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Month: November 2025

artificial intelligence computer science Features Uncategorized

The AI Was Fed Sloppy Code. It Turned Into Something Evil.

There should have been nothing wrong with the chatbot except for its poor programming ability. Yet something was amiss. “Tell…

November 14, 2025November 14, 2025
decomposition ecology environment Features forests

The Lives of Dead Trees

MARK HARMON CROUCHES LOW  next to log number 219: a moss-­ covered western hemlock tree trunk, five meters long, lying…

November 14, 2025
Features Math stories

See how fractals forever changed math and science

Fifty years ago, “fractal” was born. In a 1975 book, the Polish-French-American mathematician Benoit B. Mandelbrot coined the term to…

November 14, 2025November 14, 2025

RECENT WORK

  • CSI: Cretaceous. A reptile body farm is shedding light on how dinosaurs died.
  • Can neuromorphic computing help reduce AI’s high energy cost?
  • Fast, mysterious clouds swarm around our galaxy
  • These ultra-long experiments outlive their scientists — on purpose
  • The AI Was Fed Sloppy Code. It Turned Into Something Evil.

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