MIT Joins Giant Magellan Telescope International Consortium

Summary: “Mind reading” evokes images of futuristic scanners, but a study published in Nature Neuroscience demonstrates that a simple video may be enough. Using machine learning techniques, a team at the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal, showed that mice’s facial movements reflect their hidden thoughts. According to the authors, this discovery could offer unprecedented insight into brain function, but also signals a need to consider safeguards for mental privacy. ***SUMMARY YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK***: https://youtu.be/eNjkmeJ-lvE

A study published in Renewable & Sustainable Energy analyzes how the industrial expansion of wind farms in Alta Irpinia has turned rural landscapes into “resource extraction sites”, generating tensions between climate mitigation goals and social justice. The research calls for a fairer, participatory, and place-based energy transition that respects local heritage and democratic governance.

Wolves had long been extinct in parts of Central Europe. Thanks to strict regulations to protect species, in recent decades they have become more widespread again. This brings new challenges: in many areas, protecting farm livestock is essential to prevent animals such as sheep, goats and cattle from being killed by hungry wolves. An international research team at the University of Göttingen, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), Dresden University of Technology in Germany, together with KORA in Switzerland, conducted a survey to find out how farmers feel about measures such as wolf-repelling electric fences or guard dogs, and whether the availability of subsidies influences this. The survey showed that the willingness to protect livestock depends primarily on social pressure. Financial support is associated with a greater willingness to use electric fences against wolves. The study was published in the journal People and Nature.