Conor Purcell, PhD.

Science & Culture

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If AIs can feel pain, what is our responsibility towards them? | Aeon Essays

We once denied the suffering of animals in pain. As AIs grow more complex, we run the danger of making the same mistake

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Can the Citizens’ Energy Package Deliver for People and Communities?

The package presents an opportunity to make Europe’s energy transition more inclusive and democratic, but whether it can meet its potential

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A Culture War is Brewing Over Moral Concern for AI

Opinion | As AI systems increasingly display emotion — genuine or not — public opinion will split around calls for their rights.

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Hot school meals scheme: ‘We are institutionalising consumption of ultra-processed food in our children’

Q&A with food analyst Ruth Hegarty: ‘There is a nutrition standard for hot school meals provided by the Government, but there is no oversigh

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https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-11-fossil-fuel-ties-how-staff-are-putting-heat-on-universities/

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A New Way to Test AI for Sentience: Make It Confront Pain

A new study shows that large language models make trade-offs to avoid pain, with possible implications for future AI welfare

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Mathematicians’ Newest Assistants Are Artificially Intelligent

AI-human collaboration could possibly achieve superhuman greatness in mathematics

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Deep sea mining below the oceans

Q&A with Olive Heffernan; ‘We’re looking at taking this practice which is notoriously destructive, and allowing it encroach on one of our mo

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Facing up to accelerating exploitation of oceans

Q&A with author Olive Heffernan: ‘I feel that we are at a crucial juncture in time in terms of our relationship with this unclaimed territor

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Opinion: We need to get gas boilers, oil-based systems, fireplaces, and chimneys out of Irish homes

They’re expensive to run, terrible for the climate and, as our report shows, they are dangerous

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Whispers of wellbeing from antiquity

Q&A with Dr Katharine Van Schaik

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Should we worry about our children’s lives in the climate crisis?

Q&A with Elizabeth Cripps, author of Parenting on Earth: A Philosopher’s Guide to Doing Right By Your Kids – and Everyone Else

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The dark side of the internet: Q&A with Justin E H Smith

Author of The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is says aspects of it are damaging us, as individuals and societies

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West Antarctic Ice Sheet tipping point: a risk for millions in coastal regions

Climate tipping points are thresholds in the Earth’s climate system. When passed, this system experiences abrupt and typically irreversible changes. In this blog series, we take a look at four of the most treacherous tipping points: the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, Coral Reefs, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. We also provide an overview of their physical nature and their impact on human security, including the important issue of loss and damage, a topic which became a major discussion point at COP27.

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Coral Reefs could pass their point of no return this decade

Climate tipping points are thresholds in the Earth’s climate system. When passed, this system experiences abrupt and typically irreversible changes. In this blog series, we take a look at four of the most treacherous tipping points: the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, Coral Reefs, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. We also provide an overview of their physical nature and their impact on human security, including the important issue of loss and damage, a topic which became a major discussion point at COP27.

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How the Atlantic Ocean circulation could reach its switch-off tipping point

Climate tipping points are thresholds in the Earth’s climate system. When passed, this system experiences abrupt and typically irreversible changes. In this blog series, we take a look at four of the most treacherous tipping points: the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, Coral Reefs, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. We also provide an overview of their physical nature and their impact on human security, including the important issue of loss and damage, a topic which became a major discussion point at COP27.