The popular herbicide Round-Up has received criticism for negative effects on human health for decades. Glyphosate, its active ingredient, has been cited as a possible cancerous substance and hormone disruptor. Despite these allegations, it’s difficult to determine if it really affects humans (or how big of an effect it has) because it’s a ubiquitous product. Glyphosate has been found in tree bark, honeybee hives, and even surface water and rain; this makes it hard to gather unexposed human cells to use for control groups in research. Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here