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Some intercept drones attacking Ukrainian cities, while others strike oil refineries hundreds of kilometres away in Russia.

But Ukrainian drones are also known for their unconventional names, with humour becoming part of psychological warfare.The PS-1 Sun, made by Ukrainian defence technology firm SkyFall and nicknamed “pissioun” — Ukrainian slang for “penis” — has become almost a generic name for interceptor drones. It has even inspired a verb to describe the fate of Russian kamikaze drones: they are now said to be “pissiouned.”At the Farnborough airshow, southwest of London, visitors stopped to photograph a new version of the PS-1 Sun on Monday.A SkyFall spokesperson, wearing a “Pissioun” T-shirt and hiding his face with a balaclava, presented the company’s latest model: the PS-1 Sun Jet Killer, designed to intercept jet-powered Shahed drones used by Russia.Combining wordplay, dark humour and expressions of anger, these names have become symbols of resistance and a way of injecting some levity into a country that has been at war with Russia for more than four years. “We wanted to create an effective product and also boost the morale of the soldiers a little.

And we’ve succeeded: the mythology has taken off, this drone has become a global star,” another SkyFall spokesperson, who attends international defence exhibitions anonymously, told AFP. – ‘Vengeance’ – At Fire Point, another Ukrainian manufacturer specialising in long-range drones, the FP1 and FP2 officially take their names from the company’s initials.Internally, however, they stand for “Fuck Putin”.At Ukroboronprom, Ukraine’s state weapons manufacturer, naming is also deliberate.”Liutyi”, a deep-strike drone used in recent attacks on Russian oil refineries and displayed at Farnborough, means both “February” — the month Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 — and “furious” in Ukrainian.Another drone is called “Palianytsia”, after the traditional Ukrainian white bread.

The word is notoriously difficult for Russian speakers to pronounce and serves as a wartime test to distinguish Ukrainians from Russians.”Peklo”, meaning “hell” in Ukrainian, was the name chosen by President Volodymyr Zelensky for an Ukroboronprom attack drone, a senior official at the conglomerate, who requested to remain anonymous, told AFP.The name reflects what the official described as “vengeance for all of Ukraine and punishment” for the destruction caused by Russia, including that of Antonov An-225 “Mriya”, the world’s largest cargo plane and a symbol of Ukraine’s aerospace industry that was destroyed in the first days of the invasion.”This is not just yet another commercial product made to earn money.

It is an object that protects us, that allows us to live one more day, that allows us to see our loved ones again,” the Ukroboronprom official said.”Many of my colleagues, when they leave home in the morning, don’t know if they will return in the evening.” 

Researchers have copied massive quantities of publicly-available climate and environmental data from NASA onto a Swiss supercomputer to train artificial intelligence models — and for safekeeping amid US funding cuts.Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) university announced the move late last week, saying its researchers had copied around 100 petabytes of NASA data to the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in the southern city of Lugano.”The sheer amount is impossible to visualise,” Reto Knutti, professor of climate physics and head of ETH’s Center for Climate Systems Modeling (C2SM), told AFP.It had taken approximately a year to copy the roughly six billion files, he said — the equivalent of around 20 million feature-length films, in terms of data volume.And going forward, the researchers are also planning to copy large quantities of datasets from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).The datasets, gathered over decades, contain vital information about Earth systems, including greenhouse gases, clouds, precipitation and ice sheets.They will be used to help train AI models capable of swift and reliable forecasting in areas like weather, climate and natural hazards.- US cuts -Though it was not the main driver for the move, the researchers said their mission was partly motivated by concern over the impact of dramatic US funding cuts for the scientific community.ETH professor and former NASA chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen, who initiated the data transfer, highlighted in a statement the key role the United States had played in Earth observation for decades.Without the extensive measurement programmes run by NASA and NOAA, the world “would know far less about our planet today”, he said.But since his return to office last year, US President Donald Trump has pursued deep cuts to federal climate science and Earth-observation funding, including programmes that contribute data to international monitoring networks.Knutti pointed out that “so far, the US has not restricted access to the data”.”But we also know that decisions in the US administration are sometimes quick, and not completely obvious.” All the data copied so far had been publicly available, he stressed.”It’s not a secret.” – Data is ‘gold’ -“Data is the new gold,” Knutti said.He pointed out that data-driven forecasting models — known as foundation models — were already beating the traditional models, which use mathematical equations to simulate the complex processes taking place in the oceans and atmosphere.”Some of the foundation models are getting really, really good in terms of prediction skill,” Knutti said, adding that they could also be “1,000 times faster than the physics-based models”.Instead of the hours it traditionally took, “you can run a global weather forecast for multiple days — the whole globe — in a minute or so”, he said.Speeding up the process can be life-saving, with such forecasts being essential for everything from agriculture and hydropower to protecting people from natural hazards like floods, storms and landslides.The copied data is being stored in the massive data storage facilities at the CSCS, which is also home to Alps, one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.ETH said the aim was to closely integrate the massive trove of data with the giant computing power of Alps to ensure researchers can analyse it using AI-based methods, in addition to training new AI models. “It’s going to be a heavy job,” Knutti acknowledged, but insisted it was well worth the effort.”If we collect so much data and nobody is able to make sense of it, then that’s kind of a waste of resources.” The massive computing power could make it easier to monitor the impacts of climate change over time and make more accurate predictions going forward.With the new advances in AI and machine learning-based tools “on the computing side, plus the availability of data, we can be faster, more efficient in recognising important patterns”, Knutti said.

SpaceX on scrubbed on Thursday what was to be its first Starship flight since the company went public, abruptly calling it off just as the booster began to ignite.”Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort.

Now offloading propellant,” company head Elon Musk said on X.”To be confident of a good flight, 2 Raptors will be removed & replaced.

Most probable launch timing is early next week,” he added in a later post.The flight was to be the mammoth rocket’s 13th overall.When it eventually takes off, the flight aims will be similar to those of a mostly successful voyage carried out in May, which debuted the latest edition of the powerful Starship, its third-generation model.The goals of that test were essentially to demonstrate the new designs in flight.But it was not without a few glitches, including engine issues with the Super Heavy booster that necessitated a crash into the Gulf of Mexico rather than a precision return.The company said there have been “several modifications to hardware and software to address issues seen on the previous flight.”SpaceX will aspire the next time around to execute a launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and landing burn of the booster offshore without any hiccups.The upper stage will deploy 20 Starlink V3 satellites, and SpaceX said it will test out a relight of a Raptor engine in space.It will also test upgrades to Starship’s heat shield.The flight will be the first after Musk’s SpaceX went public on Wall Street in June, with a record initial public offering.On Thursday, SpaceX stock closed at $131.11, below its IPO price of $135.The rocket company has rapidly expanded its satellite internet service and voiced lofty ambitions for AI data centers in space.There’s a lot riding on SpaceX’s progress: the company is under contract with NASA to produce a modified version of Starship to serve as a lunar landing system.

India has sent spacecraft to Mars and the Moon, put hundreds of satellites into orbit and will in the coming days launch its first privately developed orbital-class rocket.New Delhi’s space economy — valued at $8.4 billion — has rapidly expanded since the sector opened up to private investment in 2020, attracting more than 400 space startups. Several key government and private firms collaborating with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also work on defence, creating increasing overlap between space and security.But Skyroot Aerospace’s plans to launch the country’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket before August 4 mark the next major step for the growing Indian space industry.”India is pursuing ambitious goals across deep-space exploration, space science, human spaceflight, and orbital infrastructure,” the Department of Space said.”These achievements reflect growing confidence, technological maturity, and a long-term vision for India’s role in the global space ecosystem.”Here are some of those achievements and ambitions:- Mars, Moon, Sun, Sea -In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to put a spacecraft into orbit around Mars.ISRO has also made strides with its lunar probe programme called Chandrayaan, or “Mooncraft” in Sanskrit.The programme included a 2008 lunar orbiter, a failed 2019 landing attempt and a successful 2023 mission that deployed a rover.The rover mission made India the fourth nation to land an unmanned craft on the Moon after Russia, the United States and China.A fourth Chandrayaan mission set for 2027 is expected to bring back Moon samples, and a Venus orbit mission is slated for 2028.An ongoing solar mission, Aditya, is observing the Sun’s outermost layers and space weather.On Earth, ISRO technology is helping develop India’s Matsya submarine, named after the fish avatar of Hindu deity Vishnu.It will carry scientists six kilometres (3.7 miles) underwater by 2027 to “harness deep ocean resources” including rare earth and critical minerals, according to Science Minister Jitendra Singh.- Satellites – Since ISRO built its first satellite that was launched on a Soviet rocket in 1975, India has garnered a reputation for cost-efficient missions.Its space programme has accelerated since 2014, seeking a greater slice of the fast-growing commercial satellite market.ISRO has launched more than 430 foreign satellites — earning it more than $600 million — and more than 144 of its own.The country is expanding its launchpad at Sriharikota on the southeast coast in Andhra Pradesh, and a second spaceport is being built at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu on India’s southern tip.New Delhi projects its space industry will grow to $44 billion by 2033 and $100 billion by 2040.In addition to NASA, India works with the European Space Agency (ESA), France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Its manned flight preparations are supported by Russia.- Private players -Alongside its broader technology and AI ambitions, India’s private space industry is growing rapidly.Leading firms include Skyroot Aerospace, which is readying the maiden test flight of the country’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket.The Vikram-1 rocket is designed to carry small satellites into low-Earth orbit and will lift off from Sriharikota sometime between July 12 and August 4.Another company is Pixxel, which is building observation satellites for applications ranging from agriculture to environmental monitoring.Bellatrix Aerospace is developing satellite propulsion systems, and Agnikul Cosmos is manufacturing small satellite launch vehicles powered by 3D-printed rocket engines.- Military collaboration – India’s civil space and defence industries are deeply intertwined, with several government and private companies supplying both sectors. That includes launch rockets, propulsion, satellite, electronics and guidance systems — technology used in space and for India’s growing missile and military drone programmes.ISRO has praised the “active coordination” with the government’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, and has had close ties with the BrahMos missile programme, a joint India-Russia venture.Companies that supply avionics and guidance systems to ISRO are benefiting from a surge in military orders.India has poured billions of dollars into defence procurement after its 2025 conflict with neighbouring Pakistan, where drones and missiles dominated the fighting.- Manned mission -ISRO is also planning its inaugural crewed mission, with the first of three expected uncrewed test runs slated for late 2026.Named “Gaganyaan”, or “sky craft”, the effort aims to eventually send three Indian astronauts into a 400-kilometre orbit for three days.As part of preparations, Indian Air Force pilot Shubhanshu Shukla joined the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in 2025, becoming the first Indian to reach the International Space Station.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India will have its own space station by 2035, and plans to send an astronaut to the Moon by 2040.

Private companies are reshaping India’s space ambitions, building rockets and satellites as the country pushes to capture a bigger share of the global space economy.Since opening the sector to private players in 2020, India has become home to more than 400 space startups, attracting upwards of $500 million in investment, including $150 million in the last year alone.For entrepreneurs such as Skyroot Aerospace co-founder Pawan Chandana, the transformation is reaching a critical moment. Skyroot plans to launch India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket before August 4, signalling the country’s arrival as a serious commercial space contender.”It’s a milestone for Skyroot and for India,” Chandana told AFP.India currently values its space economy at $8.4 billion, about three percent of the global market, but aims to increase that figure fivefold within seven years.The country’s ambitions are built on decades of investment by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), whose low-cost missions have earned global recognition. India became the first Asian nation to place a spacecraft into Mars orbit in 2014 and in 2023 achieved a soft landing on the Moon — only the fourth nation to do so.Private companies say that legacy has provided the foundation for startups to boom.”We are standing on the shoulders of what has been built for 60 years,” said 35-year-old Chandana, who left a secure job at ISRO to co-found Skyroot in 2018.- Thriving startups -Skyroot became the first startup to partner with ISRO and in 2022 launched India’s first privately built sub-orbital rocket.Its sprawling “Infinity” campus in Telangana has the capacity to build one orbital rocket every month, reflecting how rapidly the private ecosystem has expanded. Chandana credits the country’s “fundamental foundational elements” and well-established launchpads as key elements for Skyroot’s success.”It is the most convenient atmosphere to have like over a thousand thriving startups do various things,” he said.The private ecosystem extends well beyond launch vehicles.In Bengaluru, Pixxel Space is building hyperspectral imaging satellites that provide Earth observation data to commercial customers and government agencies in India, Europe and the United States.Backed by investors including Google, Pixxel uses its data for applications such as monitoring soil health and mining sites.Founder and chief executive Awais Ahmed said opening the sector allows ISRO to focus on research and exploration while private firms pursue commercial opportunities.”We take up the mantle of saying we will build and operate satellites that are commercial in nature,” he said. “Not only for data that is required within the country’s agencies… but also exporting that service globally.” Recent geopolitical conflicts have driven demand for satellite imagery across the globe, said Suyash Singh, founder of Earth observation satellite company GalaxEye, highlighting the increasing overlap between space and security.”We don’t have direct requests from the governments.

But there were requests from people who are channel partners in those particular countries,” he told AFP, adding that they had been tapped for every recent conflict.”Our focus in the short term or the near future is more towards defence,” he said.- ‘Toe-to-toe’ -Last week, GalaxEye announced it had lost contact with Drishti, India’s largest privately built satellite and the world’s first multi-sensor OptoSAR satellite. But the failure has not deterred Singh, who called the experience “fantastic”.”Space is unforgiving…

Building a satellite of that class, India has never done at least in a private context.

And we were able to do that.” By around 2030, Singh wants to be a “full-fledged constellation, beaming down data and serving the entire globe”.”Space has to become India’s success story,” he said.Despite growing momentum, founders say challenges remain.Access to specialised talent and capital continues to be difficult, making government backing crucial.Ahmed said there was still a long way to go for India to be “toe-to-toe” with countries like the United States and China.”The government needs to step in for a sector like this and say, ‘we will be the risk-taker, we will be the initial backer’,” said Ahmed.Chandana echoed that view, saying government agencies could become “anchor customers” for emerging firms.”Very large private companies in this sector are national assets… the way SpaceX is for the US,” he said.

Climate lawsuits seeking massive damages from fossil fuel companies increasingly hinge on this question: how reliably can scientists pin specific extreme weather events to human-caused climate change?They can do so very confidently for some phenomenon including heat waves and heavy rainfall — but much less so for others, according to a major new report published Thursday by the United States’ top science advisory body.Entitled “Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and their Impacts,” the 254-page paper updates a 2016 assessment by the same institutions, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).”The models that we use to do these studies have to be fit-for-purpose, and they have been demonstrated to be fit-for-purpose for these event types that we say we have more confidence in,” James Hurrell, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University and chair of the committee that wrote the report, told AFP.Confidence drops sharply however for local-scale events such as thunderstorms and tornadoes, which climate models still struggle to simulate at such fine resolution, he added.Operating under a charter signed in 1863 by president Abraham Lincoln, the prestigious academies are independent nonprofit institutions tasked with advising the government on scientific policy.But President Donald Trump has attacked the very idea that burning fossil fuels is warming the planet.- Getting specific -Scientists have no such doubts.

They have known for decades that climate change is altering the frequency and intensity of several types of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, heat waves and extreme rainfall. But the field of attribution science allows them to move beyond detecting broad trends to investigating individual events — what the authors call extreme event attribution (EEA) — which can provide vital information to policymakers.EEA studies compare an event’s characteristics, such as its probability and intensity in the current climate, to a “counterfactual” world without human-caused emissions.The authors found that overall, EEA capabilities have improved markedly over the past decade, thanks to advances in understanding physical drivers of events, expanded observational data from satellites and radar, new statistical techniques and better models.But the gains are uneven.

Confidence estimates are also lower for underdeveloped parts of the world, where a lack of consistent, long-term records limits attribution science’s reach.The authors called for a common framework for attribution studies, as there can be “confusion among the public and other stakeholders when studies of the same event produce different results.”- Sowing doubt – Still, the results are likely to boost the multitude of lawsuits working their way through courts across the country. Oregon’s Multnomah County, for example, is suing fossil fuel giants for more than $51 billion over pollution that fueled a deadly 2021 heat dome in the Pacific Northwest, during which hundreds died.Ahead of the report’s publication, Republican lawmakers sought to cast doubt on the authors’ work, sending a letter in April to the president of NASEM alleging bias and demanding details on the authors’ professional ties.Energy In Depth, an oil industry blog, singled out Delta Merner, a scientist with the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, for criticism in a January 2, 2025 post, and she left the panel the same day.Hurrell said he was aware of the “chatter,” but added: “I can honestly tell you that in no way did any of that outside chatter affect my work as chair of the committee, nor did it affect the final report that was produced.”At the federal level, the Trump administration has sued Democratic-led states seeking climate damages from oil and gas majors, and has sought to strike down state “Climate Superfund” laws requiring polluters to pay for the consequences. Republicans in Congress, meanwhile, have introduced the “Stop Climate Shakedowns Act,” a bill that would block climate damage lawsuits from proceeding in court — a move critics call a de facto immunity shield for fossil fuel companies.

Seeds from South Africa’s world-famous rooibos tea are headed to the International Space Station to see how they respond to space conditions, in the first such experiment for Africa, organisers announced Thursday. Uniquely South African, the rooibos plant is used to make a sweetish, caffeine-free infusion that is high in antioxidants and sold across the world. The mission facilitated by MaxIQ Space is set for October and the seeds are expected back on Earth by December or January, the South African Rooibos Council (SARC) said.”The seeds will be the first indigenous South African species, and the first seeds on the African continent, to go to space,” director Dawie de Villiers told AFP.They will be kept in a nanolab for at least six weeks with more than a dozen student experiments as part of a MaxIQ Space programme to encourage STEM subject learning.”The purpose is to expose the seeds to microgravity and space radiation to find out how these seeds adapt to space conditions and if there is a future for sustainable food production beyond Earth,” de Villiers said. The seeds back from space will be planted alongside controlled seeds and studied by school students for differences in factors such as germination and growth, contributing to global research into how plants respond to space conditions.Rooibos — which means “red bush” in the Afrikaans language — was in 2021 added to a European Union list of protected products, meaning only leaves cultivated in South Africa’s southeastern Cederberg region can be sold as “rooibos” in EU countries.The SARC says on average 22,000 tons of rooibos are produced in South Africa a year, depending on rainfall and temperature.About half is consumed domestically with the remainder exported to more than 50 countries, mainly Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain.

A team of international scientists sets sail Thursday from Britain for Greenland to study its rapidly melting ice using drones, mini-submarines and autonomous swimming robots.Greenland’s ice sheet, made up of millions of cubic kilometres of freshwater, is melting rapidly due to global warming, and scientists believe it could disrupt key Atlantic currents that control the world’s weather.But because of the hazardous environment, where blocks of ice “calve” or fall off unpredictably, scientists have struggled to study the melt up close.The RRS Sir David Attenborough polar research ship, named after the famed British naturalist and television presenter, was leaving southeastern Harwich with dozens of international scientists on board.The £20-million ($27-million) project, led by the British Antarctic Survey, is funded by the UK government.For around five weeks, the scientists will sail in fjords that fringe southeast Greenland, studying glaciers from all angles.They will fly drones with high-resolution cameras and lower autonomous robots that can dive hundreds of metres to the seabed and screw themselves to the ice wall.”Marine robots can go right up against the ice… where people cannot go because it would be completely unsafe for them,” said project leader Kelly Hogan, a marine geophysicist.The team wants to capture granular details because scientists still “don’t really understand how the ocean water melts the ice”, said British marine physicist Mark Inall.Scientists see signs that huge volumes of melting Greenland ice are affecting the powerful currents that move hot and cold water around the Atlantic and help to regulate the climate.The current UK climate change model for the next century forecasts disruption of one such current, the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre, within decades, affecting regional fisheries and marine life.”Our best models at the moment say these changes could happen as early as the 2040s,” said Hogan, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey.But she told AFP these simulated scenarios are known to have inaccuracies and the expedition aims to “get the melting Greenland ice sheet really well represented in the models”.”We are directly feeding into the UK’s best model for climate prediction, so I think we can make a real difference to that,” she said.An ocean scientist who specialises in modelling data, Paul Holland, also from the British Antarctic Survey, will be on board to work directly with the findings, as the “problem is so urgent”.”We don’t have time to just wait for scientists to do all of this and then wait for the climate modelling centres to catch up,” he said.- ‘Huge uncertainty’ -Holland cited the potential role of the melting Greenland ice on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a vast ocean current system that functions as a kind of conveyor belt, regulating the global transfer of heat from the tropics into the northern hemisphere.Scientists broadly agree the AMOC is weakening because of accelerating Greenland melt-off, but debate persists over how fast this is happening and whether the system could collapse this century.A shutdown would have dire consequences, including much harsher winters in northern Europe and higher sea levels around the North Atlantic.For Holland, there is “huge uncertainty”, but “we know for sure that increasing greenhouse gases is making these worse outcomes more likely”.”We can still make a difference in terms of the precise impacts and the exact likelihood of AMOC shutdown,” he said.Some scientists have suggested the AMOC’s collapse is already inevitable, but “that is not at the moment the consensus view,” said Inall.”It seems like the AMOC is slowing down, and that’s probably going to continue,” US glaciologist Erin Pettit told AFP.”But exactly how much impact (this) will have is part of what we’re hoping to figure out.”

A leading US science body will launch a major report Thursday on how precisely specific extreme weather events can be tied to climate change, a growing research field underpinning billion-dollar lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry.The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), independent nonprofit institutions operating under an 1863 charter signed by president Abraham Lincoln, will publish “Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts,” their first update on the topic in a decade.”Since 2016, attribution science and applications have rapidly advanced, making this new study a timely assessment of the current scientific understanding and capabilities for extreme event attribution,” NASEM said on its website.Ahead of its publication, Republican lawmakers have sought to cast doubt on the authors’ work — sending, for example, a letter in April to the president of NASEM alleging bias and demanding details on the authors’ professional ties. Separately, Republican Senator Ted Cruz and others have introduced the “Stop Climate Shakedowns Act,” a bill that would block climate damage lawsuits from proceeding in court, in a move critics call a de facto immunity shield for fossil fuel companies. Dozens of such lawsuits are working their way through courts across the country.

In one example, Multnomah County in Oregon is suing fossil fuel giants including BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil for more than $51 billion for pollution that fueled a deadly 2021 heat dome in the Pacific Northwest during which hundreds died.In another, Boulder County and the City of Boulder are suing ExxonMobil and two Sunco entities in a case that will be heard in front of the US Supreme Court this fall.- Rise of rapid analysis -Attribution science seeks to untangle how much human-caused climate change shaped a specific heat wave, storm or flood, and its findings now shape litigation and policy.The field first emerged in the 1990s and gained credibility as the UN’s climate panel incorporated the work into its assessments.

It is now more visible than ever thanks to the rise of rapid analysis studies that can detect the signature of global warming on disasters within days, rather than years.The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says it expects a coordinated campaign to target both the report and its individual authors.”The Academies have released reports on all types of different scientific developments and advances.

I’m not aware of any that have been subject to this level of scrutiny,” Carly Phillips, a senior scientist who works on climate litigation issues for UCS, told AFP.She added that it comes “on the heels of this growing number of attacks on attribution science specifically by the fossil fuel industry and its allies.”According to Politico, the coordinated offensive includes records requests sent to public universities where some panel members work, including the panelists’ internal communications, made by the conservative-tilted opposition research firm Argus Insight.While Republicans in Congress have introduced an immunity bill, President Donald Trump’s administration has sued states pursuing such actions, and sought to kill “Climate Superfund” laws in New York and Vermont that require polluters to pay into a fund used for climate damages.

Generative AI chatbots capable of writing emails and computer code, translating, organising a trip or coming up with gift ideas are now readily available, prompting some to ask whether human brainpower could suffer for lack of use.A simple natural-language prompt is usually enough to draw a useable response from a service like ChatGPT or Claude, with the effects making themselves felt in schools and universities, workplaces from offices to courtrooms and our personal lives.Recent scientific studies suggest there could be harmful consequences to farming out cognitive tasks to AI.They highlight memory, decision-making and critical thinking as particularly at risk.One American-British study of 1,222 people, still under peer review, found that using AI tools to solve arithmetic or reading comprehension exercises improved participants’ performance in the short term, but in the long run diminished their results and their willingness to keep trying when the tools were unavailable.”These findings are particularly concerning because persistence is foundational to skill acquisition and is one of the strongest predictors of long-term learning,” the authors wrote.AI’s ability to conjure up speedy responses to all kinds of questions “removes learning opportunities” from users, said Carnegie Mellon University doctoral student Grace Liu, the article’s main author.”What makes AI particularly concerning is that it’s not a tool designated for one specific kind of activity.

It’s something that can be used across pretty much any intellectual, reasoning, cognitive activity.”The technology’s adaptability to different kinds of problems sets it apart from previous waves of computerised aids.Electronic calculators, for instance, may have helped users solve equations — but left the method and reasoning process in human hands.- Saving energy -One 2025 MIT study went viral for its finding that students using generative AI to write essays displayed less critical thinking capability.Other research has pointed the same way, highlighting what has come to be called “cognitive offloading” — or even “cognitive surrender”.”Human beings have a strong tendency to save energy,” said Johann Chevalere, a researcher in social and cognitive psychology at France’s publicly-funded CNRS institution.”In daily life, we often use strategies that get us to the heart of the matter quicker, without necessarily taking the time to study in depth the information we need to process, as this can be cognitively costly,” he added.Generative AI use could strengthen this tendency, Chevalere said.”If there are activities you never do, the brain — which works by saving energy — won’t go to the trouble of maintaining connections that aren’t being used.”- Encouraging reflection – Under pressure from critics, generative AI developers have begun building so-called “Socratic” functions into their models, which for now remain mostly aimed at students.In this mode, chatbots do not simply provide the answer, instead offering hints and asking questions to stimulate users’ thinking.Examples include the “study mode” built into OpenAI’s ChatGPT, or “guided learning” in Google’s Gemini.US software giant Microsoft told AFP it had built warnings about the risk of mistakes into its Copilot models.The AI also reminds users to check the information it provides, just one of several measures designed to keep them actively and critically engaged with its responses.”The risk of excessive cognitive offloading is real, especially if AI is used to automate tasks that are also valuable for developing skills,” Microsoft said, adding that users have to be trained to use the tools correctly.For now, there is a lack of large-scale, long-term studies to judge the true impact of the new technology on human brains, researchers agreed.Until they are available, “it’s up to us to use AI in a smart way,” Chevalere said.”We’ll adapt to this technological revolution just as we have to the previous ones.”