What will the year ahead look like when it comes to artificial intelligence? My colleague Eric Smalley assembled a panel of three AI experts to walk readers through what to look for in 2024. Casey Fiesler from CU Boulder says that if last year was all about AI hype, this year could be about learning more − and teaching students more − about how it all works, helping people use AI more responsibly and effectively. University of Michigan’s Kentaro Toyama yearns for stronger regulation of AI to help rein in the technologists who are “like arsonists calling in the blaze they stoked themselves, begging the authorities to restrain them.” And Anjana Susarla from Michigan State predicts we’ll see ever more uses − both helpful and malicious − for the large language models that are the foundation for generative AI apps like ChatGPT. Buckle up.

If thinking about AI leaves you in need of a lush, green, natural moment, visit the coast redwood trees of the Pacific Northwest, as described by Caltech environmental historian Daniel Lewis. “Life is folded in and among the redwoods, below and within and about them,” he writes. Consider the salamanders and aquatic crustaceans that live their whole lives in the redwood canopy, the giant condors that nest in these branches, the other species of trees that take root on the redwoods themselves. Climate change threatens this unique ecosystem, but redwoods have tactics to respond to environmental change.

And as the festive season draws to a close, maybe you’re thinking about cutting down on your drinking. Nonalcoholic beer could be part of your strategy. I always wondered just how brewers did away with the alcohol in beer. Clark Da​nderson, director of brewing science and operations at Auburn University, explains how beer can be made with less alcohol and the techniques that can remove what alcohol there is. “Many recent technological advances in production help nonalcoholic beer maintain fermentation characteristics derived from the malts, hops and yeast,” he writes, “thus providing a more balanced and pleasant product that tastes like ‘real’ beer.” Cheers!

Also in recent science news:

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Maggie Villiger

Senior Science + Technology Editor
AI has arrived. How will it change society in the year ahead? Pavel_Chag/iStock via Getty Images

AI is here – and everywhere: 3 AI researchers look to the challenges ahead in 2024

Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University; Casey Fiesler, University of Colorado Boulder; Kentaro Toyama, University of Michigan

Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and the tech industry is racing along to develop ever more powerful AIs. Three scholars look ahead to the next chapter in this technological revolution.
Looking up toward redwoods’ crowns in Redwood Regional Park, Oakland, Calif. Gado/Getty Images

Coast redwood trees are enduring, adaptable marvels in a warming world

Daniel Lewis, California Institute of Technology

Redwoods grow in networks that house unique communities of plants and animals high in the air. They offer life lessons about adapting over time.
Brewers today are delivering nonalcoholic beers that are a far cry from the sweet, watery options of the past. Pramote Polyamate/Moment via Getty Images

Nonalcoholic beer: New techniques craft flavorful brews without the buzz

Clark Da​nderson, Auburn University

Nonalcoholic beer may sound like an oxymoron, but newer techniques are producing tasty, high-quality options in this growing beverage category.

Racism produces subtle brain changes that lead to increased disease risk in Black populations

Negar Fani, Emory University; Nathaniel Harnett, Harvard Medical School

Racial threats and slights take a toll on health, but the continual invalidation and questioning of whether those so-called microaggressions exist has an even more insidious effect, research shows.

Mutton, an Indigenous woolly dog, died in 1859 − new analysis confirms precolonial lineage of this extinct breed, once kept for their wool

Audrey T. Lin, Smithsonian Institution; Chris Stantis, University of Utah; Logan Kistler, Smithsonian Institution

Dogs have lived with Indigenous Americans since before they came to the continent together 10,000 years ago. A new analysis reveals the lineage of one 1800s ‘woolly dog’ from the Pacific Northwest.

How to provide reliable water in a warming world – these cities are testing small-scale treatment systems and wastewater recycling

Lu Liu, Iowa State University

Water shortages are one of the greatest problems created by a warming world. A decentralized water system is a compelling counterargument to the notion that bigger is better.

Digital inaccessibility: Blind and low-vision people have powerful technology but still face barriers to the digital world

Michele McDonnall, Mississippi State University

Assistive technology like screen readers for the blind help people with disabilities use computers and smartphones, but they can be tripped up if webpages or documents are improperly formatted.

CRISPR and other new technologies open doors for drug development, but which diseases get prioritized? It comes down to money and science

C. Michael White, University of Connecticut

Drug development takes a great deal of time, money and effort. While future profits play a big factor in which diseases gets prioritized, advocacy and research incentives can also tilt the scale.

Citizen science projects tend to attract white, affluent, well-educated volunteers − here’s how we recruited a more diverse group to identify lead pipes in homes

Danielle Lin Hunter, North Carolina State University; Caren Cooper, North Carolina State University; Valerie Ann Johnson, Shaw University

For a project on identifying lead water pipes in homes, outreach through partner groups produced a more representative set of volunteers.