China is pledging to use 'extraordinary measures' to support the country's bid to become a global leader in artificial intelligence, quantum technology and other cutting-edge technological fields, according to its 15th five-year plan. Many researchers noted an air of confidence in the plan. 'Five years ago, the sentiment of the Chinese science policymakers was still very much like, we don't want to be too far behind the US, we are still doing the catching up,' says Meicen Sun, an information scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 'Now, there is this more palpable sentiment that there's a real chance we can be a true leader,' she says. The government has promised to boost its research and development (R&D) expenditure over the next five years. And the country's science budget is also expected to increase to 426 billion yuan (US$62 billion) this year, a rise of 10% from 2025. The Chinese government now considers science to be as important as other top-level national goals, such as boosting defence, economic growth and the country's international influence, says Stefanie Kam, who researches Chinese politics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore....

How does a person take smart risks' To start, mind the difference between recklessness and bravery, Arthur C. Brooks wrote in 2022. Free soloing a mountain with no climbing experience' Reckless. Confessing your love or going for that job you've always dreamed of' Brave. The intelligent form of risk-taking can add joy to life. But Americans are also up against powerful forces that profit off of the reckless kind. When my colleague McKay Coppins set out to report on the explosive growth of the sports-betting industry, his editors thought that he should experience the phenomenon firsthand. He quickly discovered just how easy it is to fall into the compulsion and delusion of gambling. 'As a society, we are making an enormously risky bet: that we can reap the rewards of a runaway gambling industry without paying any price,' he writes in our April cover story. I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. 'This hornet perched on a sunflower creates a sense of awe in me, ' Jenny R., 67, from Casper, Wyoming, writes....

Geothermal energy, a clean, continuous energy source accessible in many locations, has been slow to catch on. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Romans made extensive use of geothermal energy ' heat from the Earth ' including at the spa complex at present-day Bath, England. Electricity was first produced from geothermal sources in the early 1900s in Italy. In the United States, the Geysers geothermal field in California began generating electricity at scale in 1960, and routinely produces more than 725 megawatts of baseload power today. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), geothermal energy still supplies less than 1 percent of global electricity demand, although countries like Kenya (more than 40 percent of electricity generation) and Iceland (nearly 30 percent of electricity and 90 percent of the heating) have seen widespread adoption. In recent years, technological advances, an influx of private capital, and shifting energy and environmental policies have driven renewed interest in expanding development of geothermal energy. If project costs continue to decline, the IEA predicts that geothermal energy could meet 15 percent of the growth in global electricity demand between 2024 and 2050. Many countries, including the United States, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Turkey, are prioritizing an expansion of geothermal energy as part of their broader energy strategies....

'It's a real validation of all the work behind the scenes,' says Karl Berggren, faculty head of electrical engineering within the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He's looking at the numbers of new enrollees in Course 6-5, Electrical Engineering With Computing, the flagship electrical engineering degree offered by EECS, which was launched last fall. The new major has been embraced by the MIT student community. 'The fact that Course 6-5 is now the third-most selected major among first-year students shows that the department is clearly meeting a growing need for a curriculum that bridges electrical engineering and computing. This growth is coming from students already interested in pursuing a degree in EECS,' says Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT's provost. 'The major was thoughtfully designed to offer a strong foundation in core electrical engineering concepts ' such as circuits, signals, systems, and architecture ' while also providing well-structured specialization tracks that prepare students for the future of the field.'...