Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING has long been a money-printing operation, with many big publishing houses reporting profit margins of between 30% and 40% year after year. The long-standing business model is watertight. Articles, which are written and reviewed by academics, are locked behind paywalls. Universities and research institutions then pay through the nose for access to them via subscriptions that cost millions of dollars a year.
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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Paper trails”
From the November 23rd 2024 edition
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AI models are helping dirty industries go green
Mining companies and steelmakers are feeling the benefits
Could data centres ever be built in orbit?
A startup called Starcloud has plans to do just that
The tricky task of calculating AI’s energy use
Making models less thirsty may not lessen their environmental impact
AI models can help generate cleaner power
Energy companies are using them to increase efficiency and spot problems
Researchers lift the lid on how reasoning models actually “think”
They plan sentences far in advance. They also bullshit themselves when reasoning out loud
How Daylight Saving Time affects your sleep and diet
This annual time shift has long-lasting effects on health