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2AGP4K2 FBI Laboratory analysis of Castor Beans used to manufacture the highly poisonous agent Ricin. Ricin (/'ra?s?n/ RY-sin), a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a highly potent toxin. A dose of purified ricin powder the size of a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight if the exposure is from injection or inhalation (2 milligrams for an average adult).

Technology

Should we worry AI will create deadly bioweapons? Not yet, but one day

AI tools are being used to design proteins and even viruses, leading to fears these could eventually be used to evade bioweapon controls

Analysis

Los Angeles - CIRCA 1985: Author William Gibson poses for a portrait circa 1985 in Oakland, California (Photo by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)

Technology

Is Neuromancer's cyberpunk dystopia still thrilling in 2025?

Culture

Atlantic bottlenose dolphin

Life

We will soon be able to talk with other species. Which will be first?

Features

Cyclists and commuters make their ways home in evening sunshine at the junction of Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill in the City of London, aka the Square Mile - the capital's financial district, on 4th April 2023, in London, England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Technology

I'm a cyclist. Will the arrival of robotaxis make my journeys safer?

Comment

Technology

NASA and IBM built an AI to predict solar flares before they hit Earth

News

Someone with paralysis using the brain-computer interface. The text above is the cued sentence and the text below is what is being decoded in real-time as she imagines speaking the sentence

Mind

Mind-reading AI can turn even imagined speech into spoken words

News

How AI poisoning is fighting bots that hoover data without permission

Technology

How AI poisoning is fighting bots that hoover data without permission

Features

Chemistry

Super-sticky hydrogel is 10 times stronger than other glues underwater

News

Technology

'Universal' detector spots AI deepfake videos with record accuracy

News

RC9MHB Rome, Italy, 05/06/2018: a street artist simulates an invisible man on the pedestrian area along tevere castello near castel sant'angelo.

Technology

How invisibility cloaks could make us disappear – at least from AI

In this latest instalment of Future Chronicles, an imagined history of future inventions, Rowan Hooper reveals how invisibility cloaks could become mainstream

Comment

Technology

Why Trump's order targeting 'woke' AI may be impossible to follow

Analysis

Humans

AI helps reconstruct damaged Latin inscriptions from the Roman Empire

News

Environment

AI demand could drive up US electricity bills – even if it fizzles

News

Technology

Billions of phones can detect and warn about nearby earthquakes

News