Author: mholler

As Pope Leo XIV laid out his vision for the papacy in his inaugural address to the College of Cardinals, he also revealed why he chose the name “Leo”—and artificial intelligence played a central role. “I chose to take the name Leo XIV,” he said, “mainly because Pope Leo XIII, in his historic Encyclical Rerum…

A Great Gift From God Habemus Papam! We have a pope! The papal election, which the Church and the world have been watching with bated breath, has been concluded, and the seat is no longer vacant. Pope Leo XIV greeted his flock for the first time yesterday afternoon, and the thousands of Catholics in Saint Peter’s Square received…

A scientific breakthrough was made this week in the information storage field with the invention of a new complex material. Composed of zinc telluride, a semiconductor, and ethylenediamine, an organic compound, the material could be used to produce advanced versions of “phase change memory systems” (PCM), information storage devices that use a substance’s atomic structure to…

More than 20 humanoid robots ran a half-marathon this week, competing against not only each other, but also human participants. While the robots were defeated, the event has been advertised as evidence of great progress in robotics technology, and a stepping stone for future advancements. The event was hosted in Beijing, China, and was billed as the…

Born in 1638, Nicolas Steno was first a scientist, and then a convert, and finally a priest. In 1988, he was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II. Steno’s accomplishments are numerous, from the foundation of the sciences of stratigraphy and geology to his Counter-Reformation evangelization among the Protestant friends of his youth.  Blessed Nicolas…

Controversy overtook the world of science this week when biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences claimed to have successfully “de-extincted” the dire wolf, a prehistoric species of canine that has been extinct for over 10,000 years. While the company did in fact produce two wolves with many features similar to the ancient animal, scientists outside the company have argued that…

A new genetic therapy for a rare, but serious, disease was just tested. External DNA was introduced into mice afflicted with genetically caused movement problems in an attempt to treat the underlying cause and reverse symptoms. The treatment was highly effective, and shows great promise in treating the disease even after symptom onset. The disease being…