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It’s international dawn chorus day tomorrow, and all week we’ve been exploring the world of birdsong to celebrate. As part of a series, we asked a group of experts to tell us which bird they think is musically superior to all others. They’ve decided to argue for the song thrush, the robin, the great tit and the chaffinch. Once you’ve heard their arguments, you can vote on which you think is best.
Read the rest of the series to find out why the dawn chorus sounds different depending on where you are – and how we know that birds have accents.
Today marks two weeks and six days since I went to the Michaelina Wautier exhibition at the Royal Academy and absolutely lost my marbles over her paintings. I got physically stuck looking at her self-portrait, unable to tear myself away. Soon after, I was found jibbering with a random woman in a corner while her husband looked on in confusion. “Why didn’t we know about this person!? Look at the fabrics! The perspective! What…is this?!” we, two people who had never met before, exclaimed at each other in a state of delirium. Wautier was a 17th-century painter of extraordinary ability who had success in her lifetime but was then mysteriously forgotten to the world for several centuries. The show now on in London is a revelation. Our reviewer Gabriele Neher didn’t form a mad alliance with a total stranger but she nevertheless emerged from the show just as mind blown as I had been.
I’ll be asking the table tennis enthusiasts in my life whether they’re excited or appalled by the news that a robot called Ace is now so good with a paddle that it can beat elite players. Ace’s arrival on the ping pong scene is a landmark moment for artificial intelligence because it can match human excellence in a highly physical sport. Until now, AI has only been able to outwit humans in the controlled environments of games like Go. The story of how Ace’s creators did it is fascinating.
Next week, voters in parts of England will choose new councils and those in Scotland and Wales will elect new parliaments. We’ve looked at why immigration has become such a big topic in the Holyrood race, even though it is not a devolved issue. And we’ve considered what Reform and the Greens are promising to do for the Welsh countryside if elected to the Senedd.
Also this week, King Charles subtly chides the Trump administration in his speech to Congress, The Devil Wears Prada returns, and Gulf states consider their options beyond the Strait of
Hormuz.
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