Maike Martina Heinrich

Does AI Have Prejudices?

Why GPT Thought I Don’t Like Classical Music Who likes being put into a box? That happened to me recently from an unexpected source while I was planning a trip to Rome. The AI’s suggestions on what I should definitely see were excellent. And then it said:“Even if you are not fans of opera or…

How AI Predicts Crime

And Why It’s No Longer Science Fiction Predicting crimes before they happen? For many, this immediately evokes the early-2000s film Minority Report. In the movie, so-called “precogs” foresee who will commit a crime next, allowing the police to intervene just in time. The story is set in the 2050s, yet even today machine-learning algorithms and…

Is Climate Change Real?

And Is It Really Man-Made? Few topics divide public debate as sharply as climate change. Some warn of a global catastrophe, while others dismiss the issue as exaggerated or even as a political invention. Between headlines, social media posts, and heated talk shows, it’s not always easy to tell fact from opinion. So whom can…

Mathematics of Love

Why dating apps promise matches but sell subscriptions The logic of the swipe It begins with a small gesture. A swipe to the right, and somewhere out there someone might do the same. That moment, that tiny click, has become a symbol of our modern longing: the hope that an algorithm knows what our heart…

How Close Are We to the Warp Core?

Star Trek and the Real Quest for Clean Fusion Energy “Deuterium injection active – plasma flow stable!” – If that line immediately conjures up the image of a vertically mounted warp core glowing with blue plasma gas in the engineering section of an Intrepid-class starship, congrats, you’re a nerd. In the Star Trek universe, it’s…

Where Does Happiness Come From?

Which factors shape how satisfied we are with our lives Some people are more satisfied with their overall life situation than others. This becomes clear in data from the European Social Survey (ESS), which has been regularly collecting information across Europe for more than twenty years, on people’s lives, health, and attitudes. But how can…

I Descend from Everyone Who Lived 700 Years Ago

Fun with Numbers from the Daily Life of a Hobby Genealogist The other day I was sitting in front of my family tree thinking: things are starting to get out of hand. I’ve managed to trace two of my ancestral lines back to the 11th and 13th centuries, respectively, and I haven’t been able to…

A Gigantic Waterfall in the Ocean

Mighty natural wonders – the world’s largest waterfalls – and why the most spectacular one isn’t really a waterfall at all A waterfall beneath the sea? Yes, it actually exists. And it’s the largest waterfall on Earth. Yet what looks from above as if the Indian Ocean is pouring into a dark abyss is, in…

Author: Maike Martina Heinrich