This week, a computer beats the best human players in StarCraft II, and a huge study of insects and other arthropods.

In this episode:

00:45 Learning to play

By studying and experimenting, an AI has reached Grandmaster level at the video game Starcraft II.

Research Article: Vinyals et al.; News Article: Google AI beats experienced human players at real-time strategy game StarCraft II

10:08 Research Highlights

A record-breaking lightning bolt, and identifying our grey matter’s favourite tunes

Research Highlight: Here come the lightning ‘megaflashes’; Research Highlight: Why some songs delight the human brain

12:24 Arthropods in decline

Researchers have surveyed how land-use change has affected arthropod diversity.

Research article: Seibold et al.

18:30 News Chat

Young Canadians file a lawsuit against their government, an Alzheimer’s drug gets a second chance, and South Korean efforts to curb a viral epidemic in pigs.

News: Canadian kids sue government over climate change; News: Fresh push for ‘failed’ Alzheimer’s drug; News: South Korea deploys snipers and drones to fend off deadly pig virus

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31 October 2019: An AI masters the video game StarCraft II, and measuring arthropod abundance

Nature Podcast