AI Research
New research prompts rethink on chances of life on Uranus moons
SPLThe planet Uranus and its five biggest moons may not be the dead sterile worlds that scientists have long thought.
Instead, they may have oceans, and the moons may even be capable of supporting life, scientists say.
Much of what we know about them was gathered by Nasa’s Voyager 2 spacecraft which visited nearly 40 years ago.
But a new analysis shows that Voyager’s visit coincided with a powerful solar storm, which led to a misleading idea of what the Uranian system is really like.
Uranus is a beautiful, icy ringed world in the outer reaches of our solar system. It is among the coldest of all the planets. It is also tilted on its side compared to all the other worlds – as if it had been knocked over – making it arguably the weirdest.
We got our first close-up look at it in 1986, when Voyager 2 flew past and sent back sensational pictures of the planet and its five major moons.
But what amazed scientists even more was the data Voyager 2 sent back indicating that the Uranian system was even weirder than they thought.
The measurements from the spacecraft’s instruments indicated that the planets and moons were inactive, unlike the other moons in the outer solar system. They also showed that Uranus’s protective magnetic field was strangely distorted. It was squashed and pushed away from the Sun.
A planet’s magnetic field traps any gases and other material coming off the planet and its moons. These might be from oceans or geological activity. Voyager 2 found none, suggesting that Uranus and its five largest moons were sterile and inactive.
This came as an enormous surprise because it was unlike the solar system’s other planets and their moons.
NASA
NASABut the new analysis has solved the decades-long mystery. It shows that Voyager 2 flew past on a bad day.
The new research shows that just as Voyager 2 flew past Uranus, the Sun was raging, creating a powerful solar wind that might have blown the material away and temporarily distorted the magnetic field.
So, for 40 years we have had an incorrect view of what Uranus and its five largest moons are normally like, according to Dr William Dunn of University College London.
“These results suggest that the Uranian system could be much more exciting than previously thought. There could be moons there that could have the conditions that are necessary for life, they might have oceans below the surface that could be teeming with fish!”.
NASALinda Spilker was a young scientist working on the Voyager programme when the Uranus data came in. She is now still serving as the project scientist for the Voyager missions. She said that she was delighted to hear about the new results, which have been published in the Journal Nature Astronomy.
“The results are fascinating, and I am really excited to see that there is potential for life in the Uranian system,” she told BBC News.
“I’m also so pleased that so much is being done with the Voyager data. It’s amazing that scientists are looking back at the data we collected in 1986 and finding new results and new discoveries”.
Dr Affelia Wibisono of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, who is independent of the research team, described the results as “very exciting”.
“It shows how important it is to look back at old data, because sometimes, hiding behind them is something new to be discovered, which can help us design the next generation of space exploration missions”.
Which is exactly what Nasa is doing, partly as a result of the new research.
It has been nearly 40 years since Voyager 2 last flew past the icy world and its moons. Nasa has plans to launch a new mission, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe, to go back for a closer look in 10 years’ time.
NASAAccording to Nasa’s Dr Jamie Jasinski, whose idea it was to re-examine the Voyager 2 data, the mission will need to take his results into account when designing its instruments and planning the scientific survey.
“Some of the instruments for the future spacecraft are very much being designed with ideas from what we learned from Voyager 2 when it flew past the system when it was experiencing an abnormal event. So we need to rethink how exactly we are going to design the instruments on the new mission so that we can best capture the science we need to make discoveries”.
Nasa’s Uranus probe is expected to arrive by 2045, which is when scientists hope to find out whether these far-flung icy moons, once thought of as being dead worlds, might have the possibility of being home to life.
Artificial intelligence is the skill set that employers increasingly want from future hires. Find out how b-schools are equipping students to use AI
Business students are already seeing AI’s value. More than three-quarters of business schools have already integrated AI into their curricula—from essay writing to personal tutoring, career guidance to soft-skill development.
BusinessBecause hears from current business students about how AI is reshaping the business school learning experience.
The benefits and drawbacks of using AI for essay writing
Many business school students are gaining firsthand experience of using AI to assist their academic work. At Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands, students are required to use AI tools when submitting essays, alongside a log of their interactions.
“I was quite surprised when we were explicitly instructed to use AI for an assignment,” said Lara Harfner, who is studying International Business Administration (IBA) at RSM. “I liked the idea. But at the same time, I wondered what we would be graded on, since it was technically the AI generating the essay.”
Lara decided to approach this task as if she were writing the essay herself. She began by prompting the AI to brainstorm around the topic, research areas using academic studies and build an outline, before asking it to write a full draft.
However, during this process Lara encountered several problems. The AI-generated sources were either non-existent or inappropriate, and the tool had to be explicitly instructed on which concepts to focus on. It tended to be too broad, touching on many ideas without thoroughly analyzing any of them.
“In the end, I felt noticeably less connected to the content,” Lara says. “It didn’t feel like I was the actual author, which made me feel less responsible for the essay, even though it was still my name on the assignment.”
Despite the result sounding more polished, Lara thought she could have produced a better essay on her own with minimal AI support. What’s more, the grades she received on the AI-related assignments were below her usual average. “To me, that shows that AI is a great support tool, but it can’t produce high-quality academic work on its own.”
AI-concerned employers who took part in the Corporate Recruiters Survey echo this finding, stating that they would rather GME graduates use AI as a strategic partner in learning and strategy, than as a source for more and faster content.
How business students use AI as a personal tutor
Daniel Carvalho, a Global Online MBA student, also frequently uses AI in his academic assignments, something encouraged by his professors at Porto Business School (PBS).
However, Daniel treats AI as a personal tutor, asking it to explain complex topics in simple terms and deepen the explanation. On top of this, he uses it for brainstorming ideas, summarizing case studies, drafting presentations and exploring different points of view.
“My MBA experience has shown me how AI, when used thoughtfully, can significantly boost productivity and effectiveness,” he says.
Perhaps one of the most interesting ways Daniel uses AI is by turning course material into a personal podcast. “I convert text-based materials into audio using text-to-speech tools, and create podcast-style recaps to review content in a more conversational and engaging way. This allows me to listen to the materials on the go—in the car or at the gym.”
While studying his financial management course, Daniel even built a custom GPT using course materials. Much like a personal tutor, it would ask him questions about the material, validate his understanding, and explain any questions he got wrong. “This helped reinforce my knowledge so effectively that I was able to correctly answer all multiple-choice questions in the final exam,” he explains.
Similarly, at Villanova School of Business in the US, Master of Science in Business Analytics and AI (MSBAi) students are building personalized AI bots with distinct personalities. Students embed reference materials into the bot which then shape how the bot responds to questions.
“The focus of the program is to apply these analytics and AI skills to improve business results and career outcomes,” says Nathan Coates, MSBAi faculty director at the school. “Employers are increasingly looking for knowledge and skills for leveraging GenAI within business processes. Students in our program learn how AI systems work, what their limitations are, and what they can do better than existing solutions.”
The common limitations of using AI for academic work
Kristiina Esop, who is studying a doctorate in Business Administration and Management at Estonian Business School, agrees that AI in education must always be used critically and with intention. She warns students should always be aware of AI’s limitations.
Kristiina currently uses AI tools to explore different scenarios, synthesize large volumes of information, and detect emerging debates—all of which are essential for her work both academically and professionally.
However, she cautions that AI tools are not 100% accurate. Kristiina once asked ChatGPT to map actors in circular economy governance, and it returned a neat, simplified diagram that ignored important aspects. “That felt like a red flag,” she says. “It reminded me that complexity can’t always be flattened into clean logic. If something feels too easy, too certain—that’s when it is probably time to ask better questions.”
To avoid this problem, Kristiina combines the tools with critical thinking and contextual reading, and connects the findings back to the core questions in her research. “I assess the relevance and depth of the sources carefully,” she says. “AI can widen the lens, but I still need to focus it myself.”
She believes such critical thinking when using AI is essential. “Knowing when to question AI-generated outputs, when to dig deeper, and when to disregard a suggestion entirely is what builds intellectual maturity and decision-making capacity,” she says.
This is also what Wharton management professor Ethan Mollick, author of Co Intelligence: Living and Working with AI and co-director of the Generative AI Lab believes. He says the best way to work with [generative AI] is to treat it like a person. “So you’re in this interesting trap,” he says. “Treat it like a person and you’re 90% of the way there. At the same time, you have to remember you are dealing with a software process.”
Hult International Business School, too, expects its students to use AI in a balanced way, encouraging them to think critically about when and how to use it. For example, Rafael Martínez Quiles, a Master’s in Business Analytics student at Hult, uses AI as a second set of eyes to review his thinking.
“I develop my logic from scratch, then use AI to catch potential issues or suggest improvements,” he explains. “This controlled, feedback-oriented approach strengthens both the final product and my own learning.”
At Hult, students engage with AI to solve complex, real-world challenges as part of the curriculum. “Practical business projects at Hult showed me that AI is only powerful when used with real understanding,” says Rafael. “It doesn’t replace creativity or business acumen, it supports it.”
As vice president of Hult’s AI Society, N-AIble, Rafael has seen this mindset in action. The society’s members explore AI ethically, using it to augment their work, not automate it. “These experiences have made me even more confident and excited about applying AI in the real world,” he says.
The AI learning tools students are using to improve understanding
In other business schools, AI is being used to offer faculty a second pair of hands. Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business has recently introduced an ‘AI Jockey’. Appearing live on a second screen next to the lecturer’s slides, this AI tool acts as a second teacher, providing real-time clarifications, offering alternate examples, challenging assumptions, and deepening explanations.
“Students gain access to instant, tailored explanations that complement the lecture, enhancing understanding and engagement,” says Dr Tom Vinaimont, assistant professor of finance, Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business, who uses the AI jockey in his teaching.
Rather than replacing the instructor, the AI enhances the learning experience by adding an interactive, AI-driven layer to traditional teaching, transforming learning into a more dynamic, responsive experience.
“The AI Jockey model encourages students to think critically about information, question the validity of AI outputs, and build essential AI literacy. It helps students not only keep pace with technological change but also prepares them to lead in an AI-integrated world by co-creating knowledge in real time,” says Dr Vinaimont.
How AI can be used to encourage critical thinking among students
So, if you’re looking to impress potential employers, learning to work with AI while a student is a good place to start. But simply using AI tools isn’t enough. You must think critically, solve problems creatively and be aware of AI’s limitations.
Most of all, you must be adaptable. GMAC’s new AI-powered tool, Advancery, helps you find graduate business programs tailored to your career goals, with AI-readiness in mind.
After all, working with AI is a skill in itself. And in 2025, it is a valuable one.
Although the beginnings of modern artificial intelligence (AI) can be traced
as far back as 1956, modern generative AI, the most famous example of which is
arguably ChatGPT, only began emerging in 2019. For better or worse, the steady
rise of generative AI has increasingly impacted the medical field. At this time, AI has begun to advance in a way that creates
potential liability…
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