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Writer Fuel: Scientists Build Supercomputing Network to Foster Artificial Intelligence. What Could Go Wrong?

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Researchers plan to accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) with a worldwide network of extremely powerful computers — starting with a new supercomputer that came online in September. Artificial intelligence (AI) spans technologies including machine learning and generative AI systems like GPT-4. The latter offer predictive reasoning based on training from a large … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Are Tiny Wormholes Driving the Expansion of the Universe?

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Microscopic wormholes may be driving the accelerated expansion of the universe, scientists say. These tiny wormholes are constantly being born from the vacuum of space due to subtle quantum effects. If confirmed through experiments and observations, the wormholes could become a valuable source of information on quantum gravity — a theoretical unification of the fundamental … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Jupiter Like You’ve Never Seen It Before

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Jupiter - Juno - NASA

Vivid clouds swirl across Jupiter’s skies like colorful brushstrokes across a painting in a new photo from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image, taken during the spacecraft’s 61st close flyby of Jupiter on May 12, 2024, hones in on activity in the planet’s northern hemisphere. Juno was approximately 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Chinese Rover Finds Water Molecules on the Moon

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Scientists in China have discovered water molecules trapped in lunar rocks, upending past assumptions that the moon’s surface is dry. The rock samples, collected from the moon’s surface and brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020, contain crystals filled with “hydrated molecules,” according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Samples brought … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Strawberries Aren’t Fruit… Their “Seeds” Are

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Wild strawberries are deliciously sweet snacks, as long as you don’t mind their gritty little seeds. But why are these “seeds” on the outside, given that the seeds of many fruits — like apples, oranges, kiwis and mangos — are on the inside? It’s actually a trick question, said Aaron Liston, professor and herbarium director … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Sending “Touch” Over the Internet Could Soon Be Easy

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The next evolution of the internet could involve digitally transmitting the sense of touch, which may transform remote surgery and usher in a whole new era of online gaming. Researchers have developed a “Haptic Codecs for the Tactile Internet” (HCTI) standard that allows haptic information to be sent both ways across a network via data … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Could Lab-Grown Brains Achieve Consciousness?

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man holding a glowing human brain - deposit photos

Brain organoids are 3D, lab-grown models designed to mimic the human brain. Scientists normally grow them from stem cells, coaxing them into forming a brain-like structure. In the past decade, they have become increasingly sophisticated and can now replicate multiple types of brain cells, which can communicate with one another. This has led some scientists … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Is It Time to Redefine What Makes a “Planet,” Again?

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Astronomers are proposing a new definition of a planet, nearly two decades after a previous such change led to Pluto’s demotion. The new definition would add measurable criteria, including considerations of the planet’s mass — and it would still leave Pluto with its dwarf planet status. Currently, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines a planet … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Magic Mushrooms Temporarily ‘Dissolve’ Network Responsible for Sense of Self

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Psilocybin, the compound that makes magic mushrooms trippy, works its magic by desynchronizing the brain network responsible for a person’s sense of self, new research finds. Psilocybin warps people’s sense of time and space, as well as shifts their feelings of connection to the world around them. While most of these subjective effects wane pretty … Read more

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Writer Fuel: What if a Black Hole Wandered Into the Solar System?

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runaway black hole

Black holes are massive, mostly invisible and so powerful not even light can escape them. So what would happen if one entered our solar system? It depends on a lot of factors, including the size and distance of the black hole, experts told Live Science. But in many scenarios, not much would happen.”They’re not, per … Read more