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Google on Wednesday infused its Bard chatbot with a new-generation artificial intelligence model called Gemini, which it touts as being able to reason better than ChatGPT and other rivals.

The search engine juggernaut is aiming to take the generative AI lead from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI as that company deals with the aftermath of a boardroom coup that saw chief executive Sam Altman fired and then rehired within a matter of days.

Google has for years discreetly developed AI powers but was caught off guard when OpenAI late last year released ChatGPT and teamed up with Microsoft to make its capabilities available to users worldwide.

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered how Lactobacillus, a bacterium found in fermented foods and yogurt, helps the body manage stress and may help prevent depression and anxiety.

The findings open the door to new therapies to treat anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions.

UVA researcher Alban Gaultier and collaborators say the discovery is notable because it pinpoints the role of Lactobacillus, separating it out from all the other microorganisms that naturally live in and on our bodies.

A common truism among statisticians is that “the data don’t lie.” However, recent findings by Italian researchers may make those who study data think twice before making such assumptions.

Giuseppe Giannaccare, an eye surgeon at the University of Cagliari in Italy, reports that ChatGPT has conjured reams of persuasive phony data to support one surgical eye procedure over another.

“GPT-4 created a fake dataset of hundreds of patients in a matter of minutes,” Giannaccare said. “This was a surprising—yet frightening—experience.”

The young man quickly replied, “Aliens will never invade Earth because it’s trash.”

“Total trash,” his sister confirmed.

They seemed as sure of that as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West. To them, our planet has become nothing more than a cosmic landfill in our galaxy, populated with the worst that humanity can offer. Aliens, they assured me, would no more come here than we would jump into a vat of raw sewage.