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A new chatbot from the guys who brought us DALL-E has caused something of a Twitter storm with its amusing responses to users’ queries.

A recently released AI-powered chatbot called ChatGPT launched this week to a mixture of praise and concern. Developed by OpenAI, the chatbot can teach users various things, like setting up a website, but it has also allegedly proven problematic at the same time.

The chatbot was built from the ground up to be as natural as possible when talking to people in what is called “a conversational style.”

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The future of laser communications looks bright and boundless.

In groundbreaking news, MIT announced on November 30 that engineers at the Lincoln Laboratory had broken the record for the fastest laser link from space with its TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system.

The TBIRD payload, launched into orbit in May 2022, has sent down data at a speed of up to 100 gigabits per second through an optical communication link to a ground receiver in California. The new record is around 1,000 times faster than traditional methods. This means that sending information to and from space will see tremendous improvement with this new technology.

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In a breakthrough study, Japanese researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have engineered the smallest motile life form ever. They introduced seven bacterial proteins into a synthetic bacterium, allowing it to move independently.

The rise of synthetic biology.

The new study is based on the synthetic bacterium called syn-3. The tiny spherical bacteria contain minimal genetic information, allowing them to grow and divide without motility.

The team experimented with syn-3 by introducing seven genes that code for proteins that are likely involved in the swimming motion of Spiroplasma bacteria.

Continue reading “The world’s smallest life form can now move, thanks to genetic engineering” | >

Japanese scientists were able to prove that rare earth elements are made by looking at the spectra of light coming from neutron stars that were colliding.

For the first time, Japanese scientists have found evidence that rare earth elements are indeed made when two neutron stars merge. The Astrophysical Journal just published the specifics of the scientists’ discoveries.

The first verified incidence of this process, GW 170,817, occurred in 2017.

University of Warwick/Mark Garlick/Wikimedia Commons.

Continue reading “Rare earth elements are created during neutron star mergers, study confirms” | >

Antibiotics are not enough in the war against pathogens.

Every year more than 40 million people in the U.S. suffer from foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, and various other types of pathogens. Food contamination is often underestimated, but it is responsible for 420,000 deaths annually. This number represents more people than the entire population of Iceland.

Urfinguss/iStock.

After being produced on a farm, food passes through a lot of channels before it makes it to our platter. Preventing it from contamination is almost impossible. However, a team of researchers from McMaster University in Ontario has figured out a way to free food from disease-causing bacteria before it goes into your stomach, according to a press release.

Continue reading “Spraying an army of bacteria-eating viruses can save us from food poisoning” | >

This treatment could benefit people with conditions like ADHD.

A collaborative study between scientists from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and Beijing Normal University in China has shown that non-invasive light therapy could be used to improve short-term or working memory by around ten percent.

Using electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring.

BSIP/Getty Images.

Continue reading “Laser light therapy could be the key to improving short-term memory” | >

The discovery was made through a fatal bacteria named Group A Streptococcus.

Australian researchers have recently discovered a previously unknown mechanism used by bacteria to resist antibiotic treatment. According to a press release published by Telethon Kids Institute, it’s predicted that this antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will kill ten million people annually by 2050.

Manjurul/iStock.

Continue reading “Researchers discover never-before-seen mechanism bacteria use to resist antibiotic treatment” | >

Two weeks ago, COVID-19 conspiracy theorist Stew Peters released an antivax pseudodocumentary, Died Suddenly, whose main claim is that COVID-19 vaccines cause clots that have caused a massive wave of people to “die suddenly.” Key to its narrative are embalmers claiming that they are seeing more clots in the bodies they are embalming than ever before. SBM has recruited Benjamin Schmidt, an experienced embalmer, to dissect their claims.

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