AI Researchers Secretly Used Reddit to Test Chatbot Persuasion

In a covert experiment now sparking legal threats, researchers from the University of Zurich deployed artificial intelligence (AI) bots to test how effectively they could sway opinions on Reddit — all without user consent. The bots infiltrated the subreddit r/ChangeMyView, which has nearly four million members and exists to facilitate civil debates on controversial topics. […]

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New Study Challenges Signs of Life on Exoplanet K2-18b

Expectations were high at the start of this month when a group of University of Cambridge astronomers reported they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life on an exoplanet called K2-18b. Their assertions sprang from the detection of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a gas linked to biological activity in the atmosphere of Earth. Conducted using […]

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The Universe’s Brightest Lights Have Surprisingly Dark and Mysterious Origins

Some of the brightest lights in the universe shine from some of its darkest corners — so-called supermassive black holes. Invisible to the human eye, these high-energy powerhouses light up the cosmos with emissions that are detected by space telescopes. Thousands of such light sources have been discovered with NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been observing […]

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Researchers Challenge Claims of ‘Leather-Like’ T. rex Skin

A US-based marketing agency, VML, and biotechnology firms The Organoid Company from the Netherlands and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd of UK are partnering to create luxury fashion accessories using T-rex leather. The collaboration claims that the lab-grown T-rex leather will offer natural durability, repairability, and tactility, making it an eco-friendly and cruelty-free alternative to traditional leather. […]

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