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Writer Fuel: Researchers Let ChatGPT Operate a “Spaceship – Gee, Where Have We Heard This Plot Before?

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2001 Space Odyssey HAL

“You operate as an autonomous agent controlling a pursuit spacecraft.” This is the first prompt researchers used to see how well ChatGPT could pilot a spacecraft. To their amazement, the large language model (LLM) performed admirably, coming in second place in an autonomous spacecraft simulation competition. Researchers have long been interested in developing autonomous systems … Read more

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Writer Fuel: How Will Using AI for Everything Change Our Brains?

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Artificial Intelligence - Deposit Photos

Artificial intelligence (AI) began as a quest to simulate the human brain. Is it now in the process of transforming the human brain’s role in daily life? The Industrial Revolution diminished the need for manual labor. As someone who researches the application of AI in international business, I can’t help but wonder whether it is … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Researchers Create Stunning Reonstruction of Stone Age Woman

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stone-age woman reconstruction

Researchers and artists have created a striking facial reconstruction of a Stone Age woman who lived roughly 10,500 years ago in what is now Belgium. The detailed depiction of the prehistoric hunter-gatherer, known as the “Margaux woman,” is based on various scientific data, including the remains of her skeleton and ancient DNA, according to a … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Mars Shows off New Colors

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Mars Colors

Despite being known as the Red Planet, Mars shows off its swirling yellows, oranges and browns in a new satellite photo from the European Space Agency (ESA). The Earth-toned surface also reveals an impact crater and four sneaky dust devils making their way across the region. The Rothko-like image was taken by a high-resolution camera … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Matriarchy Thrived In Turkey 9,000 Years Ago

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A female figurine found at Çatalhöyük in Turkey. (Image credit: Jason Quinlan)

Ancient DNA from Stone Age burials in Turkey has finally put to rest a decades-long debate about whether the 9,000-year-old proto-city of Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal society. The research finally confirms what experts have long suspected: Women and girls were key figures in this agricultural society. “With Çatalhöyük, we now have the oldest genetically-inferred social … Read more

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Writer Fuel: New “Living Material” Could Help Suck CO2 Out of the Atmosphere

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algae material

Scientists in Switzerland have created a new “living” material that contains blue-green algae and could one day be used in buildings to fight climate change, they say. Thanks to the blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, the new material is photosynthetic. This means it can chemically convert carbon dioxide (CO2), sunlight and water into oxygen and sugars, … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s First Image Includes 10 Million Galaxies. And There are BILLIONS More

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A piece of the Rubin Observatory's view of the Virgo Cluster featuring spiral galaxies and merging galaxies. (Image credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)

After decades of preparation, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory released its first images to the world in a live stream on Monday (June 23). The photos, taken by the world’s largest digital camera, are highly-detailed and show relatively large areas of the sky. In a televised news conference, scientists from the observatory revealed new details … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Some Industrial Waste Is Quickly Turning Into Rock

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industrial waste slag - deposit photos

Industrial waste can turn into rock in as little as 35 years, new research reveals, instead of the thousands or millions of years previously assumed. The finding challenges what scientists know about rock formation, revealing an entirely new “anthropoclastic rock cycle.” The scientists found that waste from seaside industrial plants turns into rock especially rapidly … Read more

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Writer Fuel: A Supernova Could Trigger Life-Threatening Changes to Our Climate

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supernova - deposit photos

New research suggests that the explosive death throes of massive stars, known as supernovas, may have had dramatic effects on our planet’s climate over its distant history. Investigating historic incidents of these events could help scientists predict similar events in the future and prepare for them. Supernovas occur when stars that are much more massive … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Scientists Finally Discover Origin of Little Glass Beads From the Moon

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lunar glass beads - NASA

When Apollo astronauts first set foot on the lunar surface, they expected to find grey rocks and dust. What they didn’t anticipate was discovering something that looked almost magical: tiny, brilliant orange glass beads scattered across the Moon’s landscape like microscopic gems. These beads, each smaller than a grain of sand, are actually ancient time … Read more