Industry
Man builds 12-foot-long sailboat with materials from hardware store
The Kentucky-based builder shows how carpentry and a spark of creativity can go a long way. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. PSA: Basic sailing technique and safety precautions are needed for safe homemade ships. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It traditionally takes years of training and apprenticeship before shipbuilders truly master the art of handcrafting wooden vessels .
ChatGPT developed a goblin obsession after OpenAI tried to make it nerdy
Following the release of GPT-5.5 last week, people noticed something funny about OpenAI's latest model. In its Codex coding app, the company left a system prompt instructing GPT 5.5 to avoid mention of goblins, gremlins and other creatures. Yes, you read that right. Never talk about goblins, gremlins, racoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query, the prompt reads. Apparently, enough people started talking about ChatGPT's creature obsession that OpenAI felt the need to provide an accounting of where the goblins came from .
Google is quietly moving toward ads in Gemini
PCWorld reports that Google is exploring adding advertisements to its Gemini AI app, following OpenAI's implementation of sponsored ads in ChatGPT's free and budget plans. Google's business chief Philipp Schindler views ads as potentially valuable commercial information if properly integrated, while the company has already tested ads in AI Mode and AI Overviews. This move could make AI services more accessible but raises important concerns about maintaining transparency and ensuring ads don't influence AI responses. Putting ads in AI replies is a controversial but lucrative practice, and it's one that OpenAI has already embraced with its free and budget-priced ChatGPT plans. But while Google hasn't gone there yet with Gemini, company execs admitted they're mulling the idea.
Nervous humans are GM's secret weapon for self-driving cars
Technology AI Nervous humans are GM's secret weapon for self-driving cars Put on your sensor suit and get ready to stress out. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Cadillac's EV series is put through its paces in the lab and on the road. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Blue skies and fluffy clouds surround me.
fMRI predictors based on language models of increasing complexity recover brain left lateralization
Over the past decade, studies of naturalistic language processing where participants are scanned while listening to continuous text have flourished. Using word embeddings at first, then large language models, researchers have created encoding models to analyze the brain signals. Presenting these models with the same text as the participants allows to identify brain areas where there is a significant correlation between the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series and the ones predicted by the models' artificial neurons. One intriguing finding from these studies is that they have revealed highly symmetric bilateral activation patterns, somewhat at odds with the well-known left lateralization of language processing. Here, we report analyses of an fMRI dataset where we manipulate the complexity of large language models, testing 28 pretrained models from 8 different families, ranging from 124M to 14.2B parameters. First, we observe that the performance of models in predicting brain responses follows a scaling law, where the fit with brain activity increases linearly with the logarithm of the number of parameters of the model (and its performance on natural language processing tasks). Second, although this effect is present in both hemispheres, it is stronger in the left than in the right hemisphere. Specifically, the left-right difference in brain correlation follows a scaling law with the number of parameters. This finding reconciles computational analyses of brain activity using large language models with the classic observation from aphasic patients showing left hemisphere dominance for language.
Fat Bear Week champion Chunk spotted taking a stroll in Alaska
Weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds, the dominant brown bear clinched the 2025 crown. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Maintenance workers at Katmai National Park in Alaska spotted 2025 Fat Bear Week champion Chunk. In a video shared by Katmai Conservancy, National Park Service (NPS) maintenance crews spotted the roughly large adult male brown bear () walking along on a patch of ice in the park.
ChatGPT has a 'goblin' obsession. Now we know why
PCWorld reports that OpenAI's GPT models, including GPT-5.5, developed an unusual obsession with mentioning goblins and similar creatures in responses. This quirky behavior stemmed from a "Nerdy" personality instruction encouraging playful language use, which became reinforced through AI training processes. The goblin references became so prevalent that OpenAI implemented a direct ban in its Codex app, illustrating the unpredictable nature of large language model training. I've seen some odd AI system instructions in my day, but this one takes the cake: a prompt in OpenAI's Codex command-line app that demands models "never talk about goblins, gremlins, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures."
Was Israeli PM's Lebanon destruction video a snub to Trump?
Why is Israel still in southern Lebanon? A war to shape Lebanon's future Was Israeli PM's Lebanon destruction video a snub to Trump? NewsFeed Was Israeli PM's Lebanon destruction video a snub to Trump? Hours after US President Donald Trump asked Benjamin Netanyahu to stop destroying buildings in Lebanon as it "makes Israel look bad", the Israeli prime minister published a montage of forces blowing up infrastructure across southern Lebanon.