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Could robots be the future of theme parks?

BBC News

Could robots be the future of theme parks? To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Could robots be the future of theme parks? This is Galway Robot Park, a 16,500-square-meter venue that's opened near Seoul in South Korea . The company behind the park says their aim is to bring artificial intelligence and robotics into the world of entertainment.


American Psychological Association weighs in on classroom screen time: Quality or quantity?

Mashable

Look Up Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Say More Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List All Series American Psychological Association weighs in on classroom screen time: Quality or quantity? The organization doesn't want to ban screens, but still warns of their harm. Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. Expert child psychologists urge caution around new and flashy educational technology. Classroom technology is the focus of a new report from the American Psychological Association (APA), which argues we should be focusing less on bans and more on the specific harms of flashy new tech.


OpenAI officially launches GPT-6 Astra, a boundary-breaking new model

Mashable

Look Up Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Say More Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List All Series The newest AI model from OpenAI is the first to reach the company's highest threat level. Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men's grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he's also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl.


Dyson introduces a new straightener and first-ever dedicated dryer brush

Mashable

Look Up Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Creator Playbook Say More Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List All Series Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.


OpenAI says GPT-6 Astra is 'the most intelligent and aligned model in the world'

Engadget

A little under two months after releasing its last major model family to the public, GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna, OpenAI is back with an entirely new one: GPT-6 Astra, what it claims is "the most intelligent and aligned model in the world." Following the company's decision to slow frontier model development in August after one of its models hacked AI platform Hugging Face, it may also be the last major AI model it releases for a while. A flashy demo video the company released alongside the launch shows Astra handling everything from 3D modeling to building slideshows, and often taking care of multiple tasks across different domains at the same time (like ordering food while coding a game). Key to Astra's appeal is its ability to handle these multi-step workflows on your computer and in and out of your browser. It's also allegedly able to do those complex tasks with "strong visual judgment," OpenAI says, and without drifting from its original directions or prompt.


AI tools that take notes for GPs could miss vital information, study suggests

BBC News

AI tools that are used to take medical notes from patients could miss vital information and lead to medical staff being deskilled, according to new research. The tools, called ambient AI scribes, are used by about 40% of GPs in the UK. The scribes listen to conversations between doctors and patients and convert the speech to text, generating written notes and letters. Academics at University of Edinburgh reviewed cases involving the scribes and found the tech had some positives, such as allowing clinicians to focus on complex tasks. However, they also said patients could be less forthcoming if they knew they were being recorded and found instances where doctors did not recognise their notes.


Transplanted Pig Kidney Still Working After a Record-Setting 9 Months in a Patient

WIRED

Gene-edited pig kidneys could offer a lifeline to patients stuck waiting for a human donor. A woman has lived with a pig kidney for more than nine months without needing dialysis, a record-setting achievement. The woman underwent the operation at Massachusetts General Hospital on November 22 last year. As of Thursday, the kidney has been functioning for 285 days, according to Cambridge, Massachusetts-based eGenesis, the biotech company that used Crispr gene editing to make the organ fit for human transplantation. Previously, the record for a person living with a transplanted pig kidney was 271 days, set by Tim Andrews. Most people in need of a kidney transplant wait three to five years on average to receive one, though it can take longer depending on blood type and other factors.


Lost in the algorithm: Hikers stranded on Mt. Shasta after following Gemini AI's plan

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Lost in the algorithm: Hikers stranded on Mt. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team assisted U.S. Forest Service climbing rangers on Mt. Shasta yesterday, when three novice hikers became stranded on the Clear Creek Route. This is read by an automated voice.


Sadiq Khan agrees to have his texts and emails searched in Palantir legal battle

The Guardian

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May 2026. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May 2026. Sadiq Khan has agreed for his text messages and emails to be searched as part of a legal battle with Palantir, the high court has been told, after he prevented the US technology company from working with the Metropolitan police . The London mayor stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May, with the artificial intelligence developer suing Khan's office over the decision. Legal representatives for the mayor said they "did not originally consider it necessary" for Khan to be among those to have their communications searched before next year's court case.


Ugreen's new smart home ecosystem is built around local AI hubs

Engadget

Ugreen is stepping into the local AI market today with the launch of its smart home product lineup. At the center of that lineup are HomeAgent and MasterAgent, local AI-powered smart home hubs based on ARM architectures. Alongside three different home hubs with AI systems-on-chip, the company unveiled indoor and outdoor security cameras, a smart picture frame and a smart speaker at a Gillette Stadium launch event in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The goal is to provide smart features similar to those offered by products from Amazon and Google, but without sending sensitive user data to the cloud. An "AIoT" line represents uncharted territory for Ugreen, best known for products including fast chargers, USB cables and network attached storage (NAS) devices, but the company is differentiating itself with a privacy-forward approach.