Paradromics is shifting from research to clinical trials. Recently, a neurotech company called Paradromics made headlines by successfully implanting its brain-computer interface (BCI) in a human for the first time. The procedure happened at the University of Michigan during a patient's routine epilepsy surgery. The device was both placed and removed in just about 20 minutes, a quick turnaround for such a complex technology. This achievement is a big deal for Paradromics, which has been working on this brain implant technology for nearly 10 years.

CIO Rom Kosla's summary of the importance of emerging technology to Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) likely resonates with any senior executive: "AI is on our mind." Research suggests Kosla is far from alone. More than three-quarters (78%) of business leaders report their organization uses AI in at least one business function, according to a recent McKinsey study. Kosla told ZDNET that HPE uses third-party applications with built-in AI capabilities and has spent the past 18 months developing an internal chat solution called ChatHPE, a generative AI hub used for internal processes. Here are four ways you can use Kosla's experiences to turn AI into a business advantage.

Relying on ChatGPT significantly affects critical thinking abilities, according to a new study. Researchers from MIT Media Lab, Wellesley College, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design conducted a four-month study titled "Your Brain on ChatGPT" and found users of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's chatbot "consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels." This included the participants' decreased brain activity, a weaker sense of authorship, and inability to remember what they wrote -- which even continued when they weren't allowed to use an LLM. Anyone who uses ChatGPT for writing may have drawn similar conclusions; the point of using LLMs, after all, is to automate the work and outsource the critical thinking effort. But with this MIT study, there's now scientific evidence showing that relying on ChatGPT and other LLMs can impair memory and learning.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. When you think of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), chances are that words like cute or fluffy come to mind--not cryptic or stealthy. And yet, researchers in southeastern Australia have just discovered hundreds of previously undocumented koalas living surprisingly close to the city of Newcastle. The team conducted what they claim to be the largest and most accurate peer-reviewed koala survey to date. As detailed in a study published this month in the journal Biological Conversation, the survey estimates that a population of 4,357 koalas across 166,302 acres of land is living in the state of New South Wales.

But if you regularly turn to ChatGPT, a new study may raise alarm bells. Scientists from MIT Media Lab have warned that using AI could impact your ability to learn, think and remember. In their study, the team measured electrical activity in the brain to track 54 students over several essay-writing sessions. One group used ChatGPT, another used Google, and the last had no external help at all. The results revealed that students who used large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT to write essays showed poorer memory, reduced brain activity and weaker engagement than those who used other methods.

Tens of millions of Americans engage in a taboo habit that scientists have warned could pose risks to cognitive health. A recent study found that regularly viewing pornography can immediately reduce a person's performance on tasks requiring attention and cognitive control right after exposure to explicit content. Impaired executive function and reduced cognitive performance are known early markers of cognitive decline, a precursor to dementia. Research has suggested that if such effects are sustained or repeated over time, they could potentially contribute to long-term health risks. In the study, college students watched a 10-minute internet pornographic video chosen for its high viewership.

A new study, published in Frontiers, aims to draw more attention to the issue. Researchers analyzed the number of "tokens"--the smallest units of data that a language model uses to process and generate text--required to produce responses, and found that certain prompts can release up to 50 times more CO2 emissions than others. Different AI models use a different number of parameters; those with more parameters often perform better. The study examined 14 large language models (LLMs) ranging from seven to 72 billion parameters, asking them the same 1,000 benchmark questions across a range of subjects. Parameters are the internal variables that a model learns during training, and then uses to produce results.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. In recent years, researchers and climate advocates have been ringing the alarm about artificial intelligence's impact on the environment. Advanced and increasingly popular large language models (LLMs)--such as those offered by OpenAI and Google--reside in massive data centers that consume significant amounts of electricity and water to cool servers. Every time someone types a question or phrase into one of these platforms, the energy used to generate a response produces a measurable amount of potentially harmful CO₂. But, according to a new research published in Frontiers in Communication, not all of those prompts leave have the same environmental impact.

AI doesn't have the best reputation. From accusations of plagiarism to cheating students, there are plenty of negative headlines when it comes to using AI. However, when used properly, AI can be a beneficial and valuable part of your workflow and can even boost your productivity. The key is using AI within its limits. A recent Gallup study found that 40 percent of U.S. workers are now using AI tools at work, which means the other 60 percent is at risk of getting left behind.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. For 20 years, the remains of a giant lizard that lived alongside dinosaurs were tucked away in a jar at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Simply labeled "lizard," the fragmented and several millennia-old bones actually belonged to an entirely new species of giant lizard dug up from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah in 2005. Bolg amondol was a raccoon-sized armored mostesaurian lizard that lived about 77 million years ago, similar to today's Gila monsters (Heloderma horridum). It is named after the goblin prince from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and is described in a study published June 17 in the open-access journal Royal Society Open Science.