Opinion – our phone addiction is out of control
In a world where scrolling has become second nature and our devices an extension of ourselves, we’ve become completely detached from both how dependent we are on being perpetually ‘connected’ and how negatively this is impacting us all. Last week, I finally did what I’ve been urging myself to...
Current in Tech
Complex life on Earth may be 1.5 billion years older than thought
Previous studies suggest animal life did not emerge on Earth until around 635 million years ago. New research claims to have found new evidence deep within rocks showing environmental conditions for animal life 2.1 billion years ago. As it currently stands, animals first showed up on Earth around 635 million...
OpenAI may roll out a detector for AI-generated text
OpenAI claims to have a tool capable of unearthing instances where AI text generators have been used. Will it ever see the light of day? OpenAI has crafted a clever tool to sniff out writing conjured by ChatGPT, but they're having second thoughts about unleashing it onto the world –...
Immunosuppressant drug show promise of prolonging women’s fertility
Rapamycin, a drug commonly used to prevent organ transplant rejection, appears to lessen the number of egg follicles released during women’s menstrual cycles with no adverse side effects. Scientists say this could extend female fertility by up to five years. Though couples are waiting longer on average to have children,...
The ‘Internet of Animals’ is about to change our understanding of nature
A globally accessible database that documents the lives of animals and geographical structures could go live as early as next year. The collection of real-time data will inform experts on species’ behavioural changes and environmental shifts. Biologists, ecologists, and conservationists alike are concerned with the health of our planet and...
Study says the moon is slowly drifting further from Earth
Scientists say the moon is gradually moving further from Earth and that the process will eventually elongate our day cycle to 25 hours. How fast is the moon drifting? Will the Earth lose its natural satellite? Will I be forced to work overtime? So many questions. Scientists say the moon is...
What Ribena’s new project means for green AI
The beverage brand has incorporated artificial intelligence into its farming practices, emphasising the potential benefits of new technology within sustainability projects. Making significant strides towards environmental sustainability, Ribena's parent company Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I has harnessed AI to uncover biodiversity hotspots on their blackcurrant farms. The groundbreaking initiative has identified various threatened bird species, emphasising the potential of AI in environmental conservation. Using AI to analyse birdsong across five blackcurrant...
Chinese company offers to create AI avatars of deceased loved ones
A Nanjing-based company named Silicon Intelligence is using Artificial Intelligence to create virtual chatbots of people’s deceased friends and family. Every day, we get one step closer to living inside an episode of Black Mirror. Heck, a quick look around may suggest we’re already there. The plot just thickens by the hour. The second season of Netflix's wildly popular dystopian series kicks off with the story of woman continuing her relationship...
The ongoing battle between Snapchat and TikTok
Could Snapchat’s continued focus on engendering genuine connections give it the edge on TikTok, as the latter over pushes ecommerce? Is Snapchat beating TikTok? Recently, we’ve seen two of the biggest social media platforms, TikTok and Snapchat, take radically different approaches to expanding their user bases and ensuring growth for 2024. TikTok’s launch of an in-app shop last year indicated a pivot toward online commerce and user-based marketplaces, where creators earn commission...
Noplace is the latest social media app attracting Gen Z
Noplace is offering Gen Z a fresh social media experience that prioritises authentic connections and community over algorithms and ads, blending nostalgic MySpace vibes with Twitter's immediacy. In an era where algorithms dictate what we see, and ads interrupt our scrolling, a new social media app is rising to prominence by returning to the basics. Meet Noplace — a text-based feed blending the nostalgic vibes of MySpace with the brevity...
