The introduction of OpenAI’s AI text generator ChatGPT late last year has amplified the conversation surrounding AI use in classrooms. Aside from issues of dataset bias, OpenAI must also contend with critics who question whether ChatGPT is being used for academic assignments. Plagiarism software must now accelerate development in order to identify ChatGPT’s human-like responses.
View More New AI, New Problems: ChatGPT in the Classroom
Since the development of streaming services, people have been able to watch their favorite movies and television shows on their own time and within the comfort of their own homes. However, with the ever-increasing price that comes with subscriptions to services like Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and others, consumers are debating whether streaming giants are truly as accessible as they were meant to be.
View More Streaming Services Continue to Raise Prices
In the world of academia, there has always been an intense pressure to publish papers in the hopes of improving one’s curriculum vitae (CV) or career aspirations. However, in the case of most top journals, publishers do not pay authors for their work, and their papers are subsequently hidden behind a paid subscription to the journal. In open-source publication, authors must pay thousands of dollars for their work to be available for free for others. Though this standard creates significant financial barriers in academia, it has been slow to change.
View More The Pressure to Publish for Ph.D. Students
As the global population and demands for meat continue to grow, so, too, does the meat industry’s contribution to climate change. Lab-grown meats are not far away from grocery store shelves, and they have the capability to reduce the impact of the meat industry on our planet. First, however, they will need to win over consumers.
View More Can Lab-Grown Meat Help Save the Planet?
A recent achievement in the field of nuclear fusion has propelled the long-researched energy source into the spotlight. Until now, nuclear fusion was only a theoretical way to generate clean energy, but nuclear fusion has passed an important energetic threshold that offers early hope for the technology. However, this technology will likely take decades to implement, and it may come too late if currently available clean energy methods are not rapidly adopted.
View More The Power of the Sun: Nuclear Fusion’s Future as Clean Energy
For users of the music streaming giant, the end of the year is a time of great anticipation. Spotify Wrapped, the platform’s year-in-review experience for users, summarizes each individual’s listening history, including top songs and artists. While Wrapped’s interactive and shareable elements are a fan favorite, it is important to remember that its reliance on tracking users and storing data is not as harmless as many believe it to be.
View More Spotify Wrapped and the Use of Personal Data
In recent years there has been an increased interest in toys that are designed to enhance children’s cognitive development. The goal of these toys is to encourage scientific curiosity outside of the classroom; however, the benefits of STEM toys over other forms of play are debatable. Additionally, the increased pressure from parents to push their children into STEM fields may do them more harm than good in the long run.
View More The Impact of STEM From Childhood Toys to Adult Careers
Despite midterms historically having mediocre turnouts, the number of votes cast by young voters in the 2022 midterm elections was the second highest in 30 years. As technology becomes more deeply woven throughout our culture, politicians are discovering that social media provides a genuine way to connect with new voters.
View More The Political Power of Gen-Z and Social Media
Advanced technologies such as MRI scans and quantum computing are at risk of losing one of their most important elements: liquid helium. The unique properties of helium lend it to a wide array of scientific uses, but these properties also make helium difficult to capture and reuse. The ongoing shortage of helium has prompted researchers to find ways to recycle or replace helium to conserve this dwindling resource.
View More Running Low on Gas: Technologies Affected by the Helium Shortage
An FDA Anesthesiology and Respiratory Therapy Devices advisory panel met this week to discuss racial and skin-pigmentation bias in pulse oximeter devices. This comes in the wake of research demonstrating that inaccurate blood oxygen readings may have contributed to the greater number of Covid-19 deaths in minority patients compared to white patients.
View More FDA Advisory Panel Asks for Improvements in Pulse Oximeters