Collaborate Disseminate
“Plant seeds can sense the vibrations generated by falling raindrops,” reports ScienceAlert, “and respond by waking from their state of dormancy to welcome the water, new research shows…. to germinate in ‘anticipation’ of the coming deluge.”
The find… Continue reading Plant Seeds Do Something Incredible When the Sound of Rain Strikes
Cisco has released an open-source tool “to trace the origins of AI models,” reports SC World, “and compare model similarities for great visibility into the AI supply chain.”
[Cisco’s Model Provenance Kit] is a Python toolkit and command-line interfa… Continue reading Cisco Releases Open-Source ‘DNA Test for AI Models’
All 20 of America’s state-run healthcare marketplace sites “include advertising trackers that share information with Big Tech companies,” reports Gizmodo, citing a report from Bloomberg:
Per the report, seven million Americans bought their health insu… Continue reading Social Media Sites Got Information from Ad Trackers on US State Health Insurance Sites
CNN reports on a “sudden surge of claimed sightings” of “unidentified figures averaging 8 feet tall in wooded areas” along Ohio’s Mahoning River.
“And it stopped just as quickly as it started,” says Jeremiah Byron, host of the Bigfoot Society Podcast… Continue reading 10 People Called Police to Report Bigfoot Sighting in Ohio
A chain of 30 U.S. newspapers including the Sacramento Bee, the Miami Herald and the Idaho Statesman “has started to use a new AI tool that can summarize traditional articles and spit out different versions for different audiences,” reports the New Yor… Continue reading Newspaper Chain’s Reporters Withhold Their Bylines to Protest ‘AI-Assisted’ Articles
America’s school districts “spent billions on technology during the pandemic,” reports the Washington Post.
“But now some states are limiting in-school screen time because of concerns about its impact on children.”
Nationwide [U.S.] schools invested… Continue reading Why Some US Schools Are Cutting Back On the Technology They Spent Billions On
The Independent reports that “more than a third of children in the UK have found a way around age verification measures” for social media sites and other online platforms. And new research from online safety organisation Internet Matters “suggests one … Continue reading 16% of Parents Help Their Children Bypass Online Age Checks, Study Finds. One 15-Year-Old Just Uses a Fake Moustache
A Wall Street Journal opinion piece warns of “a troubling trend” in AI’s growth. “Rather than selling software, some AI companies are paying their partners to use it.”
It cites OpenAI’s $1.5 billion joint venture with private-equity firms, Anthropic’… Continue reading Can Investors Trust AI Sales Figures? Asks Wall Street Journal Opinion Piece
Age verification became mandatory for chat access on Roblox in January — and Friday morning Quartz reported it’s apparently impacted the company’s financials:
Roblox cut its full-year 2026 bookings forecast by roughly $900 million at the midpoi… Continue reading Roblox Blames Age-Verification Rollout for Lowered Growth. Stock Tumbles 22%
“So yesterday the Devteam (it is always the Devteam) released version 5.0 of legendary and venerable rogueike compuer game NetHack,” writes the Rogue-like games column @Play. “It is 39 years old…”
MilenCent (Slashdot reader #219,397) writes: In ad… Continue reading NetHack 5.0 Released