Lifeboat Foundation

Summary: Robotic voices with a charismatic tone can positively influence the creative performance of teams.

Researchers designed a social robot’s speech to sound charismatic, employing a confident, passionate tone and tested its effects on students during a creativity task.

The results revealed students were more innovative when the robot used a charismatic tone, leading to more original and elaborate ideas.

The psychedelic substances 5-MeO-DMT causes a long-lasting increase in the number of tiny protrusions called dendritic spines in the brain, according to new research published in Neuropsychopharmacology. The study, which was conducted on mice, sheds light on the behavioral and neural mechanisms of 5-MeO-DMT.

Serotonergic psychedelics (such as psilocybin and LSD) have shown promise as potential therapeutics for mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Short-acting compounds are particularly interesting because they require less dosing time, which could improve patient access to treatment. In humans, 5-MeO-DMT produces a short-lasting experience due to its rapid breakdown in the body.

“My lab started research on psychiatric drugs like ketamine and psychedelics about 10 years ago. We were motivated by how basic science and clinical research can together powerfully move a drug forward to become medicine. Specifically I believe there is a lot of potential for psychedelics as therapeutics, and that drives our interest in this topic,” said study author Alex Kwan (@kwanalexc), an associate professor in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University.

Most companies still view AI rather narrowly, as a tool that alleviates the costs and inefficiencies of repetitive human labor and increasing organizations’ capacity to produce, process, and analyze piles and piles of data. But when paired with “soft” inquiry-related skills it can help people ask better questions and be more innovative.

There are two distinct, yet related, paths to do this. 1) Use the technology to change the cadence and patterns of their questions: AI increases question velocity, question variety, and question novelty. 2) Use AI to transform the conditions and settings where people work so that questions that spark change — what we call “catalytic” questions — can emerge. This pushes leaders out of their comfort zones and into the position of being intellectually wrong, emotionally uncomfortable, and behaviorally quiet and more reflective, all of which, it turns out, promotes innovative thinking and action.

Page-utils class= article-utils—vertical hide-for-print data-js-target= page-utils data-id= tag: blogs.harvardbusiness.org, 2007/03/31:999.356809 data-title= AI Can Help You Ask Better Questions — and Solve Bigger Problems data-url=/2023/05/ai-can-help-you-ask-better-questions-and-solve-bigger-problems data-topic= Technology and analytics data-authors= Hal Gregersen; Nicola Morini Bianzino data-content-type= Digital Article data-content-image=/resources/images/article_assets/2023/05/May23_26_887787366-383x215.jpg data-summary=

Scientists have enhanced the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing by threefold using interstrand crosslinks, without resorting to viral material for delivery. This approach boosts the cell’s natural repair mechanisms, allowing for more accurate and efficient gene editing, potentially improving disease research and preclinical work.

Gene editing is a powerful method for both research and therapy. Since the advent of the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR/Cas9 technology, a quick and accurate tool for genome editing discovered in 2012, scientists have been working to explore its capabilities and boost its performance.

Researchers in the University of California, Santa Barbara biologist Chris Richardson’s lab have added to that growing toolbox, with a method that increases the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 editing without the use of viral material to deliver the genetic template used to edit the target genetic sequence. According to their new paper published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, their method stimulates homology-directed repair (a step in the gene editing process) by approximately threefold “without increasing mutation frequencies or altering end-joining repair outcomes.”

Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a single layer of atoms in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in which one atom forms each vertex. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes of carbon, including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes. In proportion to its thickness, it is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel.

Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter has commented on Tesla Bot, Tesla’s humanoid robot project, and he says it ignited a competitive spirit at the company.

Ever since Tesla announced its humanoid robot project, it has often been compared to Boston Dynamics, which is widely recognized as the leader in robotics.

Continue reading “Tesla Bot has got our competitive juices flowing, says Boston Dynamics CEO” »

In a blog post, OpenAI has officially declared its intentions to offer $100,000 grants for the best ideas on how we should regulate and control AI.

ChatGPT creators, OpenAI, have announced ten $100,000 grants for anyone with good ideas on how artificial intelligence (AI) can be governed to help address bias and other factors. The grants will be awarded to recipients who present the most compelling answers for some of the most pressing solutions around AI, like whether it should be allowed to have an opinion on public figures.

Continue reading “OpenAI offers $1 million in grants to shape ethical AI, combat misinformation” »

You won’t believe your eyes or ears.

Engineer Olav Martin Kvern has built a robot that picks electric guitar strings making playing the instrument easier and more accessible. This noble endeavor took 16 years to accomplish.

Continue reading “Engineer takes 16 years to build robot that can help musicians play guitar” »

Digital chips have revolutionized the world beyond all recognition. Yet, despite their enormous advantages to computing, for power-hungry processes like AI, analog might be best.

Digital computer chips are the mainstay of our current digital age.

Continue reading “Could analog chips be the solution to AI’s power thirst?” »