NERD NEWS: A Glitch In The Matrix, A.I. Makes Mistakes, And How To Get Better Sleep

It’s time for “Nerd News,” covering the most important news for your brain. Here’s a quick rundown of this week in science!

SPACE

Last month, a camera in Hawaii caught some weird green laser beams in the sky, all in a row.  It was just for a second, but they looked like a glitch in the matrix, so people freaked. Now experts think they know what they were.  They say a Chinese radar satellite probably caused the effect.  It uses something similar to sonar.  But instead of sending out sound waves to map an area, it uses lasers…riiiiight.

 

In other glitch in the matrix news, TikTok user @tania.draws shared this video:

@tania.draws Glitch in Matrix? This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this in Chicago either #glitchinthematrix #fyp ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound

Astrophysicists came up with a way to flight global warming by blocking out some of the sun’s rays.  Just blast lots of MOON DUST into space  to give us a little shade.  It would take tons of it, but computer simulations showed it’s possible.

 

TECH

Google’s parent company Alphabet debuted its own A.I. chatbot called “Bard” to go up against ChatGPT.  But their promo video showed it answering a question wrong, and their stock immediately lost $100 BILLION in market value. It claimed that the James Webb telescope took the first pictures of planets outside our solar system, but that happened way back in 2004.  Ironically, they made the video ahead of time, and could have fact-checked the answer by Googling it.

(The stock was down even more yesterday and lost another $60 billion or so.)

 

Meanwhile, Microsoft debuted a new version of its Bing search engine this week that incorporates ChatGPT to give more thorough answers.  And a study for Valentine’s Day found 71% of people couldn’t tell the difference between fake love letters written by ChatGPT, and real ones written by humans.

 

HEALTH

A team at Columbia found that a drug used to treat arthritis can make old people’s blood young again, and might help us live longer.

 

In sleep research:  A study found people who believe in aliens and ghosts are less likely to get a good night’s rest.