Best of Last Week—Phubbing can hurt marriages, ChatGPT growing dumber, a new nanomaterial
Bob Yirka
news contributor
It was an interesting week for psychological research, as a pair of scientists at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University reported that married couples who regularly engage in phone snubbing (phubbing) have lower marriage satisfaction than couples who do not. Phone snubbing is where people cut off conversations with others in their vicinity as they talk or text on their phone. Also, a team of psychologists at the University of Canterbury found evidence that arithmetic is biologically based and a natural consequence of our perception—hinting at the possibility that the human mind and the world are not separate, but instead are part of a common unity.
In technology news, a team from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, wondered if ChatGPT is experiencing growing pains, or if it is just becoming dumber—their testing suggested it might be the latter. Kevin Matthe Caramancion, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, looked into the possibility of using ChatGPT and other large language models to detect fake news—and found hints that it might be possible. Also, a team with members from several institutions in China developed new carbon-stabilized Li-Si anodes for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. And a team at Rice University designed and built a device that can make hydrogen from sunlight with record efficiency.
In other news, a team led by a group at Northwestern University reported links between marijuana use and epigenetic changes. They found multiple instances of DNA methylation markers associated with recent and cumulative marijuana use. Also, a team of physicists led by a group at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, found evidence that quantum radar could outperform classical radar by 20%. And a study led by Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, found that there are factors beyond lifestyle choices and genetics in influencing excess body weight, such as having a large number of methyl groups that adhere to the POMC gene. And finally, a team at Instituto de Carboquímica of the Spanish National Research Council made progress toward a new environmentally friendly nanomaterial that could revolutionize electronic devices.
