Psychologist and author Dr. Jordan B. Peterson provided a breakdown of today’s environmentalist movement that is almost religious in nature.
Tucker Carlson invited Jordan Peterson to join his show Friday to explain what Carlson observed to be a discrepancy — namely that environmentalism’s purported goal to save the environment actually does more harm to the environment than good. Peterson validated Carlson’s observation by noting how Sri Lanka has become a “wasteland” and how Germany’s energy is more expensive and less reliable all due to “idiot hypothetically environmentalist policies.” He then explained what he believed was behind this.
“But there’s something that’s even deeper lying underneath the surface,” Peterson said, citing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/dr-karl-friston" target="_blank" rel="noopener">converging evidence</a> from different disciplines. “The structure through which we see the world is essentially a narrative—a story.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jordan Peterson: This is an appalling situation and it will get worse" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-JDTXzynkrs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The question that follows, Peterson asked, is what is that story and what elements does it contain? 
“The environmentalists offer us a story to live by and it’s a pseudo-religious story and it essentially elevates the biosphere, the earth — Gaia, the earth goddess — to the status of primary deity and characterizes her as sort of a waif-like innocent victim, easily taken advantage of and fragile. It casts the entire human endeavor on the social front as a raping and pillaging, patriarchal, monster only interested in power. And, it casts the individual as a devouring mouth riding on the back of that giant, essentially.”
There is some truth to that, the “<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/books/products/12-rules-for-life-an-antidote-to-chaos?_pos=1&amp;_fid=b9fb42232&amp;_ss=c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos</a>” author granted, explaining how humans are capable of destroying the environment. However, that story is “very incomplete,” and as a result, human beings are “demonized,” which is “extraordinarily dangerous.”
Environmentalism’s giveaway that it is religious in nature instead of a way of dealing with the realities of the world is that it has “odd features.” Peterson provided the environmentalists’ radical opposition to nuclear power and natural gas as prime examples of those odd features.
“It’s clearly the case that there’s nothing that reduces carbon production more effectively than nuclear power,” Peterson said. “It’s also clearly the case that if we were careful with nuclear power … that we could be providing extremely lost-cost energy to people, especially poor people throughout the world, but we’re not going to do that. In fact, we have an anti-energy policy in place, especially in any places that are ruled essentially by the left.”
Starvation has increased globally over the past few years as a result of environmentalist policies, Peterson noted, put in place by “hypothetically well-meaning deluded pseudo-religious environmental worshippers of the apocalypse.” He called the situation “appalling,” and that it’s “likely to get worse before it gets better.”

Jordan Peterson Sydney Portrait Shoot

‘A Pseudo-Religious Story’: Jordan Peterson Gets To The Core Of Today’s Environmentalism On Tucker

Jordan Peterson Explains The Deeper Meaning Of Modern Environmentalism To Tucker Carlson

Climate Change

Jordan Peterson

Media

Tucker Carlson

U.S.

As Artificial Intelligence continues to expand its role in our daily lives, experts are now concerned about the future of human agency and our simple decision-making processes — and a phenomenon uniquely American could catapult us into that future quicker than we realize.
The Pew Research Center and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center sought the opinions of many different kinds of experts — all of which have expertise with automation as it relates to their occupation — on the extent to which we will have control in tech-aided decisions.
The Pew <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/02/24/the-future-of-human-agency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> asked 540 academics, developers, researchers, and policy experts the following: 
<blockquote>“By 2035, will smart machines, bots and systems powered by artificial intelligence be designed to allow humans to easily be in control of most tech-aided decision-making that is relevant to their lives?”</blockquote>
The results of this nonscientific canvassing:
<ul>
<li>56% of these experts did not agree that humans will remain in control of most tech-aided decision-making.</li>
<li>44% said they agreed that humans will remain in control of most tech-aided decision-making.  </li>
</ul>
The report also features written responses from hundreds of survey respondents — most concerned with the encroachment of AI on human agency.
“Looking at the studies on human factors, human systems integration, etc., humans become pretty lazy when it comes to being vigilant over the technology,” said Heather Roff, nonresident fellow in the law, policy, and ethics of emerging military technologies at the Brookings Institution and senior research scientist at the University of Colorado-Boulder. “Humans’ cognitive systems are just not geared to ‘think like’ these systems. So, when one has a lack of literacy and a lazy attitude toward the use of such systems, bad things tend to happen.”
Roff’s comments serve as a good indication of her cohort. The rapid sophistication of AI’s ability to make decisions combined with the complexity “under the hood” of the algorithms incentivize both increasing reliance on the technology and decreasing concern for how the technology operates.
Additionally, social impact will likely be an afterthought considering the speed of advancement of AI, according to Lea Schlanger, a North American senior business intelligence analyst. She said, “Advancements in AI and machine learning automation are currently happening faster than research on the impacts they’ll have on society as a whole.”
On the other hand, those who believe that human agency will not deteriorate with advancing AI argue that humans will always have the ability to decide what and what not to delegate to AI.
“Although many important decisions will be made by autonomous and artificial intelligence, they will be willingly delegated to non-human intelligence, but we will still keep the decision of what decisions to offload to ourselves,” wrote Chris Labash, associate professor of communication and innovation at Carnegie Mellon University.
One theme present among those on the same side as Labash was that market forces would place adequate restraints upon AI’s role in tech-aided decision-making. Also, historically, many argue, humans have always evolved with technological advancement.
However, the themes present amongst respondents who are more pessimistic about AI’s role in human agency cause more concern than perhaps their counterparts’ view cause hope.
The report noted a common theme amongst the 56% who disagreed with the survey question observe that there is very little incentive among very powerful actors to honor human agency, whether that be for monetary, ideological, or some other kind of gain. They also recognize the human draw towards convenience, and that is compounded by the “black box” operations these complex AIs utilize.
But, could there be a social factor, especially present in Western culture, priming us to relinquish more of our agency all the more quickly to AI?
Agency describes our ability to make choices. In recent decades, the West has fostered a culture that produces so many choices for so many things that a new phenomenon has occurred, which garnered the term “overchoice.”
The Decision Lab, an applied research and innovations firm specializing in behavioral science, <a href="https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/choice-overload-bias" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defines</a> overchoice as “how people get overwhelmed when they are presented with a large number of options to choose from.”
There are a near infinite number of options nowadays in many aspects of our lives, whether it be searching for a partner in dating apps, movies and shows to watch on streaming services, job search engines, houses and apartments on property websites, music streaming, and on and on. Overchoice is a risk we take from the smallest parts of our lives, like choosing the next few songs for the queue, to the biggest parts, like choosing our next home or potential spouse. 
Barry Schwartz authored the book, “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less,” which analyzes the consequences of being presented with too many choices. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> there are two things that generally occur when faced with an overabundance of choices. 
First, decision paralysis. People are less likely to engage in an activity if there are too many choices. 
Second, people usually experience less satisfaction with their choices when presented with too many options than if they were presented with fewer. There is a sneaking sense of regret, because there is more responsibility of the decision maker, and there is always the question of what could have been with a different choice, according to Schwartz.
With there being more options in multiple facets of life, increasing the likelihood of experiencing overchoice, the temptation to delegate decision-making to AI could become even stronger as the technology progresses.
In fact, some streaming companies seem to have already picked up on consumers experiencing overchoice with their products.
Over the last couple of years, Netflix has rolled out the “Play Something” feature, which utilizes machine learning. “There are times when we just don’t want to make decisions,” the feature’s about page <a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/play-something-netflix-does-the-work-for-you" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a>. “When you hit the ‘Play Something’ button, you’ll be instantly met with a series or film we know you’ll love based on what you’ve watched before.”
Spotify is the most recent case of rolling out a new AI system for its listeners. The Spotify “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spotify-rolls-out-ai-powered-dj-that-comments-on-your-music-playlist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DJ</a>” uses AI to take recommending music to another level.
“The beauty of these experiences is our ability to deliver the right piece of music for that exact moment in time, and maybe even connect you with your next favorite artist in the process. We’re building on that innovation by harnessing the power of AI in an entirely new way,” the company <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-02-22/spotify-debuts-a-new-ai-dj-right-in-your-pocket/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
Both systems strive to deliver the best choice for the consumer. When faced with infinite choices for music or tons of films, why not skip the hard part and let the AI make the choice for you? Then, imagine this mode of thinking when AI expands its capability into more important areas of our lives.
Experts are still split on how AI will affect human agency, and the debate must continue as the technology advances. A necessary wrinkle to that debate, however, is the choice fatigue Westerners already experience, which already seems to indicate that consumers are more primed for AI-aided decision-making technology.
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Army of robots

Collision Course: How An Explosion In Artificial Intelligence Could Threaten Human Agency

Artificial Intelligence

Big Tech

Readers Pass

Robots

Technology

Analysis of 5,000-year-old human remains from Central <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Europe</a> strongly indicates evidence of horseback riding, which better explains the central European humans’ known migration history.
Some 200 remains of bronze-aged humans, which belonged to what is called the Yamnaya people, were collected from museums across Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. They were analyzed for known markers of horseback riding, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/horse-horseback-riding-archeology-5caf7da564dbafad6aa50379b0927220" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Associated Press</a>. Experts of the study say there are six clear identifiers of horseback riding which include unique wear marks on the hip sockets, thigh bone, and pelvis, the article said.
The study, originally <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade2451" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> in Science Advances, noted that there is highly debated evidence of horseback riding dating to as old as 3500 B.C. in modern-day Kazakhstan, with perhaps slightly more formidable evidence dating to 2000 B.C. in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/3rd-Dynasty-of-Ur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Third Dynasty of Ur</a> in Mesopotamia.
Of the remains analyzed, five showed signs of being horseback riders. “There is earlier evidence for harnessing and milking of horses, but this is the earliest direct evidence so far for horseback riding,” said Alan Outram, University of Exeter archaeologist and outside observer of the study.
Similar to looking at bones for evidence of horseback riding, experts have found evidence of humans consuming horse milk by analyzing dental remains.
The Yamnaya originated in what is modern-day Ukraine and western Russia, and within a few generations they migrated as far west as Hungary and as far east as Mongolia, said Volker Heyd, University of Helsinki archaeologist and co-author of the study. The findings of the study provide additional context for the relatively quick migration.
“The spread of Indo European languages is linked to their movement, and they reshaped the genetic make-up of Europe,” Heyd said.
Given the small percentage of bones that showed clear signs of horseback riding, it is unlikely that the Yamnaya engaged in combat on horseback. However, the AP article notes that it is more likely the Yamnaya used horses in more subtle ways that contextualize their migration, such as better communicating with other tribes, forming alliances, and managing cattle, their economic staple.
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Molecular archaeologist Ludovic Orlando, who directs the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse in France and was not a part of the research, praised the findings. “This is about the origins of something that impacted human history like only a few other things have,” he said.

Icelandic Horses In Hvammstangi, Vesturland, Germany

New Skeletal Analysis Shows Horseback Riding As Old As 5,000 Years

Horseback Riding As Old As 5,000 Years, According To Latest Bone Analysis

Animals

Archaeology

Europe

History

World

Many people who suffer from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ptsd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post-traumatic stress disorder</a> often relive highly-charged fearful and emotional memories while they sleep, and neuroscientists from Virginia Tech have recently discovered what is behind this phenomenon using models of the brain, the news outlet for Virginia Tech <a href="https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2023/01/science-sujith_vijayan_neroscience_ptsd_rem_sleep.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The findings provide vital information for creating therapies that could mitigate the effects PTSD has on sleep.
The brain can be very active during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, so much so that Virginia Tech neuroscientist, professor, and co-author of the study, Sujith Vijayan called it “paradoxical sleep.” Combining the high activity of REM sleep with post-traumatic stress disorder, people who suffer from the disorder can relive painful memories “over and over” again, according to Vijayan.
Normally, the brain can bring up emotional memories during REM sleep to cleanse the emotional charge. However, this normal process can malfunction for people who suffer from PTSD, and the result is that painful memories come to mind night after night.
In their study, <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/43/3/433" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> in The Journal of Neuroscience, Vijayan and his team of researchers constructed a biophysical model of the brain where they could simulate neurophysiological functions like communication between different parts of the brain, neurotransmitters, and brain waves.
By adjusting the brain rhythms between the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907136/#:~:text=The%20prefrontal%20cortex%20(PFC)%20intelligently,brain%20regions%20(BOX%201)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">prefrontal cortex</a> and the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537102/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amygdala</a> in the model, researchers were able to link lower levels of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin with the brain&#8217;s ability to restrain fear and pain-based memories during REM sleep. They further found that those who suffer from PTSD experienced high levels of norepinephrine and serotonin during REM sleep, thus repeatedly causing painful memories to come to mind.
Other studies have shown that the emotional charge of negative memories is mitigated by REM sleep. However, it is still the “wild west” when it comes to understanding how REM sleep works, Vijayan described. “REM sleep is a lot harder to get your hands around. There are really good models out there for how non-REM sleep might consolidate memories and what role it might play in learning and memory. But when we talk about REM, there are no real, good models on how that stuff is happening,” he said.
So, this new model from Vijayan and his team provides quite the insight. Looking at brain wave rhythms between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, they found that four to eight hertz on the theta range of brain rhythm, which is common for humans, allowed for the greatest strength of communication in the brain. This, in turn, inhibits fear expression cells during sleep.
When researchers adjusted the models to include high levels of norepinephrine and serotonin during REM, four to eight hertz on the theta range of brain rhythm was ineffective at inhibiting fear expression cells. But, they did find that ten hertz was effective at suppressing fear expression cells in the PTSD brain model.
Therapies could be created as a result of the findings, namely covert auditory stimulation, as Vijayan calls it. “That means I’m playing those sounds and you’re not aware of it while you’re sleeping,” he said. “That could be useful for any sort of disorder where sleep is disrupted, not only in PTSD, but in traumatic brain injury or Parkinson’s disease. The idea is that by inducing desired neural dynamics, we can engage the recuperative powers of sleep.”

Close-Up Of Ptsd Text On Orange Background

Why Do PTSD Patients Relive Intense Fear-Based Memories In Sleep? New Models Provide Insight.

New Models Provide Insights Into Why PTSD Patients Relive Intense Fear-Based Memories

Brain

Health

Medical Research

PTSD

Virginia Tech

The straight-tusked elephant, weighing roughly the amount of eight cars and standing at a height of four meters (13 feet), walked northern Europe some 125,000 years ago, and a recent study of a burial site of these elephants shows that Neanderthals hunted and skillfully butchered these walking behemoths, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/neanderthals-lived-groups-big-enough-eat-giant-elephants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Science reported</a>.
In the 1980s, coal miners near the site of Neumark-Nord in central Germany, near the city of Halle, initially discovered the remains of these elephants. Archaeologists uncovered the remains of 70 of these giants over the course of a decade, wherein other animal remains and tools were discovered. Given the challenge of slaying the now-extinct elephant, which nearly doubles the size of modern African elephants, and the amount of food a single elephant would provide, scientists believe this indicates Neanderthals lived in much larger communities than previously suspected.
Neanderthals were believed to be very mobile hominins that never lived and moved around in groups of more than 20. However, a single adult straight-tusked elephant could provide meat for 350 over one week, or 100 people over a month, the researchers estimated.
“This is really hard and time-consuming work,” said Lutz Kindler, an archaeozoologist at the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Center. “Why would you slaughter the whole elephant if you’re going to waste half the portions?”
Months of studying nearly 3,400 bones yielded consistent evidence showing careful butchering of the animals, Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, another archaeozoologist at MONREPOS and co-author of the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add8186" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a>, found. Furthermore, the Neanderthals “went for every scrap of meat and fat,” said Wil Roebroeks, an archaeologist from the University of Leiden and a co-author of the study.
Neanderthals walked the earth for nearly 300,000 years before disappearing around 40,000 years ago. They used thrusting and throwing spears to hunt, which have been <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/world/neanderthals-hunted-giant-elephants-scn/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> at other archaeological sites. For this particular prey, Neanderthals likely used highly coordinated efforts to take down a singled-out elephant. Most of the remains are of adult male straight-tusked elephants, which spent large amounts of time alone — away from herds.
The social skills required to coordinate an attack and successfully butcher the animal for consumption further emphasize that Neanderthals were more complex than scientists previously thought, or as popular culture might depict them.
In addition to skilled hunting, butchering, and preserving, Neanderthals also created yarn, art, and various complex tools, and had special burial practices for their dead, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/world/neanderthals-hunted-giant-elephants-scn/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per CNN</a>.
Britt M. Starkovich, a researcher at the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen in Germany, released a commentary on the study as it was published, though she was not involved in the research. She said, “To the more recognizably human traits that we know Neanderthals had — taking care of the sick, burying their dead, and occasional symbolic representation — we now also need to consider that they had preservation technologies to store food and were occasionally semi sedentary or that they sometimes operated in groups larger than we ever imagined.”

Large Groups Of Neanderthals Ate Giant Elephants, Recent Evidence Suggests

Archaeological Analysis Of Giant Elephants Suggests Neanderthals Lived In Larger Groups Than Previously Thought

Science

A new study has found that continuous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marriage</a>, particularly through the middle decades of life, lowers the risk of developing dementia, Neuroscience News <a href="https://neurosciencenews.com/continuous-marriage-dementia-22373/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
Researchers, predominantly from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, looked at the marital status of adults aged 44 through 68, and whether those adults developed dementia after the age of 70. The study utilized data from 150,000 Norwegians who granted consent for their health information to be used for research. Results indicated adults who remained married during those years of life saw the lowest occurrence of dementia.
Consistent with those results, the data also showed adults who were unmarried and divorced saw the highest rate of dementia. Vegard Skirbekk at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH/FHI), and an author of the study, said, “Being married can have an influence on risk factors for dementia.”
The causes of dementia are still unknown, and researchers have found a number of factors that can influence a person’s risk of developing the disease. Such factors were necessarily accounted for in this study.
At the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08982643221131926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study’s</a> conclusion, authors “estimate that, had all participants been continuously married (and shared the same underlying somatic and mental health plus social characteristics of those who marry), 6% of the dementia cases in our study would not have occurred. This is a considerable reduction and is equivalent to the proportion of dementia cases accounted for by smoking and obesity combined, as reported by the Lancet dementia commission in 2020.”
It was found that having children also lowers the risk of developing dementia. Of the unmarried people analyzed, those who had children saw a 60% decreased risk of dementia.
Asta Håberg, a doctor at St. Olav’s Hospital and professor at NTNU, as well as a researcher at NIPH/FHI, commented on the study&#8217;s findings as they pertained to having children.
“Some people have theorized that if you have children, you stay more cognitively engaged. For example, you have to deal with people and participate in activities that you wouldn’t otherwise have to. This stimulates your brain so that it possibly works better. That way you build up a kind of cognitive reserve,” Håberg said.
“Cognitive reserves” are not physically observable in the brain, however scientists understand that there are many things that can build up reserves, which work to prevent dementia. Håberg notes that education is another factor that builds up cognitive reserves.
The results of the study are a part of the research project REFAWOR (Cognitive reserve work and family), which is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The project seeks to study the relationship between lifestyle and developing cognitive diseases, like Alzheimer’s and dementia, amidst the pressing reality of <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health#:~:text=By%202050%2C%20the%20world's%20population,2050%20to%20reach%20426%20million." target="_blank" rel="noopener">population aging</a> in the decades to come.
It is still unknown what causes this disease that leads to a decline in memory and cognitive function. However, the results of the study lead scientists down more avenues of investigation in order to better understand dementia and how to prevent it.
Håberg sees this study as an exciting opportunity to further investigate the effects that having children has on dementia. At the same time, Skirbekk recognizes further opportunities in understanding the role genetics play in developing dementia. He says that “certain genes increase the risk of dementia,” but it has been observed that people with those genes may never develop cognitive diseases.
The study does not address the biology behind dementia, Skirbekk readily admits. However, “it shows that being married can have an influence on risk factors. You become more cognitively active, you cope better with adversity and are less subject to stress. The partner represents a security that provides a buffer.”

Senior couple holding hands

Lifelong Marriage Associated With Lower Risk Of Dementia, Study Finds

Lower Risk Of Developing Dementia Found Among Lifelong Married Adults, Study Finds

alzheimer's

dementia

Marriage

In a recent breakthrough, scientists have created a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/robots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">robot</a> that can transition back and forth between solid and liquid states, allowing it to navigate through numerous obstacles and environments.
Researchers applied the technology in a few different scenarios. The robot was able to navigate obstacle courses and deliver and retrieve objects to and from a model human stomach. They even constructed a version of the robot that looks like a Lego Minifigure that was able to escape a cage by liquefying and then restoring itself to its original form once out.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Watch a humanoid robot liquefy to escape its cage" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7zu8T_vKZpM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
ScienceAlert <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-create-shapeshifting-humanoid-robot-that-can-liquefy-and-reform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on the experiment, noting that the authors took inspiration from the shapeshifting Sea Cucumber, which can alternate between physical states by adjusting its internal temperature. The experiment, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(22)00693-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matter</a>, details how microscopic magnetic particles were embedded into liquid metal, and how those particles heated and cooled the metal based on adjusting the magnetic functions, thus changing the physical state.
“The magnetic particles here have two roles,” <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/977155" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> Carmel Majidi of Carnegie Mellon University, senior author and mechanical engineer in the experiment. “One is that they make the material responsive to an alternating magnetic field, so you can, through induction, heat up the material and cause the phase change. But the magnetic particles also give the robots mobility and the ability to move in response to the magnetic field.”
Gallium was the perfect metal for this experiment, researchers found, because of its low melting point, which is around 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The authors describe the metal as having “high mechanical strength, high load capacity, and fast locomotion speed in the solid phase with excellent morphological adaptability (elongation, splitting, and merging) in the liquid phase.”
A leader of the study and engineer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chengfeng Pan, said, “Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states endows them with more functionality.”
In another video, researchers show this technology clearing a foreign object from a model human stomach.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Robot clears foreign body from stomach" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SMMvZIVzvgI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“More functionality” means the technology could open up many new possibilities, especially in the mechanical and electrical fields. The robot could enter into spaces and apply fixes in small, tight, or perhaps even dangerous, places. It could even be used as a conductor in circuits.
Majidi, however, suggests that the new robotic technology should be further explored in the biomedical field. While gallium proved to be successful for the experiments, the metal will likely be insufficient for biomedical applications due to its melting point being so low &#8211; lower than the ambient temperature of the human body. Though a gallium-based alloy could get the job done, ScienceAlert notes.
&#8220;What we&#8217;re showing are just one-off demonstrations, proofs of concept, but much more study will be required to delve into how this could actually be used for drug delivery or for removing foreign objects,&#8221; Majidi said.

WATCH: Robot Liquefies Then Re-Forms In Scientific Breakthrough

Scientists Created A Shapeshifting Robot That Can Transition Between Solid And Liquid States

Medical

Pittsburgh

A recent study that compared children’s brain activity between face-to-face interaction and virtual interaction found that electrical activity in the brain is significantly reduced during virtual social interaction, suggesting impairments to childhood cognitive and social development.
<a href="https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-development-tech-communication-22285/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neuroscience News reported</a> a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922007984?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> that analyzed the interactions between 62 mother-child pairs, both face-to-face and virtually. The children in the study were ages 10 to 14. Utilizing a process that can simultaneously scan brain activity in multiple subjects, known as hyperscanning, researchers found that brain activity was reduced during virtual interaction via videoconferencing, specifically brain synchrony between the mothers and their children.
Guillaume Dumas, an author of the study and a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Addiction at the University of Montreal, demonstrated earlier in his career that electrical waves in human brains can synchronize during social interactions.
“Inter-brain synchrony is associated with the development of social cognition,” Dumas said. “The resonance between brains enables children to learn to distinguish between self and others, to learn social relationships.”
The study <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922007984?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that “live interaction elicited nine significant cross-brain links between densely inter-connected frontal and temporal areas,” whereas “remote interaction elicited only one significant cross-brain-cross-hemisphere link.” The frontal region of the brain is <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24501-frontal-lobe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">associated</a> with critical thinking, emotions, personality, long-term memory, and many more important functions. The temporal lobe is <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16799-brain-temporal-lobe-vagal-nerve--frontal-lobe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">associated</a> with auditory processing and short-term memory.
With the disruption to brain-to-brain synchrony, consequences for children’s cognitive development can be expected, especially as it pertains to the brain functions associated with social interaction, according to Dumas. “And these are life-long effects,” he added.
Conclusions from the study call into question the effectiveness of online learning for children and teens. The shift to online learning during the COVID pandemic could result in innumerable consequences for children, given the results of the study. The consequences could also be nearly immeasurable.
Dumas noted that the question of to what extent has the pandemic affected social development in children is “important … but difficult to answer, given that the full effects won’t be known for 10, 15 or 20 years.”
Though the study focused primarily on children, the author noted that the results can be extrapolated out to adults. Lack of brain synchrony in virtual interactions is what likely causes what has been called “Zoom fatigue.” Virtual interactions are more likely to cause fatigue because they can seem “more laborious and less natural,” Dumas said.
The authors of the study conclude that more research is needed on the impact that virtual social interaction has on the human maturation process. But more broadly, the results indicate there are exciting answers to seek out about the neurobiology behind brain-to-brain synchrony.

9CBF1509-0BCA-44A6-A7CE-24D65E2F5039

Virtual Communication Could Impair Childhood Brain Development, Study Suggests

Children's Social Development At Risk From Virtual Communication, Study Suggests

Children's Health

Virtual Reality

Restoration of a Pompeii home thought to be owned by two former slaves turned wine traders has just finished after twenty years, and the home is now open for visitors to witness a snapshot of elite <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roman</a> life, circa 79 AD.
Known as the House of Vettii, it was discovered in the late nineteenth century, but constant pillaging, flooding, and bureaucratic neglect prevented the site from being restored until 2002, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-europe-4f7d78b61fb39b5fd3f71cd07ff3eded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press reported</a>. Intense restoration has now been able to reveal the numerous frescoes — or watercolor paintings on walls and ceilings — in the home. The paintings depict many scenes from Greek mythology, which reflect the values and narratives common to elite Roman life.
“The House of the Vetti is like the history of Pompeii and actually of Roman society within one house,” Pompeii’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said. “We’re seeing here the last phase of the Pompeian wall painting with incredible details, so you can stand before these images for hours and still discover new details.”
The two owners of the house were named Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus. Sharing the first two names while having different surnames is an indicator that the two likely had no biological relation and were slaves owned by the same man, likely named Aulus Vettius, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/10/astonishing-pompeii-home-of-men-freed-from-slavery-reopens-to-public" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Guardian</a>. It is believed that their substantial upward economic mobility after achieving freedom was thanks to wine trading.
Zuchtriegel said that the two men “had an incredible career after [slavery] and reached the highest ranks of local society, at least economically,” taking note of the impressive domus and garden. “They evidently tried to show their new status also through culture and through Greek mythological paintings, and it’s all about saying, ‘We’ve made it and so we are part of this elite.’”
A depiction of Hercules as a child crushing two snakes can be found in the living room. Aside from many frescoes, viewers can find marble baths and tables surrounding the garden.
Arianna Spinosa, Pompeii’s architect director of restoration, called the home “iconic,” saying that it “represents the Pompeiian domus par excellence, not only because of the frescoes of exceptional importance, but also because of its layout and architecture.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Pompeii’s House of the Vettii reopens after 20-year restoration" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bHWLtSEWsbg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/pompeii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to National Geographic</a>, much of Pompeii was well-preserved thanks to the thick volcanic ash from the eruption of the nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in 79 AD. The high quality of preservation has allowed archaeologists and historians to almost step back in time and study Roman life. About one-third of the city remains buried. However, the real challenge is not uncovering the rest, rather it is continuing to preserve what has already been uncovered, given it is exposed to weather, pollution, and tourists.

Pompeii

Pompeii Home Of Slaves Turned Roman Elite Opens After 20-Year Restoration

A Newly Restored Pompeii Home Owned By Elite Is Now Open

Italy

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mexico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico’s</a> most visited archaeological site, Chichen Itza, was left empty as protesters blocked roads to the site on Thursday, the fourth day of protests.
Indigenous vendors spearheading the protests have blocked major roadways for entry, leaving roads jammed with buses and cars while the archaeological site has been eerily deserted, <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/01/05/2023/chichen-itza-blockade-continues-leaving-archeological-site-deserted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Semafor reported</a>. Chichen Itza receives 2.5 million visitors per year, <a href="https://www.chichenitza.com/#:~:text=Chichen%20Itza%20welcomes%20over%202%2C500%2C000,bus%20or%20with%20different%20tours." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to its website</a>. However, video shows the tourist hotspot completely empty even though it is officially open.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DYinforma?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DYinforma</a> Sin turistas ni comerciantes en Chichén Itzá. 👇 &quot;Ese grupo no está dejando pasar a nadie&quot;, reportó el director de la zona arqueológica Marco Antonio Santos Ramírez. El sitio está abierto al público, pero como no dejan pasar a nadie, no hay gente, confirmó. <a href="https://t.co/ugOnKuyXJw">pic.twitter.com/ugOnKuyXJw</a>
&mdash; Diario de Yucatán (@DiariodeYucatan) <a href="https://twitter.com/DiariodeYucatan/status/1611043897089875968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DYinforma?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DYinforma</a> Bloquean el acceso a la zona arqueológica de Chichén Itzá y el paso en la carretera federal. ⚠️ Ejidatarios, artesanos y guías de turistas, se unieron para la manifestación. <a href="https://t.co/62G5nmmooQ">pic.twitter.com/62G5nmmooQ</a>
&mdash; Diario de Yucatán (@DiariodeYucatan) <a href="https://twitter.com/DiariodeYucatan/status/1610021434981580801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Local media reported that Indigenous vendors are demanding the director of the Chichen Itza archeological zone, Antonio Santos Ramírez, to step down. They allege that Santos Ramírez limits the number of handicraft stalls allowed on the Indigenous grounds while prohibiting vendors from speaking the Mayan language. Protesters also allege that the director has banned local farmers from using their land for tourist parking and that he enforces these policies using the National Guard.
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We are not allowed into Chichen-itza today. Mayan people are protesting injustice and mistreatment. <a href="https://twitter.com/UniNoticias?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@uninoticias</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/UnivisionNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UnivisionNews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Univision?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@univision</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/chichen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#chichen</a>-itza <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Planton?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Planton</a> <a href="https://t.co/xgveRRaAC6">pic.twitter.com/xgveRRaAC6</a>
&mdash; Leticia Perez (@PerezLeti777) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerezLeti777/status/1609949317858578438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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An activist named Arturo Ciau Puc, with the local farm group known as CIOAC, told Semafor that the director and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, the Mexican agency that oversees historical sites, do not fully understand the current hardships of indigenous Mexicans, according to Semafor. “How does he expect us and the farmers to survive?” Ciau Puc asks. “There&#8217;s no economy for us with these restrictions.”
According to local news site Diario de Yucatán, Santos Ramírez denies the allegations. He refuses to step down, <a href="https://www.yucatan.com.mx/merida/2023/1/4/el-director-de-chichen-itza-descarta-su-renuncia-senala-cabecillas-del-bloqueo-373323.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, “The accusations are a slander, a lie and it is a political flag of that group, nothing more to argue something that has no basis or foundation.”
Santos Ramírez also says that the limitations on vendor stalls are to reduce child labor on the archaeological site.
Chichen Itza has a total of <a href="https://www.chichenitza.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">26 Mayan Ruins</a> on the site, and the most notable Mayan Ruin is the Chichen Itza Pyramid or El Castillo. The site is located on the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico and has an area of about four square miles.
<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Settlers first arrived</a> at the site around 550 AD and it remained active for about a thousand years; it is believed that the site was abandoned by the time the Spanish arrived. Thought to be home to 35,000 people at its peak, Chichen Itza was a religious, political, military, and economic hub for the Mayan people.

Protesters Leave Mayan Ruins Eerily Deserted After Blocking Tourists From Mexico’s Most Popular Archaeological Site

Chichen Itza Is Blocked By Protesters, Leading To An Empty And Eerie Scene At Famous Historical Site

Mexico

Protesters

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/science" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientists</a> have discovered a new layer of brain anatomy that both protects and monitors the brain.
The meningeal layer that surrounds the brain was previously thought to consist of three individual layers: dura, arachnoid, and pia matter. However, researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Rochester utilized advanced imaging technology to discover an additional layer they call the Subarachnoid LYmphatic-like Membrane (SLYM), <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-uncovered-a-whole-new-layer-of-brain-anatomy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ScienceAlert reported</a>.
<div id="attachment_485139" style="width: 272px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-485139" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-485139 size-medium" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SLYM-Diagram-262x300.png" alt="" width="262" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/SLYM-Diagram-262x300.png 262w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/SLYM-Diagram-504x576.png 504w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/SLYM-Diagram.png 612w" sizes="(max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px" />The Brain’s Membrane with SLYM in green (<a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/969911" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Copenhagen</a>)</div>
Most of the research on SLYM has been conducted on mice, but the researchers confirmed the layer’s presence in the human brain, too. The SLYM is just a few cells thick and plays a role in the back-and-forth flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), acting almost like a filter for the good and bad CSF.
&#8220;The discovery of a new anatomic structure that segregates and helps control the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in and around the brain now provides us much greater appreciation of the sophisticated role that CSF plays not only in transporting and removing waste from the brain, but also in supporting its immune defenses,&#8221; said Maiken Nedergaard, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester.
Immune cells were discovered in SLYM, indicating that it is a type of mesothelium, which is a membrane that surrounds other human organs such as the heart and lungs. What makes SLYM unique is that it is incredibly thin and delicate, yet it is a tight barrier, EurekAlert! <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/975546" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. The immune cells in SLYM keep the central nervous system’s own immune cells out of the brain while simultaneously scanning the brain’s CSF for any signs of infection or other abnormalities, and subsequently flushing them out.
The study, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adc8810">published in Science</a>, indicates that SLYM responds to aging and inflammation. When damage is detected, “&#8230;the number of [immune cells] increases in response to inflammation and aging,” researchers wrote.
More specifically, “SLYM fulfills the characteristics of a mesothelium by acting as an immune barrier that prevents exchange of small solutes between the outer and inner subarachnoid space compartments and by covering blood vessels in the subarachnoid space,&#8221; wrote professor of neuroanatomy at the University of Copenhagen Kjeld Møllgård, M.D., and colleagues.
Additionally, the brain may receive a bit of protection from the skull thanks to SLYM. Various cardiovascular, respiratory, and head movements subject the brain to potential impacts and friction with the skull, but “SLYM may … reduce friction between the brain and skull” during such jarring physiological activity.
The discovery of SLYM opens up a wide breadth of opportunities to investigate the relationship between the brain, central nervous system, and various diseases. Given SLYM’s response to aging and inflammation, diseases like Alzheimer&#8217;s, multiple sclerosis, and central nervous system infections are of particular interest to how the newly discovered membrane may play a role in them. These observations also raise points of reconsideration for how drugs and gene therapeutics are delivered to the brain.

Scientists Discover An Added Layer Of Complexity To Brain Anatomy, Literally

Scientists Discover A New Layer of Brain Anatomy

Rochester

Promising work in the field of machine learning indicates that people with severe tetraplegia will have a new way to navigate the world with mind-controlled wheelchairs.
Researchers have found that tetraplegic users can navigate natural, and even cluttered, environments with a powered wheelchair using brain signals communicated to a brain-machine interface (BMI), SciTechDaily <a href="https://scitechdaily.com/not-science-fiction-paralyzed-people-can-navigate-using-mind-controlled-wheelchairs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The primary aim of the study was to demonstrate the reciprocal learning process between users and the BMI algorithm.
“We show that mutual learning of both the user and the brain-machine interface algorithm are both important for users to successfully operate such wheelchairs,” said José del R. Millán, the corresponding author of the study from the University of Texas at Austin. “Our research highlights a potential pathway for improved clinical translation of non-invasive brain-machine interface technology.”
Three participants wore specialized caps that detected their brainwaves through electroencephalography (EEG). Researchers assigned them specific thoughts to indicate directions for the wheelchair. Thoughts of moving both hands indicated moving left, and thoughts of moving both feet indicated moving right. Over the two-to-five month <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)01690-X" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a>, with sessions being three times per week, it was found that not only did the algorithm learn from the users, but the users learned from the machine.
Participants one and three had noticeable changes in their brainwave patterns. Participant one showed 95% accuracy with commands by the end of the study, and participant three showed 98% accuracy — drastic improvements from the beginning, the study notes.
“We see from the EEG results that the subject has consolidated a skill of modulating different parts of their brains to generate a pattern for ‘go left’ and a different pattern for ‘go right,’” said Millán. “We believe there is a cortical reorganization that happened as a result of the participants’ learning process.”
The study advances the opportunities for BMI technology, however, the researchers recognize there is more to learn. The second participant showed relatively stagnant progress in accuracy improvement, suggesting that the mutual learning between user and machine is far from understood. Authors of the study note “more and larger studies are needed” due to its promising results, but also low number of participants.
Artificial intelligence has advanced other areas of life. The technology is now able to <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2022/artificial-intelligence-cancer-imaging" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aid</a> doctors in diagnosing cancer. John Deere has started to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/let-it-run-24-hours-a-day-how-artificial-intelligence-and-automated-tractors-will-change-the-face-of-farming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">roll out</a> automated tractors that <a href="https://youtu.be/QvFoRk4JsPc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">use</a> artificial intelligence for self-driving. Machine learning has even found its way into the world of art with <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dall-E 2</a>, where the machine learning software can generate an image in any style with just a few keywords.
Success with mind-controlled wheelchairs is the latest example of artificial intelligence creating new possibilities and improvements, though it remains a subject of great debate.

Brain Scan

Mind-Controlled Wheelchairs: Study Shows Promising Possibilities For Paralyzed People

Texas

University of Texas

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Trevor Mauk