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Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most fascinating and controversial topics of our time. It has been hailed as a revolutionary force that can transform every aspect of human life, from health care to entertainment. It has also been feared as a potential threat that could surpass human intelligence and control, leading to a dystopian scenario where machines dominate over humans. One of the most influential voices that has shaped our collective imagination of…
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This article is more than one year old. You’ve probably seen the type of ghost hunting apps that run on smartphones and tablets that spew out random words. While most of these words are random, some seem more than coincidental and eerily relevant to the haunted location where the app is being used, which begs the question… are we being fooled by GPS? Probably not, because to tag countless locations with relevant words in this…
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The show follows investigators as they look for evidence needed to prove that extra-terrestrials have made contact with the human world. Discovery Channel has greenlighted a series that investigates whether aliens have made contact on Earth. The series, titled Contact, features six highly trained investigators looking to solve that mystery using “groundbreaking CIA-developed software, military special operations investigative techniques and boots-on-the-ground journalism to track down leads around the world.” Discovery says this is the “first ever…
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In 1868, construction began on a new mental asylum in Athens, Ohio, in order to provide urgently needed mental health care to the area at a time when such facilities were facing massive overcrowding around the nation. The hospital was meant to operate under a new groundbreaking plan proposed by the American physician Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, who wanted to reform mental health care and make it more humane and pleasant for patients in an…
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At the recent Space Renaissance Festival held in Berlin, I attended a talk by Michael Waltemathe from the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany on the so-called “overview effect,” a term coined by author Frank White in his 1987 book of the same name. Science writer Jeffrey Kluger has described this effect as “the change that occurs when [astronauts] see the world from above, as a place where borders are invisible, where racial, religious, and economic…