Did you know migratory birds and sea turtles are able to navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field? It’s called magnetoreception. Basically, being able to navigate was evolutionarily advantageous, so life evolved ways to feel the Earth’s magnetic field. A LOT of ways. Like a shocking amount of ways.
It would seem evolution adores detecting magnetic fields. And it makes sense! A literal “sense of direction” is quite useful in staying alive – nearly all life benefits from it, including us.
We don’t totally understand how our magnetoreception works yet, but we know that it does. In 2019, some Caltech researchers put some people in a room shielded from the Earth’s magnetic field, with a big magnetic field generator in it. They hooked them up to an EEG, and watched what happened in their brains as they manipulated the magnetic field. The result: some of those people showed a response to the magnetic fields on the EEG!
That gets my noggin joggin. Our brain responds to magnetic field changes, but we aren’t aware of it? What if it affects our mood? Would you believe me if I told you lunar gravity influences the Earth’s magnetosphere? Perhaps I was too dismissive of astrology. — Read More
Daily Archives: December 15, 2025
Video App Zoom Shows Surprising Result By Topping Humanity’s Last Exam Benchmark, Beats Gemini 3 Pro
Topping AI benchmarks are usually thought to be the preserve of the top four AI frontier labs, but a surprising new name has emerged on the Humanity’s Last Exam benchmark.
Zoom, the video conferencing platform, has announced it achieved a state-of-the-art score of 48.1% on the Humanity’s Last Exam (HLE) full-set benchmark, surpassing Google’s Gemini 3 Pro with tools, which previously held the top position at 45.8%. The 2.3 percentage point improvement marks a significant achievement for a company better known for video calls than AI research. — Read More
Google Translate now lets you hear real-time translations in your headphones
Google is rolling out a beta experience that lets you hear real-time translations in your headphones, the company announced on Friday. The tech giant is also bringing advanced Gemini capabilities to Google Translate and expanding its language-learning tools in the Translate app.
The new real-time headphone translations experience keeps each speaker’s tone, emphasis, and cadence intact, so it’s easier to follow the conversation and tell who’s saying what, Google says. The new capability essentially turns any pair of headphones into a real-time, one-way translation device. — Read More
The Looming Existential Crisis of AI
… [AI] is not a flood, and it’s not even a tsunami. It’s a landslide, and it will not recede.
I have come to two conclusions. First, no matter how great or terrible you think AI may be, engagement is not an option. You will adapt or you will die. How quickly or how slowly is anyone’s guess. This conclusion came through an experience, one I will describe below.
Second, AI will not destroy us. Instead, we will destroy ourselves, as we give up our minds, our agency, and our social institutions to AI control.
The future is not Orwellian; it is Huxleyan. — Read More
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