Author: chemistadmin

Scientists examine how roasting affects the perfect brew

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How to get the perfect cup of coffee? Credit: MarkSweep/Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roasted_coffee_beans.jpg.

A new study in published in Scientific Reports suggests that the perfect cup of coffee is influenced by a complex blend of variables such as bean processing method, brewing time, and grind size, not just the roast level.

Caffeine content and extraction yield are two of the most vital variables for coffee enthusiasts, especially those who approach it with precision.

Extraction yield is a measure of the amount of soluble material from the coffee grounds that gets dissolved in the brewed coffee. It essentially reflects the efficiency of the brewing process in extracting compounds from the coffee grounds.

Led by Dr. Zachary R. Lindsey, Assistant Professor of Physics at Berry College, U.S., the study focuses on how the degree of roast affects these two variables. Phys.org spoke to Dr. Lindsey, a self-proclaimed coffee nerd about the study.

“Over 20 years ago, I heard a barista claim that dark roasts have more caffeine, but a decade later, I was exposed to the contrasting idea that light roasts were the king of caffeine. Yet, I couldn’t find any convincing data.”

“It wasn’t until I picked up coffee roasting as a hobby in 2022 that I started to see the missing pieces of the puzzle. Luckily, two passionate undergraduate students on my research team were also intrigued by this mystery, and we got to work,” said Dr. Lindsey.

Choice of coffee, roast, and brew method

The researchers chose Ethiopian coffee to conduct their study. Ethiopia has a long tradition of producing coffee dating back centuries as it is the country where Coffee arabica, aka the coffee plant, originates.

In this, they are investigating natural and washed processed coffee.

In the natural method, the coffee cherries are dried with the seeds still inside. The seeds are separated after drying, resulting in fruity and complex flavors in the coffee beans. On the other hand, in the washed method, the seeds are separated from the coffee cherries and then dried, leading to a cleaner and brighter flavor profile.

The researchers then used five different degrees of roasts for the green coffee beans, choosing a brewing time of one, two, and ten minutes.

The researchers chose the AeroPress brewing method with a 15:1 water-to-coffee ratio. The AeroPress is a pressure-based brewing method, similar to an espresso machine, but on a smaller scale. The AeroPress steeps the coffee and uses pressure to extract the brew through a paper filter.

Dr. Lindsey explained the choice behind the AeroPress, saying, “When selecting a brew method, the main goal was to implement a procedure that could consistently produce brews within a wide range of extraction yields by only varying the brew time.”

“The AeroPress stood out as a means to achieve these desired outcomes with minimal variation across all roast batches.”

Overall, the researchers had 30 unique combinations of brewed coffee to study.

Analyzing the coffee

The researchers used three analysis techniques to analyze caffeine content and extraction yield.

To measure compounds like caffeine, chlorogenic acids, and other soluble compounds in the brewed coffee, they used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

$SEM image of roasted coffee seed (left) and overlaid ellipses mapped to pores (right) for determination of fractional porosity (scale bar = 100 μm). Credit: Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-80385-3$
SEM image of roasted coffee seed (left) and overlaid ellipses mapped to pores (right) for determination of fractional porosity (scale bar = 100 μm). Credit: Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-80385-3

This method separates different compounds in the coffee based on their interactions with a standard material, quantifying individual concentrations.

Next, they used refractometry. This method measures the bending of light through the brewed coffee, indicating the extraction yield, i.e., how much soluble material is dissolved from the coffee grounds.

Finally, they used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the surface of the coffee beans and grounds. This helped them to examine the grain size and porosity. SEM provides information about the impact of roasting on the physical features of the coffee beans.

“SEM allows for a straightforward characterization approach that provides two-dimensional information about the structure of the roasted coffee. The evolving porosity of the roasting coffee plays a pivotal role in compound mobility during roasting and brewing,” explained Dr. Lindsey.

Porosity, caffeine, and extraction

The researchers found that caffeine content in the brewed coffee depended on the roasting process and the extraction yield.

“During roasting, the volume and porosity of the coffee seeds increase as the roast progresses, which makes it easier for compounds to move in or out of the system,” explained Dr. Lindsey.

A greater porosity implies more of the inner surface area of the coffee grounds is exposed, making it easier for water to penetrate and dissolve compounds like caffeine and flavors. This has an impact on the entire extraction process that occurs during brewing.

For the caffeine content, the researchers found that when using identical brewing setups, light and medium roasts had a higher caffeine content than darker roasts. This is due to the caffeine loss during roasting, resulting in typically lower extraction yields for darker roasts.

Conversely, they found that the darker roast’s caffeine content was higher when the extraction yield was kept consistent for all the roasts.

“However, darker roasts consistently exhibited lower extraction yields than light and medium roasts, so it was not always possible to achieve a common extraction yield for all degrees of roast,” added Dr. Lindsey.

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New insights

The competing mechanisms of increased porosity improving extraction efficiency and darker roasts losing extractable compounds revealed a unique insight contradicting previous assumptions.

Caffeine sublimation—the process of caffeine transitioning directly from a solid to a gas—occurs at higher temperatures than previously thought.

“Although the interplay between roast degree and caffeine content has been addressed over 20 times in the literature, the prevailing theory is that caffeine remains stable during the roasting process.”

“However, we establish a clear relationship between roast degree, caffeine content, and extraction yield,” said Dr. Lindsey.

The researchers plan to extend this work to study the relationship between roast degree and extraction yield for decaffeinated coffees. They also aim to test it with percolation-based brewing methods to see if they yield similar results.

The bottom line is, if you want a cup of coffee with the maximum caffeine content choose a medium roast, says Dr. Lindsey.

More information:
Zachary R. Lindsey et al, Caffeine content in filter coffee brews as a function of degree of roast and extraction yield, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-80385-3

© 2024 Science X Network

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Scientists examine how roasting affects the perfect brew (2024, December 11)
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December 11, 2024
Free App Duplicati Can Back Up Your Computer to Any Cloud Service

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Backing up your files, ideally in multiple locations, is essential if you don’t want to lose any data. Your documents, images, and videos can disappear if anything happens to your computer. It’s also a good idea for at least one of your backups to be off-site—if a fire destroys your house it will probably also destroy your backup drive.

Most of us know this. The problem is that paying for a dedicated backup service feels silly if you’re already paying for cloud storage. Most cloud providers, after all, offer more space than the average user knows what to do with. Microsoft 365’s family plan comes with 6 terabytes of storage, for example, while Google One’s premium plan offers 2 TB. If you don’t need all that room for your documents and photos, why not put some of it to work for backups of your whole computer?

Duplicati is a free and open source application that lets you back up any computer to cloud services like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive. It supports over 20 storage options, so there’s a good chance you’ve already got a good backup destination. Even better: Duplicati encrypts your files before backing them up, meaning the cloud service provider you’re using has no ability whatsoever to access your data.

In our article about how to back up your digital life we briefly mentioned Duplicati as an alternative to commercial backup services, but we didn’t really dig into how to use it.

Getting Started With Duplicati

Duplicati is available for free. The homepage will ask you to sign up for an account, but you don’t need to do that. You can just download the application from the website or from Github. Installation is straightforward on both Windows and macOS.

After installation, you will notice a new icon in the Windows system tray or the Mac menu bar.

Courtesy of Duplicati

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December 11, 2024
The Download: Bluesky’s impersonators, and shaking up the economy with ChatGPT

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—Melissa Heikkilä

Like many others, I recently joined Bluesky. On Thanksgiving, I was delighted to see a private message from a fellow AI reporter, Will Knight from Wired. Or at least that’s who I thought I was talking to. I became suspicious when the person claiming to be Knight said they were from Miami, when Knight is, in fact, from the UK. The account handle was almost identical to the real Will Knight’s handle, and used his profile photo.

Then more messages started to appear. Paris Marx, a prominent tech critic, slid into my DMs to ask me how I was doing. Both accounts were eventually deleted, but not before trying to get me to set up a crypto wallet and a “cloud mining pool” account. Knight and Marx confirmed to us these accounts did not belong to them, and that they have been fighting impersonator accounts of themselves for weeks.

They’re not alone. The platform has had to suddenly cater to an influx of millions of new users in recent months as people leave X in protest of Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform. But this sudden wave of new users —and the inevitable scammers — means Bluesky is still playing catch up. Read the full story.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: ChatGPT is about to revolutionize the economy. We need to decide what that looks like.

You can practically hear the shrieks from corner offices around the world: “What is our ChatGPT play? How do we make money off this?”

Whether it’s based on hallucinatory beliefs or not, an AI gold rush has started to mine the anticipated business opportunities from generative AI models like ChatGPT.

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December 11, 2024
9 Best Diffusers for Curly Hair (2024), Tested and Reviewed

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Every person is different, and it can take some trial and error to nail down the right diffuser routine. Maybe you want to dry your hair fully, or maybe you want to take it to 80 percent. Maybe you want a leave-in, a curl gel, and a hair oil, or maybe you just need a little heat protectant. These are some products we like to use during our own hairstyling routines that might come in handy for yours.

Turbie Twist Microfiber Towel ($17): I like to plop my hair after the shower for a few minutes to absorb some water before diffusing. These microfiber towels are designed to stay put, and they soak up a lot of moisture without drying my hair too much. Others swear by plopping with a T-shirt, but this is what works best for me.—Louryn Strampe

Pattern Leave-In Conditioner ($28) and Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk Cream and Gel ($17) I put a glob of leave-in conditioner in my hair after plopping, followed by a palmful of curl cream, and finally a generous amount of gel. This is what primes my natural curl clumps to look their best post-diffusion. It may be too heavy for some curl textures, but this is my favorite method. —Louryn Strampe

Kristin Ess Style Assist Blow-Dry Mist ($15): This is one of the most effective heat protectants I’ve tried that actually cuts drying time—halfway through blow-drying, I can actually tell where I sprayed it and where I didn’t. I wish it were as easy to apply as the Milk_Shake foam primer, below, but the bottle still has a decently targeted spray and the product is lightweight enough not to leave residue. —Kat Merck

Milk_Shake Lifestyling Blow-Dry Primer ($26): This lightly scented heat protectant is meant to prevent color fading and reduce drying time. It doesn’t do the latter quite as effectively as the Kristin Ess, above, but it will shave off a couple minutes and gets high marks for coming out of the bottle as an easy-to-apply foam, so it’s a snap to ensure you’re getting even coverage. —Kat Merck

Davines This Is a Curl Gel Oil ($32): This gentle curl gel oil has been fantastic for my fine hair, helping my curls form and keeping them moisturized without weighing them down or making my hair crunchy. It starts out feeling like a gel in your hand, then transforms into an oil on your hair. It’s best to use with a diffuser, though I’ve occasionally used it on air-dry days with similarly good results. —Nena Farrell

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December 11, 2024
We’ve found an answer to the puzzle of how the largest galaxies formed

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It is as humbling as it is motivating to think about how much we still have to learn about the universe. My collaborators and I have just tackled one of astrophysics’ enduring mysteries: how massive elliptical galaxies can form.

Now, for the first time, we have solid observational evidence that provides an answer. Our results have recently been published in Nature.

Galaxies in the present-day universe fall into two broad categories. There are spiral galaxies, like our Milky Way, which are rich in gas and continuously form stars in a rotating disc. There are also elliptical galaxies, which are large and spherical rather than flat, similar to a rugby ball. The latter don’t produce new stars but are dominated by stars formed more than 10 billion years ago.

The formation of elliptical galaxies has long been difficult to explain with cosmological models describing the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to now. One of the challenges is that star formation during the era when elliptical galaxies formed (10 billion to 12 billion years ago) was thought to occur within large rotating discs, similar to our own Milky Way.

So how did the galaxies transform their shape from flat discs to three-dimensional elliptical galaxies?

Observations with Alma

By analysing data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (Alma), we identified the birth sites of giant elliptical galaxies. We discovered that local elliptical galaxies can form through intense and short-lived star formation episodes early in the universe, as opposed to starting out as a rotating disc and becoming more elliptical over time.

Three Alma antennas on the 5km altitude plateau of Chajnantor in Chile.
wikipedia, CC BY-SA

Our study examined the distribution of dust in more than 100 distant galaxies, which we know were forming lots of stars back when the universe was between 2.2 billion and 5.9 billion years old. Dust indicates the presence of gas — the material from which new stars are formed — and enables us to study the regions within a galaxy that are actively forming new stars.

Using a novel observational technique, we found that the dust in these distant galaxies is extremely compact and isn’t what we expected from flat disc-shaped galaxies. Furthermore, we were able to infer the three-dimensional geometry of the dust-emitting regions. This analysis indicates that most of the early star-forming galaxies were actually spherical rather than disc-shaped. In fact, they closely resemble the shape of elliptical galaxies near us today.

We then used cosmological computer simulations to interpret the observational results and understand the physical mechanisms that may have caused dust and gas to sink into the centres of these distant, star-forming galaxies.

Our analysis reveals that the simultaneous action of cold gas streams from surrounding galaxies along with galaxy interactions and mergers can drive gas and dust into compact, star-forming cores within these galaxies. The simulations also show us that this process was common in the early universe, providing a key explanation for the rapid formation of elliptical galaxies.

Our findings add a crucial piece to this puzzle, advancing our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution.

A novel observational technique

This discovery was made possible by a novel technique for analysing ALMA observations. Alma data are different than the images we are used to see from optical telescopes. In fact, Alma operates by combining signals from multiple antennas that work together as a single, giant telescope.

This technique is known as interferometry, and while it allows to obtain sharp images of distant galaxies, the data analysis is more complex than for traditional optical images. Our new technique enables more precise measurements of dust distribution compared to previous methods, offering a significant advancement in this field.

For this research we used archival, open-access Alma data accumulated over several years. This highlights the power of open-source data, where scientists share their findings, and worldwide collaborations in driving scientific breakthroughs.

Future observations with JWST and Euclid space telescopes will further map the distribution of stars in the distant ancestors of today’s elliptical galaxies. And the Extremely Large Telescope, with its 39-metre wide mirror, will provide unprecedented detail of the star-forming cores in distant galaxies.

Additionally, sharper observations of gas dynamics with ALma and the Very Large Telescope will reveal how gas moves towards galaxy centres, fuelling star formation and shaping the galaxies we see today.

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December 11, 2024
Kyu’s Tiny Camera Only Captures 9-Second Videos

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This is hardly the first time a company has pitched simplicity as a way to capture and relive memories. Google debuted an AI-powered camera called Clips in 2018 that could record short videos, and you didn’t even have to press a button. Just turn it on and the AI could figure out the right moments to capture, and these 7-second clips were then accessible in the phone app. Clips was discontinued nearly two years after its launch.

The time may be ripe for Kyu to step in as a private, personal social network. BeReal, the social media app that championed authenticity, has been in sharp decline since its explosive growth in 2022. The mass migration from X to Bluesky has left some people wondering where to post. And TikTok may get banned in the US in 2025.

Perhaps the intent of carrying around Kyu in your hand, the instant camera-like “limit” on how much you can capture, and the easily stitched-together edits in the app will help create memory bursts that are bite-sized but still can transport you beyond the same old scroll. Since you’ll have to be more choosy with what you capture before space runs out, you won’t have unnecessary files hogging space. And the resulting videos are mercifully short—no one wants to sit through your 10-minute travel log. You can also control whether these videos are saved in your digital library instead of the automatic nonstop backup most of us are used to with our smartphones.

Courtesy of Kyu

Right now, the Google Photos app has “Memories” you can cycle through that show old images, but these are often random photos chosen by Google’s AI instead of a collection of memories tied to a specific event. Google recently launched a feature that employs generative artificial intelligence to create a yearly recap of your memories with AI-written captions. My 2024 recap didn’t particularly tug at my heartstrings, but maybe Kyu clips would have made more of an impact.

This is the first product from a new company, so we’ll need to see the camera in action before passing judgment. I’m hoping it can complete its promised functions successfully—a low bar for 2024. The Kyu is available for preorder globally and costs $299. There’s an optional $30 subscription in the works to, ironically, store your memories in the cloud, though Ando assures me it will also include other perks like insurance to protect the device, a repair program, and even a discount on future products.

The hardware launches in April, but if you have an iPhone, you can download the Kyu app now and start capturing 9-second videos. Just don’t call them Vines.

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December 11, 2024
The cultural complexities of phasing out coal mining in Europe
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Agnieszka Szostok, Blanka Tarsoly and Devesh Mishra, European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) Young Energy Ambassadors, discuss the socio-cultural impact of phasing out coal mining in Europe and inclusive strategies to honour heritage while transitioning to sustainable energy.

The phase-out of coal across the European Union is essential to combating climate change. However, for coal-dependent regions, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, coal is not just a source of energy – it is part of their cultural fabric.

Understanding the socio-cultural impact of the transition away from coal is key to ensuring an inclusive transition while preserving culture and leaving no one behind.

Historical significance of coal mining in Europe

Coal mining has played a transformative role in shaping Europe’s industrial and economic history. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, coal became the primary driver of industrialisation, powering factories, railways, and urban expansion.

In countries like Romania, Germany, and Poland, coal mining was the backbone of economic growth, providing jobs to millions.

Silesia in Poland, the Ruhr region in Germany, and Jiu Valley in Romania emerged as industrial powerhouses thanks to their rich coal reserves.

In these regions, coal was not just an energy resource; it became the foundation of local economies and fostered strong, robust working-class communities.

The danger associated with their occupation formed profound and lasting comradeship among coal miners. Coal thus did not just become a symbol of economic prosperity but also of labour solidarity within mining communities, forming a key part of regional identities.

Cultural and regional traditions tied to coal mining

In coal-rich regions, the mining industry became intertwined with local traditions and cultural identity.

For example, in Poland’s Silesia, Barbórka, celebrated on December 4th, is a vital festival that honours Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners.

This event blends religious and secular traditions with parades, prayers, and community gatherings celebrating the mining profession and the region’s deep connection to coal.

Similarly, in Germany’s Ruhr region, coal mining is commemorated through festivals, public monuments, and museums, such as the Zeche Zollverein in Essen, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Though the coal mines have largely closed, the Ruhr’s industrial past remains alive through such landmarks, representing the industrial development of the entire region and honouring the resilience and all the hard work that made it possible.

In Romania’s Jiu Valley, the historic Lupeni strike of 1929 came to represent the miners’ collective struggle for better and more fair working conditions. The strike’s legacy spans from features in songs, movies and statues, and up until 1989, Miners’ Days was also celebrated.

The impact of the decline in coal mining

The closure of coal mines across Europe has brought significant economic and social challenges to mining communities.

Unemployment rates surged as mines closed, leading to population decline and the erosion of long-standing traditions. In many cases, younger generations have moved away in search of opportunities, leaving behind ageing populations and weakening local economies.

Potential job losses connected to the coal industry. (Source: Joint Research Centre (JRC), 2018)

While environmental awareness has grown, and the push for renewable energy has gained momentum, coal regions have struggled to adapt.

Despite initiatives like the EU’s Just Transition Fund and the Coal Regions in Transition Initiative (CRiT), which aim to support affected areas, the economic restructuring has been slow and difficult.

Local traditions and cultural heritage tied to coal mining are at risk of fading as these communities grapple with the changes.

Rebuilding collective identity: The way forward

Moving forward, it is crucial to find ways to re-imagine identities tied to coal extraction to ultimately create an energy transition that encompasses a cultural shift, too.

Proposal 1: Local energy communities

Local energy cooperatives and renewable energy projects could help restore a sense of belonging to regions transitioning away from coal.

By involving locals in the management and ownership of new energy initiatives, these projects can provide new economic opportunities and foster community spirit, much like coal mining once did.

Proposal 2: Repurposing coal festivals

Modern-day festivals are increasingly shifting to environmentally conscious modus operandi – of course, with coal festivals, the switch inevitably also includes a thematic one.

Evolving existing coal traditions and festivals by adding a new focus on the energy transition could help keep traditions alive while introducing a focus on sustainability.

This approach could highlight both the importance of the energy transition and the value of honouring the hard work and culture of coal mining communities.

This opinion editorial is produced in co-operation with the European Sustainable Energy Week 2025. See ec.europa.eu/eusew for open calls.

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December 11, 2024
Bluesky has an impersonator problem

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Both accounts were eventually deleted, but not before trying to get me to set up a crypto wallet and a “cloud mining pool” account. Knight and Marx confirmed to us these accounts did not belong to them, and that they have been fighting impersonator accounts of themselves for weeks.

They are not the only ones. The New York Times tech journalist Sheera Frankel and Molly White, a researcher and cryptocurrency critic, have also experienced people impersonating them on Bluesky, most likely to scam people. This tracks with research from Alexios Mantzarlis, the director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech, who manually went through the top 500 Bluesky users by follower count, and found that of the 305 accounts belonging to a named person, at least 74 had at least one impersonation account.

The platform has had to suddenly cater to an influx of millions of new users in recent months as people leave X in protest of Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform. Its user base has more than doubled since September from 10 million users to over 20 million. This sudden wave of new users —and the inevitable scammers — means Bluesky is still playing catchup, says White.

Mnogi muškarci suočavaju se s izazovima u intimnim odnosima, što može značajno utjecati na njihovo samopouzdanje. U potrazi za rješenjima, neki se odlučuju za proizvode poput “aldara prodaja”, koji mogu biti dostupni putem internetskih platformi. Posjetite “ed-hrvatski.com” kako biste saznali više o dostupnim opcijama i podršci u prevladavanju ovog stanja.

“These accounts block me as soon as they’re created, so I don’t initially see them,” Marx says. Both Marx and White describe a frustrating pattern: When one account is taken down, another one pops up soon after. White says she had experienced a similar trend on X and TikTok too.

A way to prove that people are who they say they are would help. Before Musk took the reins of the platform, employees at X, previously known as Twitter, verified users such as journalists and politicians, and gave them a blue tick next to their handles so people knew they were dealing with credible news sources. After Musk took over, he scrapped the old verification system and offered blue ticks to paying customers.

The ongoing crypto-impersonation scams have raised calls for Bluesky to initiate something similar to Twitter’s original verification profile. Some users, such as investigative journalist Hunter Walker, have set up their own initiatives to verify journalists. However, users are currently limited in the ways they can verify themselves on the platform. By default, usernames on Bluesky end with the bsky.social suffix. The platform recommends that news organizations and high-profile people verify their identities, by setting up their own websites as their usernames. For example, US Senators have verified their accounts with the suffix senate.gov. But this technique isn’t foolproof. For one, it doesn’t actually verify anyone’s identity, only that they are affiliated with a particular website.

Bluesky did not respond to MIT Technology Review’s requests for comment, but the company’s safety team posted that the platform had updated its impersonation policy to be more aggressive, and would remove impersonation and handle-squatting accounts. The company says it has also quadrupled its moderation team to take action on impersonation reports more quickly. But it seems to be struggling to keep up. “We still have a large backlog of moderation reports due to the influx of new users as we shared previously, though we are making progress,” the company continued.

Bluesky’s decentralized nature makes kicking out impersonators a trickier problem to solve. Competitors such as X or Threads rely on centralized teams within the company who moderate unwanted content and behavior, such as impersonation. But Bluesky is built on the AT Protocol, a decentralized, open-source technology, which allows users more control over what kind of content they see and to build communities around particular content. Most people sign up to Bluesky Social, the main social network, which has its own community guidelines which ban impersonation. Bluesky Social is just one of the services or “clients” that people can use Bluesky for, and other services have their own moderation practices and terms.

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December 11, 2024
Generative AI Is My Research and Writing Partner. Should I Disclose It?

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“If I use an AI tool for research or to help me create something, should I cite it in my completed work as a source? How do you properly give attribution to AI tools when you use them?”

—Citation Seeker

Dear Citation,

The straightforward answer is that if you’re using generative AI for research purposes, disclosure is probably not necessary. Yet, attribution is probably required if you use ChatGPT or another AI tool for composition.

Anytime you’re feeling ethically conflicted about disclosing your engagement with AI software, here are two guiding questions I think you should ask yourself: Did I utilize AI for research or composition? And might the recipient of this AI-assisted composition feel misled if the tools were revealed to be synthetic instead of organic? Sure, these questions may not map perfectly to every situation, and academics are definitely held to a higher standard when it comes to proper citation, nevertheless I fully believe taking five minutes to reflect can help you understand appropriate usage and avoid unnecessary headaches.

Distinguishing between research and composition is a crucial first step. If I’m using generative AI as a kind of unreliable encyclopedia that can point me toward other sources or broaden my perspective on a topic, but not as part of the actual writing, I think that’s less problematic and unlikely to leave the stench of deception. Always double-check any facts you run across in the chatbot’s outputs, and never reference a ChatGPT output or Perplexity page as a primary source of truth. Most chatbots can now link to outside sources on the web, so you can click through to read more. Think of it, in this context, as part of the information infrastructure. ChatGPT can be the road you drive on, but the final destination should be some external link.

Let’s say you decide to use a chatbot to sketch out a first draft, or have it come up with writing/images/audio/video to blend with yours. In this case, I think erring on the side of disclosure is smart. Even the Dominos cheese sticks in the Uber Eats app now include a disclaimer that the food description was generated by AI and may list inaccurate ingredients.

Every time you use AI for creation, and in some cases for research, you should be honing in on the second question. Essentially, ask yourself if the reader or viewer would feel tricked by learning later on that portions of what they experienced were generated by AI. If so, you totally should use proper attribution by explaining how you used the tool, out of respect for your audience. Not only would generating parts of this column without disclosure go against WIRED’s policy, it would also just be a dry and unfun experience for the both of us.

By considering the people who are going to be enjoying your work and your intentions for creating it in the first place, you can add context to your AI usage. That context is helpful for getting through tricky situations. In most cases, a work email generated by AI and proofread by you is probably just fine. Even so, using generative AI to draft a condolence email after a death would be an example of insensitivity—and something that has actually happened. If a human on the other side of the communication is seeking to connect with you on a personal, emotional level, consider closing out of that ChatGPT browser tab and pulling out a notepad and pen.

“How can educators teach adolescents how to use AI tools responsibly and ethically? Do the advantages of AI outweigh the threats?”

—Raised Hand

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December 11, 2024
The amazing talents of pigeons – and why we should learn to love them

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“Hello again!” Pigeons can remember individual human faces

Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

I was walking in the park with a friend recently, when they pointed at a pigeon and told me I was looking at their favourite bird. I was incredulous. Pigeons? Those winged vermin? My friend responded with this twisted logic: it makes a lot of sense for pigeons to be your favourite bird, because you get to enjoy them all the time.

Temporarily bemused, I wondered if anyone could really be so enamoured with pigeons. Turns out, the joke’s on me. When I spoke to other friends and colleagues, a surprising number of them had a lot of love for the humble pidge. One New Scientist colleague, who will remain nameless, confessed to having a secret pigeon tattoo. I even saw a news report about a couple whose adopted pigeon sleeps in their bed.

As I read around a little, I found that pigeons do have a lot to recommend them. Aside from their well-known homing abilities, they are unassumingly intelligent. They are no mammal, but do produce a kind of milk. They kiss each other, applaud themselves after sex and can recognise individual people (and can remember the ones who are mean to them). Add all that together and maybe, I thought, I could learn to love this seemingly ordinary bird after all. So, armed with my curiosity and a bag of oats, I set out to do just that.

A bit of bird-watching

I wanted to conduct my investigation with at least a whiff of scientific integrity, so I conceived of an “experiment”. First, I…

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December 11, 2024