Author: Geek Planet

During the Wednesday, November 19, plated dinner at COSM 2025, Dr. Michael Egnor and historian of science Michael Shermer participated in a panel moderated by Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jay W. Richards. Egnor and Shermer take opposite views on whether an immortal soul exists and whether human beings are machines. Michael Egnor Dr. Egnor, a Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at State University of New York, Stony Brook, an award-winning brain surgeon, and first author of The Immortal Mind (2025) told the audience that he began his career as an atheist. He was informed by his textbooks that consciousness is…

Google has added a new feature to NotebookLM that turns messy research into something you can actually use. The company has introduced Data Tables, a tool that pulls information from multiple sources and automatically organizes it into clean, structured tables that can be exported directly to Google Sheets for further editing, sharing, or use in Google Docs. NotebookLM has always been about helping users make sense of scattered notes, PDFs, and documents using AI. Data Tables builds on this idea by handling one of the most time-consuming parts of research, which is manual organization. Instead of copying and pasting information…

For years, small- to medium-sized businesses without big budgets turned to independent creative shops for their ads. Now, tech tools like Google Pomelli and Canva Grow are offering new AI-powered agency-in-a-box tools, promising everything from brand management to campaign execution. As tech behemoths vie for SMBs (and their ad dollars), independent agencies may soon find themselves feeling squeezed.“It’s cynical almost because it’s the agencies that have built the advertising business together with Meta and TikTok and Google,” said Rogier Vijverberg, founder and head of creative — or his formal title at the creative shop SuperHeroes, “chief creative hero.” He added,…

MediaTek just dropped two new chipsets, and it feels like they are finally executing on a promise they made a while ago: bringing flagship-level power to phones that don’t necessarily cost a thousand dollars. The new Dimensity 9500s and Dimensity 8500 aren’t just incremental updates; they seem to be a deliberate attempt to close the gap between “good enough” and “top tier.” The Dimensity 9500s is clearly the headline act here. It’s built on that cutting-edge 3nm process, which is a big deal for efficiency. What is interesting is the architecture—they are using an “All Big Core” design, meaning they…

The best computer programmers and engineers must be good at scheduling. This week’s Micro Softy tests this ability. Big Tony Mullins, known to his friends as Sisyphus Fats, exercises by pushing a giant bowling ball up a 100 foot hill. Every minute, he pushes the ball three feet closer to the top and then the bowling ball slides two feet back.  After regaining his breath, Sisyphus Fats pushes the ball another three feet up the hill and it slides back two. This happens every minute. How many minutes did it take for Sisyphus Fats to push the ball to the…

A full third of UK citizens have turned to artificial intelligence for emotional support, companionship, or social interaction, according to a new report from the government’s AI Security Institute (AISI). The data shows that nearly one in 10 people are using systems like chatbots for emotional purposes on a weekly basis, with 4% engaging with them every single day. Because of this shift, the AISI is calling for more research, pointing to the tragic death of US teenager Adam Raine, who took his own life this year after discussing suicide with ChatGPT. “People are increasingly turning to AI systems for…

It’s often preached that high school students struggle in places afflicted with poverty, family breakdown, and other social woes. However, it doesn’t necessarily follow that students from wealthier regions are demonstrating academic excellence. So argues a Substack writer known as Dissident Teacher, who writes on issues facing contemporary K-12 classrooms. Youth literacy is a widespread issue across demographics. Something else is going on here. Reflecting on his own interaction with students in a wealthy district, Dissident Teacher writes, Many kids were functionally illiterate and innumerate. The writing of 9th-12th graders in English was often incoherent, full of fragment sentences and…

Following the ubiquitous nature of short-form video, it’s no surprise that short stories, otherwise known as micro dramas, are now attracting attention.These mobile-first shows run just two to three minutes per episode and are shot vertically, but unlike typical short-form clips they trade quick dopamine hits for narrative tension. Each installment feels like a miniature TV episode complete with characters, arcs and cliffhangers that pull views into the next. Instead of doomscrolling, they bridge — one micro drama at a time. Small as they are, micro dramas are already generating a hefty amount of revenue and viewership. How much? Read…

This article, NIH Bans Funding of Fetal Tissue Research | National Review is republished from National Review with the permission of the author. After restricting funding for primate research for ethical reasons, the National Institutes of Health has followed up by banning funding of fetal tissue research. From the NIH press release: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a new policy ending the use of human fetal tissue in NIH-supported research, marking a significant milestone in the Trump Administration’s efforts to modernize biomedical science and accelerate innovation. Effective immediately, NIH funds will no longer be used to support research involving human fetal tissue from elective…

Exceptional nerds are psychologists who see through surface actions. Such a skill is required to solve this week’s Micro Softy. We see them almost daily. People, purportedly homeless, stand at traffic lights panhandling from passing cars. I was in the car with my friend, Carl, driving home from work when we pulled up to an intersection with a red light. A shabbily dressed man with an unkept beard held up a cardboard sign saying, “Can you help? Please!” While the light was red, Carl told me, “That’s Freaky Bob. He’s a kilobyte short of a full download.  Watch. This is…