Latest Tech News

Stay updated with the latest in technology, AI, cybersecurity, and more

Filtered by: participants Clear Filter

Psilocybin decreases depression and anxiety in cancer patients (2016)

Participants with a potentially life-threatening cancer diagnosis and a DSM-IV diagnosis that included anxiety and/or mood symptoms were recruited through flyers, internet, and physician referral. Of 566 individuals who were screened by telephone, 56 were randomized. Figure 1 shows a CONSORT flow diagram. Table 1 shows demographics for the 51 participants who completed at least one session. The two randomized groups did not significantly differ demographically. All 51 participants had a potentia

Nintendo launches another Switch Online test program for 40,000 players

Nintendo has posted a call for participants for another Playtest Program, and this time, it's looking for 40,000 testers and not just 10,000 like in the first one. If you'll recall, Nintendo looked for 10,000 participants for the first Playtest event last year to test an unnamed, mysterious Switch Online feature. The new program still only welcomes active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members, but as you'd expect, it now supports both the original Switch and the Switch 2. Interested p

Psilocybin produces substantial sustained decreases in depression and anxiety

Participants with a potentially life-threatening cancer diagnosis and a DSM-IV diagnosis that included anxiety and/or mood symptoms were recruited through flyers, internet, and physician referral. Of 566 individuals who were screened by telephone, 56 were randomized. Figure 1 shows a CONSORT flow diagram. Table 1 shows demographics for the 51 participants who completed at least one session. The two randomized groups did not significantly differ demographically. All 51 participants had a potentia

Using MPC for Anonymous and Private DNA Analysis

Earlier this year, Monadic DNA kicked off an experiment to demonstrate that people can access and analyze their genetic data with anonymity and privacy. Monadic DNA collected saliva samples from thirty encrypted genomics pioneers at an event in Denver. These participants later used a Web app to claim their genotyping results using a unique kit ID and a self-selected PIN. The app guided users through uploading their data to encrypted storage powered by Nillion’s multi-party compute (MPC) techno

New study offers clues about what makes someone cool

Is there a secret sauce that helps explain why people as different as David Bowie, Samuel L. Jackson and Charli XCX all seem so self-assured and, well, cool? A new study suggests that there are six specific traits that these people tend to have in common: Cool people are largely perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous. The study, which was published on Monday in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, surveyed nearly 6,000 participants from

'Sticky thinking' hampers decisions in depression

Though low mood is the best-known symptom of depression, indecisiveness and biased thinking are also common. But these problems, which can lead to delays in making important choices — and being more likely to make poor ones — receive less attention, write the authors of a recent paper in Emotion. Many of the theories that have been put forward to explain difficulties with decision-making are based on work suggesting that depressed people are not as responsive to rewards, or punishments, as thos

Study shows gaming can reduce stress, even the violent kind

Editor's take: Violent video games have long been blamed as the source of many societal problems. However, an increasing number of studies continue to show that gaming poses no significant threat to society or human health, and the latest adds an interesting new perspective to the ongoing debate. A recently published study aims to dispel yet another myth about video games, showing that both violent and non-violent gaming sessions can effectively reduce stress levels. The research centers on A P

MIT brain scans suggest that using GenAI tools reduces cognitive activity

Why it matters: As the use of generative AI becomes increasingly common in education, law, politics, media, and other fields, many worry that reliance on the technology may reduce cognitive independence. A recent study from MIT strongly supports this concern, indicating that the use of digital tools significantly alters brain activity. The newly published paper explains that as participants in an experiment wrote a series of essays, electronic brain monitoring revealed substantially weaker conn

How you breathe is like a fingerprint that can identify you

Every breath you take ... could add to a breathing pattern that is unique to you, a study finds.Credit: Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Like the swirls in fingerprints, a person’s breathing pattern might be unique to them — offering a way not only to identify individuals, but also to identify some of their physical and mental traits. A team of researchers measured the breathing of 97 healthy people for 24 hours, and found that they could identify participants with relatively high accuracy f

Just add humans: Oxford medical study underscores the missing link in chatbot testing

Join the event trusted by enterprise leaders for nearly two decades. VB Transform brings together the people building real enterprise AI strategy. Learn more Headlines have been blaring it for years: Large language models (LLMs) can not only pass medical licensing exams but also outperform humans. GPT-4 could correctly answer U.S. medical exam licensing questions 90% of the time, even in the prehistoric AI days of 2023. Since then, LLMs have gone on to best the residents taking those exams and