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Why using a period in a text message could make you sound insincere or angry

Why using a period in a text message could make you sound insincere or angry

When it comes to texting, the period, full stop, point – whatever you call it – has been getting a lot of attention. People have begun noticing slight changes to the way our smallest punctuation mark is deployed, from declarations that it’s going out of style to claims that it’s becoming angry. What they’re actually noticing is written language becoming…

How social media fires people’s passions – and builds extremist divisions

How social media fires people’s passions – and builds extremist divisions

The people of the United States continue to learn how polarized and divided the nation has become. In one study released in late October by the Pew Research Center, Americans were found to have become increasingly partisan in their views. On issues as diverse as health care, immigration, race and sexuality, Americans today hold more extreme and more divergent views…

Artificial Intelligence can detect / create fake news

Artificial Intelligence can detect / create fake news

A visualisation of a fake vs real news distribution pattern; users who predominantly share fake news are coloured red, and users who don’t share fake news at all are coloured blue   When Mark Zuckerberg told Congress Facebook would use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect fake news posted on the social media site, he wasn’t particularly specific about what that…

Why do humans speak so many languages?

Why do humans speak so many languages?

The thatched roof held back the sun’s rays, but it could not keep the tropical heat at bay. As everyone at the research workshop headed outside for a break, small groups splintered off to gather in the shade of coconut trees and enjoy a breeze. I wandered from group to group, joining in the discussions. Each time, I noticed that…

Dogs process language in a similar way to humans – MRI brain scans discover evidence

Dogs process language in a similar way to humans – MRI brain scans discover evidence

Dogs can understand human speech and are only truly happy if a praising tone of voice is matched by the actual words spoken Dogs understand what some human words mean, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Science. In a world-first experiment, academics in Hungary trained 13 dogs to voluntarily lie in an MRI scanner to monitor what happened in their brain…