Too many words for snow, drugged up elephants and expensive AI manners
From environmental impacts of AI politeness to the linguistic mysteries of snow, today's science roundup may leave you with more questions than answers, and that’s the way we like it. We're exploring a world where being nice to robots could harm the planet, scientists gave elephants LSD (yes, really), and Australian’s get creative with their election day propaganda.
Got thoughts? Wild theories? Stories about other elephants on acid? (Please don't actually give elephants acid.) Drop us a line at cheers@alittlebitofscience.com.au.
Stay curious, stay weird, and maybe ease up on the pleases and thank yous to your robot friends!
Sources:
Tool We Mentioned: https://charleskemp.com/code/lexicalelaboration_conversation.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/technology/chatgpt-alexa-please-thank-you.html
https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027724002233
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417304122
http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/EskimoHoax.pdf
https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-science-behind-cocaine-bear-and-other-inebriated-animals
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/feb/26/research.science
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