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Gift top-selling books for the holidays from USA TODAY
From iconic moments in sports history to the unforgettable careers, these photo books are as much memorabilia as they are conversation starters.
Mini brains, big questions: science is racing ahead of ethics
Brain organoids are revolutionising research, but their growing complexity raises unsettling ethical questions.
Adobe Makes Creativity Accessible for Everyone with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express and Adobe Acrobat in ChatGPT
Adobe brings Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express and Adobe Acrobat to ChatGPT, making creativity accessible to 800 million ChatGPT users through a conversational interface
Govs. Spencer Cox and Josh Shapiro to discuss political violence in a bipartisan conversation
The Republican and Democratic governors will sit down Tuesday night with "Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie to talk about political extremism and the current state of politics.
Area Events & Entertainment Community Calendar
Dec. 11 - Veterans Coffee & Conversation at the Eagles Club Dec. 13 - Optimist Free Movie for kids at The Cosmo Theatre at 1 p.m. Dec. 13 - Merry Merrill Market (downtown Merrill) 5-9 p.m. Dec. …
Pebble's founder introduces a $75 AI smart ring for recording brief notes with a press of a button
After rebooting the Pebble smartwatch, founder Eric Migicovsky is expanding his company's device lineup with a new smart wearable: an AI-powered smart ring known as Index 01. Named for the finger where the ring is meant to be worn, the new $75 ring is not meant to be a competitor to the always-on, always-listening AI devices, like the AI pendant Friend, but instead offers a way to record quick notes and reminders with a press of a button on the ring's side. AI only comes into play via the open source, speech-to-text, and AI models that run locally on your smartphone, via the open source Pebble mobile app. That is, if the Ring's button is not being pressed, it's not recording. (And this is a press-and-hold gesture, too, which means you can't start the ring's recording and then let go to surreptitiously record a conversation.) You can wear the stainless steel ring while in the shower, washing hands, doing dishes, or in the rain, but you would have to take it off for other water-related activities, like swimming. At launch, it's water-resistant to 1 meter. The ring is also not a fitness tracker or sleep monitor. It doesn't record details about your heart rate or health. And it's not there to be your AI friend. "I'm not trying to build some AI assistant thing," Migicovsky told TechCrunch in an interview. "I build things that solve one main problem, and they solve it really well," he explains. "I think of as external memory for my brain...that's what this is. It's always with you." Plus, the ring has been designed to be highly reliable and privacy-preserving, he says, as all your thoughts are stored on your phone, not in the cloud. There is no subscription. Migicovsky has been wearing the ring for three months now and says he cannot imagine going back to a world where he doesn't always have a memory device with him. "The problem is that, during the day, I get ideas or I remember something, and if I don't write it down that second, I forget it," he says. The ring solves this problem, he adds, without becoming another device you need to charge. "The battery lasts for years," Migicovsky claims. Technically, the ring is said to support roughly 12 to 14 hours of recording. On average, the founder says he uses it 10-20 times per day to record 3-6 second thoughts. At that rate, he'll get about two years of usage. When the ring's battery dies, you can ship it back to the company for recycling. When using Index, you can record up to five minutes of audio, which can be saved to the ring and synced to your phone later. This makes sense for recording briefer, personal thoughts and notes, even when you don't have your phone handy, but it wouldn't work for recording a longer chat, like a presentation, meeting, or in-person interview of some kind. The ring also supports 99+ languages and has a bit of on-device memory, in case you're not in Bluetooth range of your device, where the recording is ultimately saved and transcribed. (The raw audio is retained, too, in case the speech-to-text is garbled due to loud background noise). If you own a Pebble smartwatch or one from another brand, your recorded thought can even appear on the watch's screen so you can verify it's correct. The ring works with Pebble's mobile app, which offers notes and reminders, but can optionally integrate with your phone's calendaring system, too, or other apps, like Notion. And the ring's software is open source, which makes it hackable by the community, the founder points out. Because of its open nature, the ring's button is already programmable. In addition to the press-and-hold gesture, you can program the ring to do other things with a single or double press, like play or pause your music or control the shutter on your phone's camera. You could use it to send a message through the universal chat app Beeper, which Migicovsky also created, or you could add your own voice actions via MCP. A new approach to hardware Migicovsky acknowledges that hardware can be difficult to get right -- as the previous exit of Pebble to Fitbit showed. (Fitbit, too, was later acquired by Google in 2021). "I didn't earn any money during Pebble -- we exited, but it was not a great exit," Migicovsky admits. This year, however, he decided to reboot the Pebble project after Google open sourced the PebbleOS, which opened up the door to new hardware. With his new company, Core Devices, Migicovsky plans to do things differently. Still, the founder doesn't regret his previous choices, he clarifies. "I wouldn't have gone back and changed anything. I loved what we built. I loved what we did. I love the company that we built, but it's not the only way to build a company," he told TechCrunch. " And, speaking as an ex-YC partner, there are -- there's a time and a place for building a venture-backed startup. Some companies are phenomenal when they raise money and build a big team, and I tried that...I think what I'm doing now is trying an alternative path, which is start from profitability," he says. The new company is a small team of five, self-funded, and focused on sustainability. So far, Core Devices has shipped the Pebble 2 Duo smartwatch with a black-and-white display. Its first run sold out, and the company is now preparing to ship the upgraded version, the Pebble Time 2. The newer device, which has seen 25,000 pre-orders, is a stainless steel watch with a larger, color e-ink screen. As for the Index 01, the ring's pre-order offer ends in March 2026. After that, the price increases to $99. It currently comes in silver, polished gold, and matte black and works with iOS and Android devices. Customers can select from eight ring sizes and three colors.
Trust in science is low among minorities for a reason, research finds
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a nationwide conversation in the U.S. about how much people trust scientists and trained medical professionals. But for some communities, distrust has been the norm.
Fossil science owes a debt to indigenous knowledge: Lesotho missionary’s notes tell the story
Long ago, people identified fossils in their environment and explained them within their own cultural framework. This was early citizen science.
The Most Influential Man in Europe Thinks Europe is Full of Losers
The most important European policymaker for the first time in a decade is not a European and, increasingly, doesn’t even much like the place anymore.
Striking Legacy Health Workers Make (Slight) Headway
After saying it would only meet again with the union when the strike ended, Legacy agreed to mediation. But the conversation left the union underwhelmed.
Marjorie Taylor Greene highlights Trump’s cavalier attitude toward political threats
One of the most striking comments from the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot came from Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Citing private conversations with senior White House officials, the then-senator said President Donald Trump was confused as the riot was touching off.
Golden Globes enter the world of podcasts and tread carefully, avoiding controversy
The Golden Globes have introduced a best podcast category that's likely to spark conversations
Column | Carolyn Hax: Unemployment and health issues add up to ‘feeling inadequate’
Solutions to both problems are in progress. In the meantime, how does the letter writer push through difficult conversations?
41 People Who Almost Died Are Sharing How They Barely Survived, And It's Terrifying
"That night, I knew I was going to die. I called my mother to have a last conversation with her and then called the hospital."
Clarksville Conversations: Visit Clarksville’s slate of state, national sports events
The TACA East-West All-Star Game is coming up in Clarksville at Austin Peay State University.
Is Christianity “Anti-Science”?
The idea that Christians are inherently anti-science is not only common but persistent, echoed in conversations and cultural commentary for as long as I can remember. I often hear claims that Christianity has historically repressed scientific progress, sometimes citing stories of Christians burning scientists at the stake or actively inhibiting scientific advancement out of dogmatic […]
Is postmodernism wrecking science? In a provocative book, scientists weigh the evidence
War on Science takes aim at science’s global culture wars. Edited by controversial physicist Lawrence Krauss, it argues evidence-based science is under threat.
SIU’s Simon Institute hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar on nation’s political contradictions
Paul Starr, a Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar at Princton University and the founding co-editor of The American Prospect magazine, will join Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute for a virtual conversation on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Genesis Mission: why Trump’s plan to put AIs in charge of science could backfire
AI enthusiasts are right that projects like AlphaFold are a huge leap forward, but the philosophy of science shows why excluding humans undermines it.
The Science of Longevity: Inside Prof. Mike Chan's Vision for Living Stronger, Smarter, and Longer
Malaysia had a rare moment of reflection this year when former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad turned 100. His milestone sparked public conversations about aging, vitality, and what it truly means to remain strong at any age.
Examining 3I/ATLAS within the broader conversation on science and society
Examining 3I/ATLAS, Harvard Professor Avi Loeb discusses public engagement in science, research priorities, and the importance of addressing anomalies and curiosity in scientific communication.
Seen but not forgotten: How citizen science helps document biodiversity in remote Borneo villages
In Borneo’s remote villages, locals earn money by recording wildlife — reshaping conservation and redefining how communities value their forests.