Lonely people see the world differently, according to their brains

Brain activity differs among people who feel out of touch with their peers.

A person sitting alone at a table with a cake on it. The man is wearing a festive hat.

Enlarge (credit: D. Anschutz)

There is a reason countless songs about loneliness exist. Many are relatable, since feeling alone is often part of being human. But a particular song or experience that resonates with one lonely person may mean nothing to someone else who feels isolated and misunderstood.

Human beings are social creatures. Those who feel left out often experience loneliness. To investigate what goes on in the brains of lonely people, a team of researchers at UCLA conducted noninvasive brain scans on subjects and found something surprising. The scans revealed that non-lonely individuals were all found to have a similar way of processing the world around them. Lonely people not only interpret things differently from their non-lonely peers, but they even see them differently from each other.

“Our results suggest that lonely people process the world idiosyncratically, which may contribute to the reduced sense of being understood that often accompanies loneliness,” the research team, led by psychologist Elisa Baek of USC Dornsife, said in a study recently published in Psychological Science. 

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Apple plans to launch a monitor that stays on when you shut down your Mac

Also: Apple plans to switch AirPods to USB-C this year.

Apple's Studio Display

Enlarge / Pictured: Apple's 2022 Studio Display. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

In the subscribers-only section of his weekly newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman (who has reported accurately on new Apple hardware in the past) claims that Apple will introduce an external Mac monitor that can act as a smart home display when a Mac goes to sleep or is shut down.

The feature would be available on at least one monitor in an upcoming lineup that will likely include successors to Apple's Pro Display XDR and Studio Display. The newsletter didn't go into much detail about the upcoming displays beyond the smart home feature.

Like the Studio Display, a new monitor with smart home capabilities would run on a chip first seen in the iPhone. The Studio Display contains Apple's A13 chip—the same seen in the iPhone 11 line of smartphones. The upcoming smart display could potentially run on the A16 seen in the iPhone 14 Pro, since that device introduced a similar always-on display feature to Apple's smartphone lineup.

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Orange Pi Zero 3 is a cheap, tiny single-board PC with up to 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and Allwinner H618

The Orange Pi Zero 3 is a single-board computer that measures 55 x 50mm (2.2″ x 2″), but which is a versatile little device capable of running a range of operating systems including Android 12, Debian 12, and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. At first gla…

The Orange Pi Zero 3 is a single-board computer that measures 55 x 50mm (2.2″ x 2″), but which is a versatile little device capable of running a range of operating systems including Android 12, Debian 12, and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. At first glance, the little computer board looks a lot like the three-year-old Orange Pi […]

The post Orange Pi Zero 3 is a cheap, tiny single-board PC with up to 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and Allwinner H618 appeared first on Liliputing.

Orange Pi Zero 3 is a cheap, tiny single-board PC with up to 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and Allwinner H618

The Orange Pi Zero 3 is a single-board computer that measures 55 x 50mm (2.2″ x 2″), but which is a versatile little device capable of running a range of operating systems including Android 12, Debian 12, and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. At first gla…

The Orange Pi Zero 3 is a single-board computer that measures 55 x 50mm (2.2″ x 2″), but which is a versatile little device capable of running a range of operating systems including Android 12, Debian 12, and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. At first glance, the little computer board looks a lot like the three-year-old Orange Pi […]

The post Orange Pi Zero 3 is a cheap, tiny single-board PC with up to 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and Allwinner H618 appeared first on Liliputing.

Chuwi UBook X is a budget Windows tablet with Intel Core i5-10210Y and a 12 inch screen

There are two ways to make a budget Windows tablet: use cheap current-gen components or build your tablet from older parts. Chinese PC maker Chuwi has dabbled in both methods from time to time, but the company’s newest tablet takes the latter ap…

There are two ways to make a budget Windows tablet: use cheap current-gen components or build your tablet from older parts. Chinese PC maker Chuwi has dabbled in both methods from time to time, but the company’s newest tablet takes the latter approach. The new Chuwi UBook X (2023) is a 12 inch Windows tablet […]

The post Chuwi UBook X is a budget Windows tablet with Intel Core i5-10210Y and a 12 inch screen appeared first on Liliputing.

Samsung: Galaxy Z Fold 5 auf ersten Bildern ohne Lücke

Samsungs kommendes Galaxy Z Fold 5 soll auf die Lücke zwischen den Hälften in zusammengeklapptem Zustand verzichten – wie auf ersten Bildern zu sehen ist. (Samsung, Smartphone)

Samsungs kommendes Galaxy Z Fold 5 soll auf die Lücke zwischen den Hälften in zusammengeklapptem Zustand verzichten - wie auf ersten Bildern zu sehen ist. (Samsung, Smartphone)

Valve says Steam games can’t use AI models trained on copyrighted works

“Legal uncertainty” over models means many devs can’t establish “appropriate rights.”

Are we certain this famous Valve promo image wasn't generated by an AI?

Enlarge / Are we certain this famous Valve promo image wasn't generated by an AI? (credit: Valve)

Last week, we shared an anonymous report that Valve was blocking from Steam at least some games that make use of AI-generated artwork. Over the weekend, Valve confirmed that report, telling Ars in an e-mailed statement that the company is blocking games that use AI-generated content unless developers can prove those AI models were trained with data that does not "infringe on existing copyrights."

"The introduction of AI can sometimes make it harder to show that a developer has sufficient rights in using AI to create assets, including images, text, and music," Valve spokesperson Kaci Boyle told Ars. "In particular, there is some legal uncertainty relating to data used to train AI models. It is the developer's responsibility to make sure they have the appropriate rights to ship their game."

Boyle stressed in the statement that Valve's "goal is not to discourage the use of [AI-generated content] on Steam" and that the company's "priority, as always, is to try to ship as many of the titles we receive as we can." Generative AI is "bound to create new and exciting experiences in gaming," Valve continued.

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