Mihai Andrei

4 days ago | zmescience.com | Mihai Andrei |Zoe Gordon

We live in an age obsessed with excellence. Employers hunt for “unicorn” hires. Coaches preach the gospel of grit and talent and social media brims with motivational quotes urging you to “be outstanding.” This is all bulshit. Behind all this frenzy lies a sobering mathematical reality: truly exceptional individuals — people who score highly on intelligence, conscientiousness, and emotional stability all at once — are astonishingly rare rare.

4 days ago | zmescience.com | Mihai Andrei |Zoe Gordon

The British public is showing growing support for new rules to regulate ads promoting high-carbon products like gas-powered cars, air travel, and red meat, according to a new study by Lancaster University. The research — part deliberative democracy, part national polling — reveals a clear demand for more transparency around the climate impact of consumer choices. Advertising plays a significant but often overlooked role in shaping our climate crisis.

4 days ago | zmescience.com | Mihai Andrei |Zoe Gordon

Several bird species are monogamous, but few of them put on a show of affection like the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans). They find each other every season after wandering thousands of miles, launching into a tightly synchronized and gregarious reunion ritual. It’s one of the most spectacular couple behaviors in nature. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. Previous research found that up to 24% of wandering albatross chicks are reared by a male who is not their genetic father.

4 days ago | zmescience.com | Tudor Tarita |Mihai Andrei

As dusk falls over some swamps and ponds, the air fills with frog calls — sharp, steady, and almost always from males. For decades, scientists have focused on these loud, attention-grabbing sounds. But a new study suggests they’ve missed half the conversation. Particularly, the female half. Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the review finds that female frog calls have been recorded in just 1.4% of species. That means nearly all we know about frog communication comes from the males.

4 days ago | zmescience.com | Tudor Tarita |Mihai Andrei

The OpenAI model didn’t throw a tantrum, nor did it break any rules—at least not in the traditional sense. But when Palisade Research asked it to shut down, the AI calmly rewrote the code that would have turned it off. Then it carried on, solving math problems like nothing happened. It was just one of 100 test runs. But in seven of those, OpenAI’s “o3” model ignored the “allow yourself to be shut down” instruction. Instead, it removed the shutdown clause from its own operating script.