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Text therapy: study finds couples who use emojis in text messages feel closer | Relationships

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The secret to a good relationship may be staring smartphone users in the face.

A new study published in the journal Plos One found that using emojis in text messages makes people feel closer and more satisfied in their personal lives.

Researchers at the University of Texas spoke to 260 people aged between 23 and 67 and asked them to read 15 text message exchanges that varied only in the presence or absence of emojis.

Participants were instructed to imagine themselves as the sender of each message while focusing on the recipient’s replies to evaluate responsiveness, likability, closeness and relationship satisfaction.

The study revealed that people who send emojis combined with text are seen to be more responsive in their relationships than people who send text alone.

It also found emojis serve as nonverbal cues that signal attentiveness and emotional engagement.

Luke McGregor, 42, and Amy Thunig-McGregor, 37, say being able to use emojis helps their family communicate better.

Luke said he wasn’t a regular emoji sender at the start of their relationship and had to learn to start incorporating them into text messages to Amy.

“I traditionally didn’t use emojis that much but when I first got [together] with Amy, I noticed them using them a lot, so there was a vulnerability or a hurdle I had to get over to start using them myself,” McGregor said.

Emojis help Amy Thunig-McGregor and partner Luke McGregor ‘really be clear with tone and intention’

“I wanted Amy to know that they were loved, and so to become a regular sender of emojis to Amy in order to communicate affection was at least initially a big deal for me.”

Amy said emojis were a good tool to enhance their communication.

“We’re both autistic as well for context … it helps us really be clear with tone and intention in a way that isn’t possible with just written text,” they said.

Senior lecturer in psychology at Central Queensland University Dr Raquel Peel, who was not involved in the study, said sending emojis can be a creative alternative when people are unable to see their partner face to face.

“I don’t think we can replace face-to-face interactions because we are talking about intimate partnerships and relationships, but we have to be realistic that this isn’t always possible,” Peel said.

“So if you can’t meet face to face with your partner for whatever reason staying connected is important.

“Using emojis is then an effective alternative.”

Her advice was to not underestimate the value of communication in a relationship and to always try and stay connected to your partner in whatever way you communicate.

“One thing that people also forget when I’m talking to them about relationships is the value of humour and having a bit of fun,” Peel said.

“So if emojis can serve a purpose that way, which we know they can, it adds to the element of fun and connection through humour and that is really important.”



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Scientists create biological artificial intelligence system

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The original development of directed evolution, performed first in bacteria, was recognised by the 2018 Noble Prize in Chemistry.

“The invention of directed evolution changed the trajectory of biochemistry. Now, with PROTEUS, we can program a mammalian cell with a genetic problem we aren’t sure how to solve. Letting our system run continuously means we can check in regularly to understand just how the system is solving our genetic challenge,” said lead researcher Dr Christopher Denes from the Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences

The biggest challenge Dr Denes and the team faced was how to make sure the mammalian cell could withstand the multiple cycles of evolution and mutations and remain stable, without the system “cheating” and coming up with a trivial solution that doesn’t answer the intended question.

They found the key was using chimeric virus-like particles, a design consisting of taking the outside shell of one virus and combining it with the genes of another virus, which blocked the system from cheating.

The design used parts of two significantly different virus families creating the best of both worlds. The resulting system allowed the cells to process many different possible solutions in parallel, with improved solutions winning and becoming more dominant while incorrect solutions instead disappear.

“PROTEUS is stable, robust and has been validated by independent labs. We welcome other labs to adopt this technique. By applying PROTEUS, we hope to empower the development of a new generation of enzymes, molecular tools and therapeutics,” Dr Denes said.

“We made this system open source for the research community, and we are excited to see what people use it for, our goals will be to enhance gene-editing technologies, or to fine tune mRNA medicines for more potent and specific effects,” Professor Neely said.



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2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Help Make You a Millionaire

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The cat is out of the bag with artificial intelligence (AI). Trillions of dollars in value have been added to stock portfolios on the backs of the AI revolution in just a few years. Nvidia is knocking on the door of a $4 trillion market capitalization. It is difficult to find undervalued AI stocks right now.

But it is not impossible. Here are two AI stocks — ASML (ASML -0.73%) and Alphabet (GOOG 0.51%) — that look undervalued and can help investors become millionaires if they buy and hold for the long term.

Image source: Getty Images.

Helping build advanced computer chips

ASML is the leading seller of lithography equipment for making advanced semiconductors. In some cases, it is the only provider on the market. Lithography in this case is the use of lights and lasers to print tiny patterns on objects such as semiconductors. Advanced semiconductors require intricate designs over microscopic areas, which helps them generate more efficient computing power for AI applications.

With its advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography systems (EUV), ASML is the only provider of machines that help make advanced semiconductors for the likes of Nvidia. This makes it a vital point in the semiconductor supply chain and a monopoly seller of its equipment today. Not a bad place to be in when semiconductor demand is soaring because of the insatiable need for more AI computer chips.

Over the past 12 months, ASML generated $33 billion in revenue, which has grown a cumulative 353% in the last 10 years. Operating income has grown 551% to $11 billion. The company’s growth is not linear because of lumpy equipment sales to large factories and the cyclicality of the semiconductor industry, but over the long term, demand prospects look fantastic. Manufacturers are planning hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditures to build new semiconductor factories. These factories will be stuffed with ASML lithography equipment.

ASML has a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 33. This is not dirt cheap in a vacuum, but I believe it makes the stock undervalued because of its future growth prospects, which will bring this P/E ratio down to a much more reasonable level. Buy ASML stock today and hold on tight for the long term.

ASML PE Ratio Chart

ASML PE Ratio data by YCharts

AI for consumers and enterprises

One of the reasons for the increased demand for computer chips and ASML equipment — perhaps the largest reason — is Alphabet. The owner of Google, Google Cloud, YouTube, Waymo, and Gemini keeps doubling down on AI.

The big technology company can win in AI by playing two fronts: consumer and enterprise applications. With everyday users it is adding new AI tools to Google Search while building out advanced conversational AI with the Gemini application. Gemini now has an estimated 350 million active users and is growing rapidly, although it is still smaller than OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

With immense scale and resources, Alphabet will be able to deploy AI tools across its applications that are used by billions of people around the globe.

On the enterprise side, Google Cloud is one of the leading AI cloud companies due to its advanced computing infrastructure. Google Cloud revenue grew 28% year over year last quarter to $12.3 billion, making it the fastest-growing segment for Alphabet. The division has invested heavily in its own computer chips called Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which make it more efficient to build AI software applications on Google Cloud.

There is expected to be hundreds of billions of dollars spent on AI cloud workloads in the coming years, which will help Google Cloud keep growing as a bigger piece of the Alphabet pie.

Overall, Alphabet generated a whopping $360 billion in revenue over the past 12 months and $117.5 billion in operating income. Investors were previously worried about saturation of usage at Google Search, which has now proliferated around the globe. However, with the rise of AI applications, Alphabet looks to have increased its addressable market in organizing the world’s information, the company’s famous slogan. This will help revenue and earnings keep growing over the next decade.

Today, you can buy Alphabet stock at a measly P/E ratio of 20. This makes the stock undervalued if you plan on holding for many years into the future.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Brett Schafer has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Alphabet, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.



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Russia allegedly field-testing deadly next-gen AI drone powered by Nvidia Jetson Orin — Ukrainian military official says Shahed MS001 is a ‘digital predator’ that identifies targets on its own

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Ukrainian Major General Vladyslav (Владислав Клочков) Klochkov says Russia is field-testing a deadly new drone that can use AI and thermal vision to think on its own, identifying targets without coordinates and bypassing most air defense systems. According to the senior military figure, inside you will find the Nvidia Jetson Orin, which has enabled the MS001 to become “an autonomous combat platform that sees, analyzes, decides, and strikes without external commands.”

Digital predator dynamically weighs targets

With the Jetson Orin as its brain, the upgraded MS001 drone doesn’t just follow prescribed coordinates, like some hyper-accurate doodle bug. It actually thinks. “It identifies targets, selects the highest-value one, adjusts its trajectory, and adapts to changes — even in the face of GPS jamming or target maneuvers,” says Klochkov. “This is not a loitering munition. It is a digital predator.”



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