Tag Archives: Resemble

Why Do Many AI Companies’ Logos Resemble Batoll?

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Feedback presents the latest updates in science and technology from New Scientist. We encourage you to email Feedback@newscientist.com with intriguing items you think our readers would enjoy.

Is It Really a Flower?

In recent years, the landscape of AI companies has exploded, leading to a mix of excitement and surprise (depending on your early stock investments). However, this influx has also resulted in a surge of nearly identical logos among these companies.

A fascinating observation made by multiple publications is the prevalence of similar designs in these logos. Sociologist James I. Bowie writes for Fast Company about how the trend has shifted towards “stylized hexagons” with an implicit rotation. He notes that these designs evoke a “portal to a mysterious new world,” suggestive of “the expansion of Yetian Gaia,” and humorously, “toilet flushing.”

On a similar note, Radek Sienkiewicz, a developer at VelvetShark, observed that most of these logos share common features: circular shapes, a focal point at the center, radiating elements, and soft organic curves. He refers to this phenomenon as an “apt explanation” for its resemblance to a “butthole“.

Feedback analyzed logos for companies like OpenAI, Apple Intelligence, and Claude, and noted their resemblance to anatomical features more than you might expect. Exceptions like DeepSeek and Midjourney, whose logos depict a whale and a yacht, stand out, but they may soon succumb to the trend of circular designs.

What’s behind the proliferation of stylized hexagons? Perhaps they symbolize the recursive nature of thought, reflecting AI’s capacity to enhance our comprehension of the world.

However, OpenAI offers a different perspective. Their branding guidelines describe their company logo as a “flower,” designed deliberately to avoid any interpretations associated with openings. The logo symbolizes the dynamic interplay between humanity and technology, merging the fluidity of human-centric design through circles with the precision needed for technological structures, allowing for creative freedom.

Personally, Feedback proposes a working hypothesis regarding these logos, invoking the concept of “GroupThink.”

The Challenging Second Album

One of my favored areas of inquiry is the notion that “it’s a common understanding, yet there’s an obvious counterargument that people are either aware of or not.” Thus, we found it pertinent to explore Musical Psychology, focusing on the “Second Album Slump,” where musicians’ sophomore albums often fail to measure up to their debut releases.

This research was originally published last November, highlighting these trends. As noted by science writer Philip Ball on Bluesky in April, and here we are in May finally addressing this topic. Feedback is nothing if not timely.

The study claims it is “the first comprehensive multistudy analysis aimed at discerning the existence of a second-album slump.” The authors analyzed over 2,000 reviews and feedback from more than 4,000 fans. The results indicated a decline in album quality ratings throughout artists’ careers, with significant dips noted in critic reviews during the second album phase.

This raises discussions surrounding the causes: Is it cognitive bias at play? Or is there a “return to the mean”? A standout debut album is an anomaly that garners disproportionate attention, yet subsequent efforts typically don’t replicate that success due to random chance. Furthermore, this notion can be traced back, as Elvis Costello noted as early as 1981: “I had 20 years to write my first album and six months to pen my second.”

It’s important to note that the second-album slump is merely a statistical trend. Numerous artists have released second albums that surpass their debuts, such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Nirvana—alongside Beastie Boys, Pixies, and Taylor Swift. There’s a broader response to Ball’s observations.

Moreover, Feedback wonders whether this second-album phenomenon is confined to rock and pop genres, or if it similarly affects less mainstream styles. Are composers of acid jazz and ambient music also facing second-album challenges? If so, how can we recognize this?

Unusual Smuggling

Executive Editor Timothy Level recently flagged an intriguing report from Reuters regarding a smuggling plot on April 15th.The article describes how four smugglers were apprehended attempting to traffic thousands of live ants from Kenya, including the giant African harvester ant (Messor cephalotes). This species has garnered significant interest among ant enthusiasts, with a single queen fetching nearly £100.

While serious, Tim wanted to highlight a particular detail: the article mentions the “source of the ant trade” concerning the necessary documentation for the legal export of M. cephalotes from Kenya. The trade is described as a “small world,” and thus this individual was “requested not to be named.”

Have thoughts to share with Feedback?

You can email stories to feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week and previous editions of Feedback can also be found on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com

Seven frog species recently identified produce vocalizations that resemble the sound effects from Star Trek

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Boophis pikei, a new species of frog from Madagascar

Miguel Vances (CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Deep in the forests of Madagascar, researchers have discovered seven new species of frogs and named them after characters. star trek.

“The frog sounds are very reminiscent of the series' iconic futuristic sound effects,” he says. Mark D. Schertz At the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

Bufis mallogesensis A small brownish frog found in the damp forests of Madagascar. The animal was first described in 1994, but over time, researchers began to wonder if this puppy-eyed amphibian was actually more than one species. I did.

To find out, Schatz and his colleagues collected as much data as possible from a variety of individuals. B. mallogesensis Collected over 30 years. They recorded and analyzed the frogs' calls, compared their physical characteristics, and sequenced their DNA.

Their results showed that what was previously thought to be one species of frog is actually eight different species. Physically, they look almost identical, Schertz says. “The main difference is in the sounds they make. Their piercing, high-pitched whistle calls differ in pitch and timing of the whistle.” DNA sequencing also shows genetic differences, making them different It was confirmed that it is a species.

Male frogs attract females with bird-like calls, but because these newly named species live near rivers, they have evolved high-pitched whistles to make their calls stand out from the noise of flowing water. Mr. Schertz thinks so. However, much about the lives of these frogs remains a mystery.

one of the species is named Boufis Khaki, In honor of James T. Kirk. Other members are named after Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisco, Kathryn Janeway, Jonathan Archer, Michael Burnham, and Christopher Pike.

“We wanted to honor captains who lead teams on missions of exploration and discovery,” says Schatz. “This may also serve as a reminder of how much discovery still remains on Earth before we set our sights on the stars.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Unusual Fish with Mouth that Extends to Resemble a Trunk

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A hinged mouth that extends its proboscis to feed at the bottom of the aquarium.

Alison Evans

Found only in rivers and forest ponds in West Africa, this fish has a protruding trunk-like snout that allows it to suck in food or breathe air like a snorkel.

hinge(Fractolemus ansorgii) has what biologists call an expandable proboscis, a tubular structure that can be folded onto the head and extended upward or downward. The lips of the proboscis are lined with tooth-like structures made of keratin, which the fish uses to scrape up algae and other debris.

Alison Evans Researchers at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., used dissection, videography, and CT scans to uncover the jaw's complex structure.

Unlike all other fishes, where the jaw joint is located at the back of the mouth, the hinge mouse's jaw joint is located at the front of the head. The lower jaw is tipped back and pointed toward the throat. The upper jaw is connected to the lower jaw by ligaments and is part of the proboscis. “You can think of the upper jaw more or less hanging onto the skin of the proboscis,” Evans says. This is why the structure can extend far from the head.

Hingemouths offer “a novel mechanical solution to a ubiquitous challenge faced by all fish: how to acquire food in viscous fluid media,” Evans says.

She also observed the fish swimming up to the surface and using its proboscis “like a snorkel” to suck in air. This can be a useful feature in forest pools where oxygen levels can be low.

Scientists aren't sure how hinges evolved because fossil evidence is scant. “The family, fractoremus“The family Quneridae is thought to have originated in the mid-Cretaceous period, but no intermediate forms have yet been found in the fossil record,” says Evans.

“The most important thing for me is that scientists remain curious about the world’s little weirdos,” she says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com