Study: Sycophantic AI can undermine human judgment
Subjects who interacted with AI tools were more likely to think they were right, less likely to resolve conflicts.
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Jennifer Ouellette
Senior Writer
jennifer.ouellette@meincmagazine.com
Jennifer is a senior reporter at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. She has been writing professionally about physics and related topics for more than two decades, and was the founding director of the National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange from 2008-2010. Her work has appeared in Discover, Slate, Smithsonian, Nature, Physics World, and Quanta, among other publications. She previously worked as science editor for Gizmodo, and is the author of four popular science books, most recently The Calculus Diaries (2010) and Me, Myself And Why (2014). Professional highlight: appearing on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in February 2011 and winning one of the show’s coveted “Golden Harmonicas.” Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. BlueSky: @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
Recent stories by
Jennifer Ouellette
How chemists turned bourbon waste into supercapacitors
Hydrothermal carbonization can directly convert sloppy stillage into hard or activated carbon.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Long fingernails vs. touchscreens: This nail polish could help
Undergraduate’s prototype conductive nail polish could turn long fingernails into touchscreen styluses.
Jennifer Ouellette
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There can (still) be only one: Highlander is 40
Sure, it’s cheesy in many respects, but its central mythology still resonates even decades later.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Study pinpoints when bow and arrow came to North America
Radiocarbon results suggest a single origin and rapid diffusion through cultural transition networks.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Peter faces a new life cycle in Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer
“Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker’s heart.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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Paul Atreides faces the cost of his holy war in Dune: Part 3 teaser
“War feeds on itself. The more I fight, the more our enemies fight back.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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The science of how fireflies stay in sync
Engineers have uncovered the mathematical rules fireflies follow to sync up their flashes.
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Most Read
Aliens announce their presence in latest Disclosure Day trailer
“That truth will upend the established order of the entire world. If you do this, there’s no undoing it.”
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Don’t lick that cold metal pole in winter—if you do, don’t panic
Highest risk of part of tongue being torn off is with temps between -5° and -15° C (23° to 5 °F).
Jennifer Ouellette
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Ig Nobels ceremony moves to Europe over security concerns
Marc Abraham: “During the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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Flexible feline spines shed light on “falling cat” problem
Falling cats in the study also seemed to show a marked preference for turning to the right.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Jessica Jones joins the fray in Daredevil: Born Again trailer
“I’m gonna take this city back.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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Hunting for elusive “ghost elephants”
Werner Herzog directed this evocative NatGeo documentary of an ornithologist’s quest to find a new species.
Jennifer Ouellette
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How moss helped convict grave robbers of a Chicago cemetery
Burr Oak Cemetery is the final resting place of Emmett Till and blues singer Willie Dixon, among others.
Jennifer Ouellette
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The Boys S5 trailer tees up a bloody final season
“My power is absolute. At heights no one ever dreamed of. But I have a bigger destiny.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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Lanterns teaser swaps superhero hijinks for gritty realism
DC’s Green Lantern is reimagined as part True Detective, part Slow Horses, and we’re here for it.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans
SEM analysis of pottery residues showed people combined fish with a wide variety of plants when cooking.
Jennifer Ouellette
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What we can learn from scientific analysis of Renaissance recipes
Multispectral imaging, proteomics, historical texts yield new insights into 16th-century medical manuals.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Research roundup: Six cool science stories we almost missed
Smart underwear measures farts, brain cells play Doom, and AI discovers rules of an ancient game.
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The AI apocalypse is nigh in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
Director Gore Verbinksi and screenwriter Matthew Robinson on the making of this darkly satirical sci-fi film.
Jennifer Ouellette
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The physics of squeaking sneakers
Geometry of tread patterns determines frequency, so blocks were designed to play Star Wars music.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Boozy chimps fail urine test, confirm hotly debated theory
Spare a thought for the intrepid graduate students who spent last summer in Africa collecting chimp urine.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Scientists crack the case of “screeching” Scotch tape
Micro-cracks travel along the peeling tape at supersonic speeds, producing shock waves and sound pulses.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Review: Knight of the Seven Kingdoms brings back that Westeros magic
Prequel series is just great storytelling, reminding GoT fans why they loved the original so much.
Jennifer Ouellette
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It’s outright war for the Iron Throne in House of the Dragon S3 teaser
“The king has abdicated his throne. A new line is coming. A new line of unsullied kings.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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Rare gifted word-learner dogs like to share their toys
“It raises the possibility that social motivation plays a role in why some dogs end up learning object names.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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X-rays reveal kingfisher feather structure in unprecedented detail
Synchrotron radiation imaging revealed a porous, almost sponge-like nanostructure to create bright hues
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Here’s the fun, action-packed trailer for Mandolorian and Grogu
“Gangsters. War criminals. We’ll take out every bad guy in your deck of cards.”
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A Valentine’s Day homage to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ang Lee’s gorgeous 2000 masterpiece has awe-inspiring martial arts stunts and a tragic love story for the ages.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Spider-Noir teaser comes in colorized “True Hue” and black and white
Nicolas Cage described his character as “70 percent Humphrey Bogart and 30 percent Bugs Bunny.”
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Unique structure of elephant whiskers give them built-in sensing “intelligence”
The material properties change gradually from base to tip for better navigation, more precise manipulation.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Did seabird poop fuel rise of Chincha in Peru?
Guano dramatically boosted the production of maize, and the surplus helped fuel the Chincha Kingdom’s economy.
Jennifer Ouellette
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Disclosure Day Super Bowl trailer: Could it be… aliens?
Bonus: Mandalorian and Grogu 30-second spot shows duo being pulled through the snow by Tauntauns.
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A Project Hail Mary final trailer? Yes please.
“There are infinite possibilities for this to go wrong.”
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New critique debunks claim that trees can sense a solar eclipse
Controversial 2025 study “represents the encroachment of pseudoscience into the heart of biological research.”
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