Lickin' your chops

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: The latest GPT model may have crossed the Rubicon; Used coffee grounds can be used for fuel; and understanding why watching your favourite sports team with your others is so good for us…🏈

Let’s get into it!

Human beings produce 10 million tons of spent coffee grounds every year. They’re one of the biggest sources of waste on the planet, also making them one of the potentially most useful, with the right technology.

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources may have identified that technology, and they documented its application with spent coffee grounds in a study published in Chemical Engineering.

The technology is called “flame plasma pyrolysis,” and it’s as cool as it sounds. It’s used to rapidly heat up the coffee grounds to a temperature of 1,652°F, causing its moisture to evaporate and the remaining material to be converted into what’s called “biochar.”

Heating coffee grounds to this temperature this quickly was found to produce a more efficient heating source than wood. Coffee grounds have a potential energy of 29 megajoules per kilogram, for example, whereas wood’s potential is only 15 to 20.

The process also removes the sulfur compounds from the remaining biochar, which is a kind of popcorn-like substance that’s often used to capture carbon in soil.

The arts have been food for the soul since before humans came out of the cave, and perhaps the rapid onset of societal immersion in technology caused people to forget that for a while. However, many are starting to remember.

The World Health Organization officially reviewed 3,500 studies starting in 2019 that advocated for the health benefits of creativity and its application in the arts. Today, it officially recommends countries include participation in artistic activities as part of their national strategies for health and mental health.

The U.K.’s National Health Service already actively incorporates artwork, requiring several hospitals and health facilities to display paintings and sculptures, and that only scratches the surface. There are 2,500 pieces displayed throughout various NHS Lothian sites in Scotland.

The ability to see art in the randomness of the external world is what some may call a symptom of being human. The ability to intentionally put it there simply is being human. It may not be a cure for what ails us, but a growing body of evidence suggests it helps.

Staying on the topic of mental health, a new study published in Translational Psychiatry found a method of boosting it with an experience that many people enjoy regularly.

The study measured neurological and biological activity in participants to identify the benefits of communal sport-watching, at the molecular level.

If you’ve ever been to a live sporting event that you’re emotionally invested in, you certainly know the feeling of elation that can only be extracted from such a scenario. Watching your team score a goal or touchdown on the couch by yourself is great, but seeing it in sync with tens of thousands of people experiencing the same thing as you at the same time doesn’t just feel great—it feels transcendent.

The same can be said for the feeling individuals get while part of an audience that’s singing along to a favorite song.

"Our paper grew from a simple question: How much direct interaction do people need to feel connected?" Takashi Matsui, first author of the paper, told Medical Xpress. "As a judoka, I was inspired by the principles of 'Seiryoku-Zenyo'—the best use of one's physical and mental energy—and 'Jita-Kyoei'—mutual welfare and benefit. Together, these principles frame sport as a means not only of personal development but also of fostering unity, empathy and mutual benefit."

Against all odds

One of these songs, albums or artists doesn’t belong, and it’s up to you to figure out which is the odd one out, with today’s trivia! 😏 🎵