Links from March 2025: bird nests, booze & cancer, dementia conversation
Bird nests, hallucinations as a feature, animal cancer and size, booze and cancer risk, dementia communication, alternative to PubMed
AI hallucinations are a feature of LLM design, not a bug
Nature
“Their responses are inherently creative, context-specific and untrustworthy. […] LLMs can help us to think but they cannot think for us.”
New research shows bigger animals get more cancer, defying decades-old belief
The Conversation
“Larger species face higher cancer risks but those that reached that size rapidly evolved mechanisms for mitigating it, such as lower mutation rates or enhanced DNA repair mechanisms.”
Bird nests made from anti-bird spikes
Journal Of The Natural History Museum Rotterdam
“The first report of a crow’s nest made of barbed wire dates back to 1933, and recent (news) reports document the use of e.g. nails, screws, and drug users’ syringes in avian architecture. Here we report the first well-documented study on nests of carrion crow Corvus corone and Eurasian magpie Pica pica that almost entirely consist of material that is meant to deter birds: anti-bird spikes.”
Europe PMC
With some people worrying that the US will pull funding for PubMed, PMC is an alternative.
Two of the best ways to respond to people with dementia who think they are in a different time or place
The Conversation
One: “find some aspect of the patient’s reality that is shareable, without fully entering into it. For example, if a patient says their (deceased) father is coming to collect them, a member of healthcare staff might ask ‘Do you miss your dad?’” Two: “diversions. The topic of conversation can be shifted away from the issue that was causing distress, towards something else they could engage the person with. This sometimes drew on the immediate environment – the view out of the window, for example.”
Alcohol and cancer risk: what you need to know
Nature
“Drinking three to six drinks per week (up to roughly 81 g ethanol) is classed as moderate risk — a one in 100 chance of premature death due to alcohol. Above this, the risks shoot up with each extra drink.” This mainly comes from cohort studies, following self reports of alcohol use and health outcomes. Plus animal models. Random trials aren’t an option, as you’d be able to guess what arm you’re on.
NB: The UK measures “standard drinks” another way, and while 81g of ethanol is roughly up to 6 US drinks, it is up to 10 units for the UK.