Amanda Smith is a freelance journalist and writer. She reports on culture, society, human interest and technology. Her stories hold a mirror to society, reflecting both its malaise and its beauty.

People who interact with chatbots for emotional support or other personal reasons are likelier to report symptoms of depression or anxiety, a new study finds. The researchers from Mass General Brigham ...

A deck brush can be a good tool for the right task. Just ask Veronika, the Brown Swiss cow. Veronika uses both ends of a deck brush to scratch various parts of her body, researchers report January 19 ...

Far Side fans might recall a classic 1982 cartoon called “Cow Tools,” featuring a cow standing next to a jumble of strange objects—the joke being that cows don’t use tools. That’s why a pet Swiss ...

How does a cow scratch an itch on its back? An Austrian cow named Veronika has a solution that could change how we view livestock. For the past decade, Veronika has been observed by her owner ...

In news that is sure to delight fans of a certain Gary Larson cartoon turned meme about the limitations of bovine cognition, cow tools are real. Larson’s 1982 comic for his series The Far Side showed ...

Workdays without busywork are closer to reality than ever, thanks to artificial intelligence. AI tools that can sort and summarize emails, take meeting notes and file expense reports promise to free ...

To better understand which social media platforms Americans use, Pew Research Center surveyed 5,022 U.S. adults from Feb. 5 to June 18, 2025. SSRS conducted this National Public Opinion Reference ...

A growing number of special education teachers say they use artificial intelligence platforms to draft all or part of students’ individualized education programs, even as many districts lack policies ...

What is it with lawyers and AI? We don’t know, but it feels like an inordinate number of them keep screwing up with AI tools, apparently never learning from their colleagues who get publicly crucified ...

More college students are using AI chatbots to help them with their studies. But data recently released by an AI company shows they're aren't the only ones using the technology. College students are ...

When Georgia State University professor G. Sue Kasun taught a new course this summer, she used generative artificial intelligence to help her brainstorm. Kasun, a professor of language, culture and ...