School systems aren't built for kids who fall asleep and wake up late, the so-called 'night owls,' which may help explain why this group of teens is more prone to depression.

As students go back to school, news and media sites are discussing how ChatGPT continues to evolve and play an increasingly significant role in education. Recent research from the Walton Family Foundation found that 42 percent of students are using ChatGPT, up from 33 percent in a prior survey. While many experts say chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard can be used in positive ways, they agree that these tools are no substitute for doing your own research. ChatGPT is an answer generator, and its answers are only as good as the information it was trained on. A true search engine only provides you with sources, not answers, and it leaves it up to you to determine which ones are credible.

As students go back to school, news and media sites are discussing how ChatGPT continues to evolve and play an increasingly significant role in education. Recent research from the Walton Family Foundation found that 42 percent of students are using ChatGPT, up from 33 percent in a prior survey. Earlier this year, high school senior Rohan Mehta from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, wrote an op-ed for MIT Technology Review where he talked about how generative AI could potentially benefit students as a learning tool. “...the very act of discussing my writing ‘out loud,’ albeit with a machine, helped me figure out what I wanted to say next,” he wrote. “Using ChatGPT to verbalize the space of possibilities—from the scale of words to paragraphs—strengthened my own thinking.”

While many experts are hopeful that chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard can be used in positive ways, they agree that these tools are no substitute for doing your own research. ChatGPT is an answer generator, and its answers are only as good as the information it was trained on. A true search engine only provides you with sources, not answers, and it leaves it up to you to determine which ones are credible.

Sixteen-year-old Rahul Vijayan recently received a 2023 International Young Eco-Hero Award from the nonprofit Action for Nature. The award recognizes and rewards young people who are taking action to solve the world’s tough environmental problems. Vijayan created a project called Farm to Tray to improve access to fresh organic produce in Houston area schools. He partnered with a local hydroponic farm and introduced on-site hydroponic farming, a technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. The schools’ student body runs the program within the environmental club.

“I’m truly honored, especially being so invested in sustainability and nature and climate change,” Vijayan told the Houston Chronicle. “I always love finding peers who are in the same field as me. I’m even trying to connect with some students there to bring hydroponics to their school and bring some of their projects to mine.”

Alcohol use and subsequent handgun carrying were positively associated during adolescence and young adulthood among individuals who grew up in rural areas, similar to findings in urban areas. Reducing alcohol use may be an important strategy to prevent handgun carrying and firearm-related harm among young people in rural areas.

A new study led by the universities of Cambridge and Warwick in Britain and Fudan University in China says under-age smokers may have different brains than their peers who don’t smoke. The findings, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, found that teens who started smoking by 14 had less gray matter in a section of the left frontal lobe—the part of the brain involved in decision-making and rule-breaking behavior. This may be linked to teens’ desire to to start smoking and the strengthening of nicotine addiction.

Once they started smoking, teens also had reduced gray matter in the right frontal lobe, which may weaken their ability to quit. Study co-author Trevor Robbins said, “The initiation of a smoking habit is most likely to occur during adolescence. Any way of detecting an increased chance of this, so we can target interventions, could help save millions of lives.”

Maui, the second-largest island in Hawaii, suffered devastating wildfires that destroyed most of the historic town of Lahaina. It is now the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than 100 years. Maui was already under a warning for fire risk when the wildfires broke out, driven by winds that were increased by Hurricane Dora. Almost 85 percent of wildfires in the United States are caused by humans, according to the National Park Service, but certain weather can ignite and help spread fires.

When a natural disaster occurs, you must stay alert and be ready to leave your home at a moment’s notice. It’s also important to listen to updates and instructions from local authorities about how to respond to emergencies in your area.