Enjoy a helping of news!
WEEKEND EDITION
FRIDAY JANUARY 30, 2026

AI 

People are swayed by AI-generated videos even when they know they're fake, study shows | Phys.org

Generative deep learning models are artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can create texts, images, audio files, and videos for specific purposes, following instructions provided by human users. Over the past few years, the content generated by these models has become increasingly realistic and is often difficult to distinguish from real content.

 

AI that talks to itself learns faster and smarter | ScienceDaily

AI may learn better when it’s allowed to talk to itself. Researchers showed that internal “mumbling,” combined with short-term memory, helps AI adapt to new tasks, switch goals, and handle complex challenges more easily. This approach boosts learning efficiency while using far less training data. It could pave the way for more flexible, human-like AI systems.

 

How AI Could Transform Billing, Payments, and Medtech's Rev Cycle

Arrow’s CEO discusses how AI transforms medical billing, reduces claim denials, and improves revenue cycle management.

 

Gen Z Turning to AI for STD Help  | MDDI

A new survey reveals 20% of Gen Z use AI chatbots for STI/STD questions, but chatbots misdiagnose 31% of cases, raising privacy and accuracy concerns.

 

How DeepMind's genome AI could help solve rare disease mysteries

Hackathons using AlphaGenome and other AI models are hunting down the genetic causes of devastating conditions that have evaded diagnosis.

 

Scientists found a way to cool quantum computers using noise | ScienceDaily

Quantum computers need extreme cold to work, but the very systems that keep them cold also create noise that can destroy fragile quantum information. Scientists in Sweden have now flipped that problem on its head by building a tiny quantum refrigerator that actually uses noise to drive cooling instead of fighting it. By carefully steering heat at unimaginably small scales, the device can act as a refrigerator, heat engine, or energy amplifier inside quantum circuits

 

 

EVERYTHING ELSE

Top medtech trends to watch in 2026 | MedTech Dive

From M&A to surgical robotics and user fee negotiations, the medical device industry has a busy year ahead. Check out MedTech Dive’s roundup of the top medtech trends to watch in 2026.

 

Nitinol is making next-gen glaucoma implants safer and less invasive
Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS, also known as microinvasive glaucoma surgery) is using nitinol to make symptom management for the progressive eye disease safer and increasingly personalized.

 

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office | Science | AAAS

Some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce. That exodus was only 3% of the 335,192 federal workers who exited last year but represents 14% of the total number of Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) or health fields employed at the end of 2024 as then-President Joe Biden prepared to leave office.

 

6 Moments that Transformed Surgical Robotics

In January, Johnson & Johnson filed a de novo submission for the Ottava Surgical Robot, and shortly https://imgproxy.divecdn.com/9_G51BH59yhi7uUdlufbrB6WzfMOfNQG-cIO3wJxCQM/g:nowe:205:854/c:3173:1792/rs:fill:1600:900:1/Z3M6Ly9kaXZlc2l0ZS1zdG9yYWdlL2RpdmVpbWFnZS9FdmVyc2Vuc2VfMzY1X0NHTS5wbmc=.webpafter, Intuitive Surgical received FDA clearance to use the da Vinci robot in cardiac proc...