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Collagen Peptides Support Bone Health for Female Runners
The study found that biomarkers associated with bone formation increased and inflammation decreased with collagen peptide supplements
Spain's world champions head home to million-strong Madrid welcome
Spain's World Cup winners were due home on Monday to a heroes' welcome in Madrid where a million fans are expected to greet them after a night of raucous celebrations across the country.The scenes are expected to echo the celebrations that followed Spain's first World Cup title in 2010, when hundreds of thousands of supporters flooded Madrid's streets to welcome the team home after their victory in South Africa.
Tina Charles Builds Business With Huskies, Connecticut Sun in Mind
The ex-UConn great and retired WNBA star has gotten into the beer business, and pays tribute to her alma mater at the same time.
Here's When UConn Football Fans Can Buy 2026 Game Tickets
The Huskies season begins 49 days from Saturday when they host Lafayette.
Science Grant Could Deliver $160M For Quantum Tech In CT
At a gathering held at the UConn Hartford campus, state leaders celebrated Connecticut being selected as a Regional Innovation Engine for quantum technologies by the National Science Foundation.
UConn Health Recognized as High Performer for Inclusive Care
National recognition from the Healthcare Equality Index highlights commitment to providing inclusive, patient-centered care for all.
No Timeouts: CLAS Student Combines Passions in Summer Sports Internship
Vincenzo Carbone ’27 (CLAS) is bringing his education in statistical data science and communication to the professional world
After Lōkahi Deal, Glucotrack’s Glucose Tech Will Run Separately
Once required stockholder approvals and Nasdaq listing requirements are met, Lōkahi holders are expected to own about 90% of the company; proceeds are expected to support CBGM technology.
U.S. National Science Foundation Announces Transformational Award to Connecticut's Quantum Tech Sector
'NSF Engines investments in critical technologies and future industries will transform America’s innovation infrastructure for decades to come'
Arts Fest 2026 Sunday event, entertainment lineup
Sunday marks the fifth and final day of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts 2026.
USF Health tests $42 at-home glaucoma screening technology
Doctors say the tool is designed to help patients monitor vision and seek care sooner.
Arts Fest 2026 Saturday event, entertainment lineup
With dozens of performances ranging from young violin and cello students to a Latin music sextet, there’s something for everyone at day four of the 60th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival
UConn Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin Has Audience with Pope Leo XIV
Sir Cato T. Laurencin presented the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award Medal to Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
Shortages lead UConn Health to pay for ‘excessive overtime’
Read More at Inside Investigator >>
Designating the State Rock: A Dazzling Educational Experience
Here's the stone-cold truth: a team effort by UConn and Mansfield educators has built a rock-solid foundation for holistic learning across the state
Excessive Overtime At UConn Health Center Flagged In Audit
Auditors noted that it is best practice to schedule employees in a manner that reduces unnecessary overtime costs, when possible, but that UConn Health incurred significant overtime costs due to lack of staff and many unfilled positions.
Arts Fest 2026 Friday event, entertainment lineup
From the arts to education and improvisation, day three of the 60th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts has a loaded program of events.
Are glucose monitors a good thing for 2-year-olds? Experts look at risks, benefits
The newly approved over-the-counter CGM offers a new approach to tackling childhood obesity but also raises a host of questions.
UConn’s Innovations Institute Advances Behavioral Health Leadership Through New Partnership
The collaborative aims to elevate professional development standards, disseminate critical leadership resources, and build resilient systems of care for chi ...
Cease won’t desist, Jays beat M’s 2-0
Tonight’s game began with a raucous ceremonial first pitch from head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. Men’s National Team. Canada would own the rest of the night. The first inning was the canary in the coal mine, as J.P. Crawford biffed yet another throw from the hot corner in the top half, and in […]
KOSA, wage theft and New Britain’s finances: CT Politics news
Plus: Early childhood education funding, UConn Health expansion, free college courses for high schoolers and Eversource's storm costs.
Exploring STEM Futures through UConn 4-H’s Biotechnology Club
The Biotechnology Club is intentionally designed to complement classroom learning and prepare Connecticut students to enter the skilled, science-literate wo ...
Soccer-Politics aside, Mexico and Ecuador fans keep World Cup rivalry friendly
By Janina Nuno Rios and Natalia Siniawski MEXICO CITY, June 30 (Reuters) - Shrugging off a raucous midnight serenade outside their team hotel as part of football's folklore, travelling Ecuadorean fans
Politics aside, Mexico and Ecuador fans keep World Cup rivalry friendly
Shrugging off a raucous midnight serenade outside their team hotel as part of football's folklore, travelling Ecuadorean fans embraced a festive World Cup atmosphere in Mexico City on Tuesday ahead of their World Cup round of 32 clash with co-hosts Mexico.
New Molecular Monitoring Offers Scientists a ‘Live Video’ Look at Cells
‘This approach allows us to collect molecular information from precise locations while minimizing disruption to the tissue, making it possible to monitor bi ...
Caldwell University Professors Join Nationwide "Phage Hunters" Science Alliance
Caldwell, NJ – Three professors of Caldwell University’s Department of Natural Sciences, Dr. Maria Agapito, Dr. Darryl Aucoin, and Dr. Hector Loyola Irizarry, attended the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) […]
Breakfast, lunch, dinner to hit 30g fiber goal: Nutrition scientist
You may eat fiber for gut health, but it plays many crucial roles in the body, from lowering cholesterol to helping to control glucose levels.
CT AHEC Introduces New Public Health Programs and Partnerships
New public health and public health careers enrichment programs for high school and emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic college students launch ...
Science in Seconds: Improving GLP-1
A UConn Health researcher explains how her lab is focusing on how GLP-1 medications affect the brain and how they can be improved for the future
UConn Business Researchers Discover Voluntary Corporate Climate Goals Are Viewed Favorably by Investors
'For company decisionmakers, there is clearly no argument for not considering it'
NBA Draft: Spurs beef up with shot-blocking Kentucky F Jayden Quaintance, UConn C Tarris Reed Jr. to play with Victor Wembanyama
Arkansas football adds JUCO DT Mahonri Maiava
Arkansas has added the commitment of junior college defensive tackle Mahonri Maiava after his official visit to Fayetteville over the weekend.
Zeiss Medical Technology Collaborates With Envision Health Technologies to Advance Glaucoma Care Using VR-Based Testing
JENA, Germany—Zeiss Medical Technology, a leader in medical optics and digital healthcare solutions, has announced a strategic collaboration with Envision Health Technologies, a digital eye health company founded by glaucoma surgeon Lama A. Al-Aswad, MD, MPH, CEO, to help advance glaucoma care through gamified virtual reality (VR) technology. The companies said this collaboration aims to firmly strengthen scientific and clinical credibility in VR-based visual function testing, supported by Zeiss’ long history of innovation in perimetry, and will bring together clinical expertise and software innovation to help advance clinically relevant, patient-centered technologies for modern glaucoma care.
'Angry, Raucous …' review: Good performances weighed down by plot
LaTanya Richardson Jackson directs the L.A. premiere of Pearl Cleage's 'Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous' at the Geffen Playhouse
UConn Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy Recognizes Faculty Excellence
InCHIP Excellence Awards recognize faculty achievements in research, mentoring, and community engagement.
Jeffrey Stokes Named Head of Allied Health Sciences
Throughout his career, Stokes has emphasized interdisciplinary collaboration and mentorship, as well as faculty development, student success, and preparing ...
A Career Powered by Curiosity: Jasna Jankovic’s Path from Industry to Academia
From industry scientist to award-winning educator and researcher, Jasna Jankovic has built a career at the intersection of materials science, clean energy, ...
Which 5 College Football Teams Have Best Home Field Advantage?
College football possesses by far the most raucous crowds in mainstream American sports. The largest stadiums in the United States are all college football stadiums. When drunk college students, alumni and other loud fans pack these venues, they create deafening forms of entertainment that cannot be duplicated. In the craziest college football environments, the stadium […] The post Which 5 College Football Teams Have Best Home Field Advantage? appeared first on The Lead.
Tennessee football offers 2028 in-state offensive lineman
Tennessee offers a 2028 offensive lineman from Lipscomb Academy.
Baton Rouge General's Health Tip of the Week: The return of the flesh-eating screwworm
Sponsored by Baton Rouge General The new world screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite once eradicated from the U.S., is making headlines again. Recently detected in a calf in Texas, the screwworm, which is not a worm at all, is raising concern among public health officials. Female flies lay their eggs in open wounds or mucous membranes […]
UConn Health Celebrates Grand Opening of Expanded Torrington Location
The newly renovated facility brings a range of healthcare services together under one roof, making care more convenient and accessible close to home.
UConn Health Minute: Smarter Spine Care
At UConn Health, spine surgery is getting a high-tech upgrade. Dr. Hardeep Singh explains how advanced imaging and an AI learning algorithm, surgeons can pl ...
Oral Health and Menopause Lunch and Learn Highlights Need for Interdisciplinary Care
Program explored the intersection of menopause, oral health, and health equity during National Oral Health Month
Oregon couple uses social media sketches to advocate for transparency in healthcare
Dr. and Lady Glaucomflecken — otherwise known as Will and Kristin Flanary — are using humor for healthcare advocacy and education.
How a UConn program reduces the stigma of mental health care. It’s designed to increase access.
Research at several universities in New York indicates that just having a conversation that promotes mental health on campus normalizes the idea that students will go out to seek help for themselves
NMSU helps launch biotech game that lets students explore science careers
NMSU and UConn Extension developed a free 4-H biotech game that lets students explore 10 science careers through hands-on tasks.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Conner Honored as 2026 CHA Healthcare Hero
Dr. Conner's innovative work has given new hope to patients who previously had limited options for recovery.
Husky Heritage Sports Museum Open Saturday June 13
The J. Robert Donnelly Husky Heritage Sports Museum , located in the UConn Alumni Center on the UConn Storrs campus, will be open to the public for on Saturd...
Meet the Researcher: Jianbin Ruan, UConn Health
Jianbin Ruan's lab studies how our immune system works at the molecular level, paving the way for better treatments
Popular joint supplement glucosamine linked to faster Alzheimer’s progression
A major study suggests glucosamine, a popular supplement for joint pain, could be linked to faster progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found a 25% higher likelihood of developing dementia among glucosamine users and uncovered biological clues that may explain why.
From The Sports Desk: A raucous evening inside and outside Madison Square Garden
NBC News reported on the ground, as the New York Knicks played their first NBA Finals home game in 27 years. Plus, Canada’s Alphonso Davies is today’s World Cup spotlight.
Study links joint pain supplement to accelerating dementia
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — New research has found an association between taking glucosamine, a popular over-the-counter supplement used for joint pain, and a higher…
$1.5M Gift Establishes the Chase-Bear-Dyer Advanced Triage Unit at UConn Health and the Chase-Bear-Dyer Family Classroom at the UConn School of Law
The gift will expand the emergency care department at UConn Health and enhance learning spaces for School of Law students
Rangers Hire Ex-Bruins Coach For AHL Squad
Earlier this offseason, the Boston Bruins moved on from assistant coach Jay Leach, who had coached their defenseman for the last two seasons.
Scientists achieve the first total synthesis of a complex alkaloids isolated from plant
Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) are plant-derived molecules with unique pharmaceutical potential, but their highly complex and intricate structures make them difficult to produce in the laboratory. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a new strategy that enables the total synthesis of bisleuconothine A and bousigonine B, two biologically relevant oligomeric MIAs. Their findings lay the foundation for further studies of this family of molecules. Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) are plant-derived molecules with unique pharmaceutical potential, but their highly complex and intricate structures make them difficult to produce in the laboratory. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a new strategy that enables the total synthesis of bisleuconothine A and bousigonine B, two biologically relevant oligomeric MIAs. Their findings lay the foundation for further studies of this family of molecules.
A raucous Copenhagen crowd cheers Denmark’s 2026 Mullet Championship
A packed Danish crowd celebrated the enduring mullet hairstyle on Saturday.
11th Class Graduates Favarh’s Project SEARCH at UConn Health
Prepares intellectually or developmentally disabled for workforce
UConn Health Minute: Trauma Season
As warmer weather brings more people outdoors, emergency departments see more injuries and heat-related illnesses. In this UConn Health Minute, Dr. David K ...
The cult of objectivity has broken consciousness science
With 22 competing theories and no consensus in sight, the science of consciousness is lost. In this exclusive IAI interview, Berkeley psychedelics researcher and bestselling author of a new book on consciousness Michael Pollan insists that even though consciousness lies beyond traditional forms of scientific investigation, we should resist becoming dualists who see it as something radically different from ordinary stuff in the world. Instead, he makes the case for reimagining science itself: it must stop reaching for objective descriptions of physical reality, and instead embrace subjectivity as the indispensable core of all inquiry. Alasdair Craig: How did your experiences with psychedelics get you interested in consciousness?Michael Pollan: One of the things that happens on psychedelics is that they foreground consciousness. What formerly seemed perfectly transparent and ever present—and yet, non-existent, as water is to fish—suddenly you see it. The metaphor I use in the book is that psychedelics sponge the windscreen. Suddenly you realize: wow, there’s a windscreen, there is this phenomenon that’s mediating my relationship to reality. This is not an unusual realization on psychedelics. I think a lot of people are called to think about consciousness after psychedelic experiences. So that was the proximate inspiration for A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (2026).And then there was a more specific way in which psychedelics influence the book. That was a particular experience I had on psilocybin. I had the sensation that the plants in my garden were conscious and returning my gaze, with their own point of view and agency, and I got curious as to how to evaluate an insight like that. I mean, what’s the truth quotient of insights you have on psychedelics? And I was reading William James—who, of course, wrote beautifully about mystical experience—and he said, we can’t judge the metaphysics here, but we should pay attention to two criteria: (1) How useful is it to think this is true? He was a pragmatist, of course. And (2) can we subject it to other ways of knowing to validate it? Because maybe we should treat these insights as hypotheses. And that’s kind of how I approach psychedelics, as a great generator of hypotheses, but they need to be tested against other ways of knowing. And so that led me down this long path exploring the science of plant intelligence and plant sentience.AC: I love your phrase, “smudging the windowpane of conscious experience.” So do you now start to think, actually, even when I’m not on psychedelics, I’m just seeing a screen all the time, which is not reality, but rather is my conscious experience, behind which reality is hidden?MP: Well, you know, not when I’m brushing my teeth and making breakfast! But yes, in meditation, certainly. I mean, one of the things you realize is that my experience happens to be this way now, but it could be another way. And many things can affect it. My morning coffee changes the screen in various ways, sharpens certain things.___The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness.___There’s this wonderful metaphor in Aldous Huxley’s book, The Doors of Perception, where he thinks we channel consciousness, and that what the brain does is edit it, and there’s a reducing valve. And psychedelics open the reducing valve wider. I don’t know that I’m ready to buy into the idea that consciousness exists outside brains, but I do love that metaphor because there are times when you are more conscious than others. I know I’ve switched from window pane to valve, but you know, a camera aperture can open wider or narrower. And I do have a sense of that. I have a sense of when I’m being less conscious, and when I’m being more conscious, by which I mean, you know, more present, taking in more sensory information. So when you start thinking about consciousness as a matter of degree, that changes things also.I think when we scroll on social media, obviously, we’re conscious. But minimally so, because we don’t have to generate our own thoughts. We’re basically taking these little hits from other people and thinking their thoughts.The process of writing this book made me kind of relativize everyday consciousness as just one type, which is exactly what William James said. Normal consciousness is one type, separated by the flimsiest of screens from the other types.AC: If we stick with the metaphor of the smudge on the window that you get when you take psychedelics, it seems like we’re saying that consciousness has become like an object that you’re looking at, right? You’re looking at the smudge and that just is consciousness. But sometimes we’ll talk about consciousness as a state that you’re in, rather than an object you can perceive. You’re either conscious or you’re not conscious. So it’s difficult to really know what sort of thing we’re talking about when we talk about consciousness, right?MP: Yeah. When you say that consciousness is an object, what’s the subject? Consciousness also? The only tool we have to understand consciousness is consciousness. So we’re in a closed loop and when we get a perspective on consciousness, we’re not achieving any distance from it. That’s one of the problems with studying consciousness. Science is predicated on an objective, God’s eye view of things, and you never get that. There’s no such thing. SUGGESTED VIEWING The brain filters consciousness With Àlex Gómez-Marín But, yeah, there is this sense, I think, that consciousness is something you can approach. Certainly, when you’re writing and trying to recreate a conscious experience, it’s a fiction, but you’re standing back from it, and looking at it. But there’s no real subject-object distinction.AC: That’s so interesting, because when philosophers start talking about consciousness, they often talk about what they call “qualia”, which is their word for the felt experience of, say, the color red. And I think that way of speaking often makes us think of the qualia as an object, which you can see out there: the redness of red. But, as you say, we also want to collapse the subject-object distinction when we talk about consciousness. So there’s something strange going on here…MP: Oh, yeah, there are many strange things going on! *AC: Let’s talk about the varieties of consciousness. Apart from perceptions, there are, pains, emotions, thoughts, and so on. What is it that holds all this diversity together so that they all count as instances of consciousness? What is it that they all have in common?MP: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I mean, there is sensory information, right? Which we perceive coming from the world outside ourselves. And then there’s internal information, which is what’s called interoception. And this is very important too. This is where feelings come from—what are sometimes called homeostatic feelings—that are intended to get the brain to keep us in these narrow ranges of temperature and glucose and so on. That’s a very important part of consciousness. And according to some researchers, who I think are probably right, this is where consciousness begins, with these very primal feelings, like hunger and thirst and warmth and itch, and things like that. And then there’s this third thing, which is our thinking about thinking.And what holds all this together is, I think, the sense of self. Consciousness generates a self: it is probably an organizing principle. All this stuff is happening to the self. It’s a construct, I think, but it is very useful. It can connect all these different streams of consciousness to a single being or a place, metaphorically speaking.* AC: The first half of your book is about the science of consciousness. Is consciousness just another thing, like black holes or the origin of life, which we don’t yet understand, but which we should have every hope that science will one day get to the bottom of, or is there something special about consciousness that makes this unlikely?MP: It depends how you define science. As we define science now, it’s going be very difficult. Science since Galileo has had a set of rules or assumptions, which is that the proper remit of science is to deal with the objective, quantifiable, third-person world. And the physical sciences have done amazing work under that set of limitations. Galileo—for tactical reasons, not for philosophical reasons—said science should not deal with the soul, which at the time was what consciousness was considered to be. So what is subjective, what is qualitative, what is first person, we’re going to leave to the church, he said. And this was a good agreement, and it probably kept many scientists from getting burned at the stake. But it leaves science in an awkward spot, now that it wants to venture into that territory of qualities, of first-person experience. And I don’t think it has the proper tools. I think it will have to add to its toolkit in some way, and find a way to bring in phenomenology, or lived experience and introspection, which science is usually dismissive of.The challenge—we alluded to it earlier—is that the only tool you have to study consciousness with is consciousness. And what I mean by that is, the whole scientific enterprise is a manifestation of consciousness. As much as scientists like to flatter themselves with this idea that they attain a godlike perspective on what they study, when it comes to consciousness, there’s no such thing. And it’s fine for all the things you can step outside of and study from that perspective. But two areas it won’t work are consciousness and cosmology.___It could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.___With cosmology, too, you have to study the universe from inside the universe. It’s not that cosmologists haven’t made progress. We know a lot about the age of the universe and expansion and things like that. But we can’t penetrate what happened before the Big Bang. We just don’t have the tools because we can’t stand outside.The fact that there are 22 full-scale theories of consciousness tells you all you need to know: we’re kind of lost. And I was surprised to find that we are more lost than I thought we were when I started this. I thought that there’d be leading theories, or that we had experiments that we could conduct that would nail some of this down. And the fact is, we don’t.So, I don’t know if science can solve it. But, of course, we can change the rules of science. A really influential book for me was a book called The Blind Spot, by two physicists, Marcello Gleiser and Adam Frank, and a philosopher, Evan Thompson. It’s a reminder that science is a social practice. It’s organized in a certain way and it can be organized in a different way. But it has this huge blind spot at the center of it, which is its failure to recognize that it is a form of consciousness itself, and it doesn’t have a good way of taking account of lived experience.AC: On the one hand, I think you want to resist traditional dualism, which would say that consciousness is something magical, something supernatural, right? But on the other hand, you’re accepting that there is this division in reality between the stuff that you can investigate objectively and measure, and so on—the stuff that science has been good at finding out about—and consciousness, which, for some reason, you can’t objectively measure. Some would take this to suggest that the dualism is actually right. Is there a way of reconciling these two strands of your thinking?MP: To call it magical is full of value judgement. I mean, you could just say immaterial. The interesting thing is, I think, that intuitively we’re all dualists. And I don’t know whether that’s because we’re children of Descartes and other cultures are less dualist than we are. Or it may be because that’s how consciousness feels. It feels different than the body. It feels separate from the body. But I don’t think we should trust that intuition.AC: So let’s think about ways that science might be changed to get at consciousness. I suppose the starting point would be the way that you begin the second half of your book. You have this nice line from William James, where he says, “We now begin our study of the mind from within.” Could you give us some sense of the ways of studying the mind from within? What does this involve?MP: I don’t know what that science looks like. But one of the points I’m making is that it depends on the humanities. I found that I learned as much, if not more, about consciousness, from reading novels and poetry. There is a sense of the fullness and complexity of consciousness that you don’t get in any scientific account. I interviewed this stream-of-consciousness writer and I approached her as an expert on consciousness, and she is. So I think that dialogue is really important.I’m reading Ben Lerner’s new novel, Transcription. Just read the first page of this novel: it’s a man falling asleep on a train, going to conduct an interview, and there is the experience of being in the train, facing backwards, there’s the view outside, but there’s a reflection of himself through which he’s seeing outside. There’s the memory of dropping his kids off at school. All this is going on in one moment of consciousness. Scientists aren’t going anywhere near that. But I think it’s useful for them to think about. That’s where we’re trying to go: like, how does such a layered experience happen? You know, it also makes you wonder, could a computer ever do this? And it gives you some doubt.*AC: Before we get to computers, perhaps we could talk briefly about plants. How did you come to feel that they are sentient?MP: Well, it was a psychedelic experience, and it’s not unusual on psychedelics. In fact, there’ve been studies about how people become animists during psychedelic experience. Their belief in animism arises after a single psychedelic experience.You know, most scientists would say this is all a myth. But we have only 400 years of the age of enlightenment and science. Before that, we were animists, and if you go around the world, most indigenous cultures are still animists, and children are animists, by and large, until they go to school. So it could be that we live in this anomaly of not believing nature is conscious. And maybe psychedelics are teaching us something we’ve forgotten.As I said, I wanted to test this idea, and see whether there was conventional scientific evidence for it. And there’s fascinating work going on in a field that calls itself—in a rather cheeky way—plant neurobiology. These are people who fully realize there are no neurons in plants, but they’re trolling conventional botanists! And they’re doing experiments that are demonstrating that plants can learn and remember, which is kind of amazing: how do you store a memory without neurons? They’re finding plants that can solve problems, that can hear and see. In fact, they have 20 senses to our five or six. For example, a bean plant looking for something to twine, and given a pole within eight inches or so of it, knows where that pole is and will aim its spiraling reach at that pole. What is that about? Is it bouncing signals off of it?One of the spookiest things is the fact that the same anesthetics that put us out put plants out. You might think that plants are already out, but they’re not. They’re just slow. If you take a plant with a fast behavior, like a Venus flytrap, and give it an anesthetic, it will stop reacting. So you have to ask yourself, what is lost when the plant is anaesthetized? Some state of alertness, of awareness, of its environment, of reactivity. I’m not prepared to call that consciousness, but maybe it’s sentience—which is a simpler form of consciousness, and involves the ability to sense what’s going on in your environment and assess what’s good and bad for you and act appropriately. That may be a universal quality of life.AC: Let’s turn from plants to AI. You point out that LLMs are trained on the internet rather than direct interactions with reality. You put this really nicely when you say the internet is not the world so much as a shadow cast by the world. So LLMs are living in this kind of shadow world, or in Plato’s cave, as you put it. What’s the significance of this for AI consciousness and moral consideration? And, to recall the beginning of our conversation, if we’re stuck behind a veil or screen of consciousness, are we also stuck in a kind of shadow world?MP: I don’t think they’re the same shadow worlds because our world includes nature and other people. And even if it’s mediated in some ways... There is a reality out there, and we are in relation to it, through consciousness. There’s friction with it. What’s missing from the LLMs is that friction with the real world. There’s more to the world than human representation, which is what they’re dealing with. And that means that so far, AI is a cultural technology for combining thoughts we’ve already had. SUGGESTED VIEWING Cracking the code for thought With Roger Penrose, Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski, Max Tegmark, Güneş Taylor Genuine creativity is more than collage. A lot of what AI does now is tantamount to collage, putting this with that and you know, that’s part of art, certainly. But there are also genuinely new ideas that come into the world that don’t come in through manipulating the representations we already have. So it remains to be seen whether AIs can be truly creative in that more radical sense.But my arguments against AI becoming conscious have to do with the fact that the idea of AI consciousness is based on this faulty metaphor that the brain is a computer. There are dimensions in which the brain is like a computer—it certainly does its share of computation. But computers have this sharp distinction between hardware and software, and brains don’t. In a brain, hardware and software are identical. Every memory is a physical change to the brain. Brains are not interchangeable in the way computers are. So this idea that you could take the consciousness out and somehow run it on another substrate, a silicon substrate, seems foolhardy.Anyway, it’s a more extended argument, and I may be wrong. And when we move to computers that aren’t based on silicon—neuromorphic computers and things like that—all bets may be off.AC: Regarding your point about LLMs being stuck in the world of our representations—the internet or whatever—and not being able to interact with reality, are these representations, the world of the internet, themselves part of reality? We’ve created the internet, but it’s still a real thing that exists. And so while the LLMs may be trapped within that part of reality, they’re nevertheless within reality and interacting with it and so on. So it’s not obvious that there’s a barrier there to them becoming conscious and being creative.MP: Yeah, I mean, if our consciousness is built out of human culture, which is what we’re talking about with all those representations. But I tend to think consciousness comes a bit more out of nature and friction with the natural world, but...AC: So there’s a fundamental divide between the natural world and human artefacts?MP: And we lose track of that, and especially people in this computer world. You know, the people who are creating these AI systems, my guess is they’ve been into video games since the age of three, and they didn’t go outside a lot. And their own contact with nature is somewhat limited. I could be wrong, it’d be a very interesting thing to ask, all the wizards of AI, whether they like to go fishing and hiking and do things like that. Or were they on computers from a very early age? I interviewed Blake Lemoine, the Google engineer who came to believe that LaMDA, the Google LLM out at the time, was conscious and deserved personhood. It was very clear that he didn’t see a distinction between this bubble in which he lived and the real world. And I think we’ve all been distanced from the natural world, and this is taking us even further away. But it’s still there, you know, and we still have bodies, and we’re still mortal, and we don’t live in a simulation.AC: I think that’s a great place to finish. Michael Pollan, thank you very much!
UConn To Face Michigan In TNT Sports HOF Series Boston - University of Connecticut Athletics
STORRS – The UConn men's basketball team will return to Boston's TD Garden next season for a 2026 National Championship rematch with Michigan, as announced b...
‘Healthy Rounds’: Kids on a Pitch Count
UConn Health’s Dr. Cory Edgar talks youth sports injuries on Dr. Anthony Alessi’s podcast
Azzi Fudd’s pregame outfit for Dallas Wings game turns heads
Azzi Fudd started her WNBA rookie season slow but has played better in the last three games. She is also emerging as a fan favorite after being selected at No. 1 in this year’s draft. The UConn Huskies product continues…
UConn Student-Athletes Champion Mental Health Awareness - University of Connecticut Athletics
In 2024, Jenna Zydanowicz began a Capstone project for her Master's in Public Health, entitled "Breaking Barriers: Reducing Stigma in College Athletics Throu...
Glyco Harmony Drops [URGENT REPORT 2026] GlycoHarmony Shocking Complete Scientific Breakdown of Benefits Everyone Is Talking
Explore the science behind Glyco Harmony. Get a detailed explanation of its ingredients, benefits, potential effects, and how the formula may support healthy glucose metabolism. Glyco Harmony Glyco Harmony New York City, NY, May 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As awareness of metabolic health continues to rise worldwide, consumers are increasingly searching for products that can help support healthy blood sugar levels, improve overall wellness, and complement healthy lifestyle choices. Learn what’s
Cornucopian Convincing Winner Of Aristides
Cornucopian pressured early leader Mad House, put him away leaving the turn, and then withstood a challenge from five-time stakes winner Roll On Big Joe to win Saturday’s 38th running of the $263,500 Aristides (G3) by 1 1/4 lengths at Churchill Downs. Off as the odds-on 3-5 ...
How Has the Lynx’s No. 2 Overall Pick Been Performing?
When the Minnesota Lynx drafted Olivia Miles No. 2 overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft, there was some shock. Among experts, there seemed to be a definitive top four prospects: Azzi Fudd, Awa Fam, Lauren Betts and Miles herself. Top prospects during the draft process Fudd had a successful five-year career playing guard at UConn. […] The post How Has the Lynx’s No. 2 Overall Pick Been Performing? appeared first on The Lead.
Cornyn: ‘I don’t know what more I could do to support the president’
School of Business, CLAS, and College of Engineering Host MIP 2026 Research Conference at UConn Stamford
Google, Nvidia, Uber and other tech companies attended
Apple Watch glucose monitoring project gets encouraging update
Apple wants to bring noninvasive glucose monitoring to Apple Watch, and a new report indicates the project has hit a notable turning point.
Azzi Fudd’s third-quarter takeover lifts the Wings past the Liberty
Fudd always enjoyed playing at Barclays Center when she was in college at UConn, so it was no surprise that she had the best game of her young pro career there.
The Atlantic Ocean Was Hiding a Massive Freshwater Reservoir Big Enough to Supply NYC for 800 Years
Scientists have discovered a massive freshwater reservoir buried beneath the Atlantic Ocean, stretching from New Jersey to Maine — and early estimates suggest it could hold enough water to supply New York City for nearly 800 years. Researchers believe the reservoir dates back to the last ice age, though it could take years to determine whether the water can — or should — ever be tapped.
Pitching the Future of Health Care
“At its core, innovation is about making the world a better place, and that purpose was evident in every pitch presented.” – Michael McGuire, MBA, Beekley M ...
Kentucky, UNC, Kansas, Michigan, UConn in discussions with big new blue blood-laden college basketball event
The 'Diamond Cup,' a new eight-team event, is being prepped for 2027, but can it come together as planned?
UConn Hartford Students Apply Organic Chemistry to Public Health
Through a service-learning partnership with UConn Student Health and Wellness, students in an organic chemistry lab at UConn Hartford applied course concept ...
‘Healthy Rounds’: How Worried Should We Be About Hantavirus?
Dr. David Banach shares his infectious diseases expertise on Dr. Anthony Alessi’s podcast
UConn to cut university funding for 36 club sports teams
University funding for 36 club sports teams at UConn will end July 1.
Scientists reveal how seven days of fasting transforms the human body
Scientists have discovered that the human body undergoes a dramatic internal transformation during extended fasting, with major changes appearing only after about three days without food. In a seven-day water-only fasting study, researchers tracked thousands of proteins in the blood and found widespread shifts affecting organs throughout the body — including the brain. While the body quickly switches from burning glucose to fat, the most intriguing biological changes linked to potential health benefits didn’t emerge until later in the fast.
Celebrating Healthcare Week at UConn Health – OB/GYN
WFSB surprised the OB/GYN team as part of Healthcare Week celebrations.
Connecticut High School Seniors Graduate from ‘Doctors Academy’ at UConn Health
The annual Closing Ceremony of the Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP) of UConn Health was marked on May 13, 2026.
UConn Health Earns Accreditation for Noninvasive Vascular Testing
Enables early detection of life-threatening heart disorders, stroke, other cardiovascular disease
Celebrating Healthcare Week at UConn Health- Pharmacy
WFSB and Dr. Andy surprised the UConn Health Pharmacy team as part of Healthcare Week celebrations.
UConn Health Physicians Ranked Among the Nation’s Best in 2026 “Top Doctors” List
60 UConn Health Physicians Named Among Connecticut’s Top Doctors for 2026 in Connecticut Magazine
Celebrating Healthcare Week at UConn Health- Cardiology
WFSB surprised the Cardiology team at the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center as part of Healthcare Week celebrations.
Emeka Okafor, Jim Calhoun to be honored at Franciscan Sports Banquet
The event has drawn big names from Major League Baseball, the NFL, UConn and the college basketball world.
55th Commencement Celebrated by UConn Health
No. 1 producer of Connecticut’s healthcare workforce graduates 263 physicians, dentists, and scientists.
Celebrating Healthcare Week at UConn Health
WFSB surprised the Comprehensive Spine team at the UConn Health Brain and Spine Institute to kick off Healthcare Wekk.
Scientists say this common sweetener may be quietly rewiring your metabolism
Researchers say fructose is not just “empty calories” — it may actively push the body toward fat storage and metabolic disease. A new review found that fructose affects the body differently from glucose, disrupting normal energy regulation and promoting processes linked to obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular problems.
Neag School of Education Celebrates 139 Bachelor of Science Graduates
Graduates of the Sport Management and Integrated Bachelor's/Master's Teacher Education programs were celebrated Sunday morning at the Jorgensen Ce ...
'Resident Evil: Requiem' gets a cool and free new mode, out now
Leon Must Die Forever sounds fun as heck.
Kelly Garcia Graduates From University Of Central Oklahoma With Bachelor Of Science Degree In Funeral Service
Kelly Garcia/Courtesy photo UCO NEWS RELEASE Los Alamos resident Kelly Garcia graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Funeral Service as a part …
UConn Health Strengthens Perinatal Mental Health Care for Connecticut Families
During Perinatal Mental Health Month, UConn Health is highlighting its growing efforts to improve care for pregnant and postpartum individuals through integ ...
Harm Reduction and Food Insecurity: Urban Health/AHEC Scholars Make the Connection
Interprofessional health students in the Women’s Health Interest Group (IG) take action to organize and distribute healthy food bag donations to community w ...
UConn Health Celebrates Its Nurses
Honoring 1,200+ RNs, APRNs and CRNAs, including 6 Nightingales, for Nurses Week
Trucordia acquires Connecticut agency Paradiso Financial
The move adds a community agency with a diversified personal and small commercial book
Trucordia acquires Connecticut insurer Paradiso Financial
The move adds a community agency with a diversified personal and small commercial book
UConn sports ticket perk for lawmakers added to CT ethics proposal
Other provisions of the House bill increase the dollar limit for an allowable gift.
Chicago's Tuco & Blondie celebrates 10 years in business
One Chicago Mexican restaurant not only has Cinco de Mayo to celebrate this month, but also 10 years in business!
Weight Teasing from Different Family Members Linked to Harmful Health Outcomes for Adolescents
Weight teasing from mothers emerged as the most consistently significant family source associated with negative outcomes
Duke to play UConn, Michigan, Gonzaga next season on Amazon in groundbreaking TV deal
The Blue Devils are entering into a first-of-its-kind broadcast deal for three huge games that will bring millions in NIL opportunities
