A fascinating new study has detailed how scientists recreated a “brain” computer using salt and water.

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, with experts recently discovering that it is even more powerful than first thought.

Now, physicists from Utrecht University in the Netherlands have come together with fellow experts from Sogang University in South Korea to successfully create an artificial synapse.

While attempting to improve the way brain-like computers work, experts have looked to the human brain to help with the development.

They reasoned that, if the human brains use water and dissolved salt particles, it could be possible that brain-like computers might be able to, rather than the conventional solid material

The results were published in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and revealed that for the first time, they were able to create a tiny system measuring 150 by 200 micrometres that relied on salt and water to process information.

What they created mimicked a synapse – a key component of the human brain that is responsible for transmitting nervous signals.

PhD candidate at the Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Mathematical Institute of Utrecht University, and the lead author of the study, Tim Kamsma, said: “While artificial synapses capable of processing complex information already exist based on solid materials, we now show for the first time that this feat can also be accomplished using water and salt.”

He explained: “We are effectively replicating neuronal behaviour using a system that employs the same medium as the brain.’

The tiny device that replicated a synapse capable of using salt and water was developed by experts in Korea and helped Kamsma to prove his theory within just three months.

“Coincidently, our paths crossed with the research group in South Korea during that period,” Kamsma recalled. “They embraced my theory with great enthusiasm and swiftly initiated experimental work based on it.”

The Financial Times had signed a licensing agreement with OpenAI to train artificial intelligence (AI) models on its attributed content, the newspaper said on Monday, in the latest media tie-up for the Microsoft-backed startup.

The agreement will enhance OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot ChatGPT with attributed FT content, and the firms will collaborate on developing new AI products and features for FT readers. 

The partnership also lets ChatGPT use select summaries, quotes and links to FT’s stories on its chatbot, the paper said in a statement, without disclosing financial terms of the deal.

OpenAI struck a similar deal with the Associated Press last year where the news publisher licensed a part its archive of news stories to OpenAI.

ChatGPT, which kickstarted the GenAI boom in late 2022, can mimic human conversation and perform tasks such as creating summaries of long text, writing poems and even generating ideas for a theme party.

Some outlets are already using generative AI for their content. BuzzFeed has said it will use AI to power personality quizzes on its site, and the New York Times used ChatGPT to create a Valentine’s Day message-generator last year.

The Telegram messaging app, one of the most popular social media platforms in Ukraine and Russia, will likely cross 1 billion active monthly users within a year, its founder said in remarks published on Tuesday.

In a rare interview, Pavel Durov told U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson that the Dubai-based free cloud-based app that allows users to send and receive messages, calls and other files, is spreading like a “forest fire”. 

“We’ll probably cross 1 billion monthly active users within a year now,” Durov, who fully owns Telegram, told Tucker, according to the video interview posted on Tucker’s account on the X social media platform.

The goal of the app, which has now 900 million active users, is to remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics,” Durov said. The Russia-born entrepreneur said he had fled Russia in 2014 citing government interference in a company he founded.

One of Telegram’s main rivals, Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp, has more than 2 billion monthly active users.

The Financial Times reported in March that Telegram would likely aim for a U.S. listing once the company had reached profitability.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become an instrumental tool for both governments and a go-to place for posting and accessing unfiltered information about the war.

Almost all major media, government entities and public figures in both Russia and Ukraine operate content channels on Telegram.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posts his daily video addresses on the app, while his armed forces warn of air raids and document battlefield developments.

The Kremlin announces President Vladimir Putin’s activities on Telegram, while Russia’s opposition rallies for support.

But the app, critics said, has also become a tool of misinformation and manipulation. A bill submitted to the Ukrainian parliament in March looks at stricter regulation of Telegram and other social networks.

The Kremlin told Durov to be more attentive after the messaging application was allegedly used to help recruit the gunmen who attacked a concert hall outside Moscow in Marc