Bing’s AI chatbot amuses and terrifies. Band frontman Colin Meloy has ChatGPT write a Decemberists song. Trends in experiential design. A metallic print that maps the history of jazz in the style of a circuit diagram of a 1950s phonograph. Graphene-based water purification. Stay off the sidewalks: robotaxis now approved for on-street use in California. Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes fame has a new project coming out. Researchers are working on giving humans a robotic third arm that can be controlled by the brain. A countertop device for making vegan milk. A Valentine’s Day “goat fashion show” in San Francisco. A San Diego brewery uses the airport’s air conditioner condensation to make beer. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany.
The keys wizard played with Rod Stewart and turned down Hendrix but has never enjoyed the renown of his peers. At 82, on the cusp of a new reissue collection, his passion is undimmed