Reality might not be real anymore, folks.

As we're all well aware, 75% of headlines now center on bizarre implications of artificial intelligence taking over. "Influencer Creates A.I. Version of Herself That Can Be Rented as a Digital Girlfriend" was a sentence I read yesterday. Wowzer.

But at least we can agree real things that happened are real, right? RIGHT? Wrong!

In court last month, lawyers argued that real 2016 recordings of Elon Musk could have been deepfaked (they weren't). Takeaway: lawyers now leverage the fact that A.I. can synthesize events to undermine the foundation of shared factual reality. Happy Friday :)

As always, please forward IQNEWS to a friend if you're a fan!

For the first time in history, a group of babies was born with three sets of DNA each.

It happened in the U.K., which in 2015 became the first country to allow scientists to genetically modify eggs of women with damaged mitochondria (the cell's energy hub) to avoid the passage of mitochondrial defects on to children. Such defects are incurable and often fatal - intervention is the only way these women can have healthy kids.

Here's what happened...

Scientists transferred genetic material from eggs with damaged mitochondria to donor eggs that had healthy mitochondria but all other DNA removed. The eggs were then fertilized and transferred into the wombs of the mothers.

It's important to note that the genetic material from the donated egg comprises less than 1% of the child created from this technique. But that 1% makes a massive difference...

Many in the scientific community celebrated this landmark event as a new way for women to have healthy kids who otherwise can't. Others are deeply concerned.

“It will be interesting to know whether there's risk of these kids developing problems later in life,” Robin Lovell-Badge, a well-known British stem cell expert said.

Then there's the prospect of so-called "designer babies" - now that it's been established mitochondria can be controlled for, it's clear that non-life-saving variables like height and natural strength can be manipulated.

It's not my place to comment, but one thing is clear to me: genetic intervention isn't slowing down. This is a phenomenon everyone should stay aprised of.

There's a saying: "If you aren't paying for the product, you are the product!"

The idea was made famous by a Netflix Documentary called The Social Dilemma, which centered on social networks selling user data to compensate for free-to-use platforms.

So how can you actually TELL if you've become the product?! Here's a quick hack...

When you sign up for anything online, put the website's name as your middle name!

That way, when you get personalized SPAM emails, you'll be able to tell when a specific site has sold your data.

1. Millions of people wake up at the exact same second from using their cell phone as an alarm clock.
2. Cloaks are the ancestors of hoodies.
3. There are 7,500 apple varieties, but just one apple juice.
4. All relationships Plato had were platonic.
5. There’s nothing wrong with drinking water out of a mug, but there’s something not quite right about it.

Robert Downey Jr: "Listen, smile, agree and then do whatever you were going to do anyway."

Today I learned that modern fruit is becoming too sweet for zoo animals after years of genetic modification. (more here)

hackles [ hak-ulz ] - noun
hairs along the back of a dog or other animal that rise when it is angry or alarmed
As the dog continued to growl, its hackles raised.

Q: What country has the most natural lakes?
A: (see below next section)