Researchers are investigating the concept of 'jamais vu,' an experience in which everyday elements such as familiar names, faces, or places acquire a strange or meaningless quality. This phenomenon is presented as the opposite of déjà vu and offers insights into how the brain handles the notion of familiarity.
Studies show that this sensation can occur in quite simple contexts, such as the constant repetition of a word. For brief moments, something that should be known can seem novel, unknown, or incorrect.
For example, when writing one's own name repeatedly on paper, the letters may begin to be perceived merely as detached symbols. This peculiar sensation is called 'jamais vu,' a term that translates to 'never seen.' While déjà vu lends familiarity to something new, jamais vu generates the opposite effect: the known becomes strange.
Individuals frequently report this occurrence when observing familiar faces, repeating vocabulary, or during routine tasks.
Neuropsychologist Akira O’Connor, affiliated with the University of St Andrews, analyzed this phenomenon and mentioned experiencing something similar while driving, when he was forced to stop the vehicle because the pedals and steering wheel temporarily lost their familiarity.
In 2023, O’Connor and cognitive neuropsychologist Chris Moulin from Université Grenoble Alpes were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for creating an experiment capable of inducing jamais vu in a laboratory setting.
In this study, 94 university students were instructed to copy words successively until they began to seem unusual. Approximately 70% of participants stopped the activity, usually after one minute or about 33 repetitions.
The volunteers' testimonies illustrate how disturbing this experience can be. One participant described the situation by saying: 'While writing my exams, I write a word correctly like 'appetite,' but I keep looking at it because I start to doubt if it is correct.'
The primary explanation for jamais vu is linked to a mechanism called saturation. The theory suggests that very intense and repeated exposure to a specific piece of information can cause the brain to temporarily decrease its reaction, resulting in less recognition than what was familiar.
More recent research indicates that this phenomenon can manifest even before the interpretation of meaning. A 2024 study used an artificial intelligence model inspired by the visual cortex and observed that pattern repetition affects visual classification ability.
The relationship between saturation, the verbal transformation effect, and jamais vu is still a subject of much debate. Furthermore, the phenomenon is also observed in research related to temporal lobe epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In summary, when one's own name seems strange for a few seconds, it does not imply that it has lost its meaning; it is merely a small indication of how many mysteries the human brain still holds for scientific investigation.
Cloudflare introduced Kitesurf last Friday, the 7th. This is a cloud-hosted browser specifically designed to meet the needs of artificial intelligence agents. This tool enables AI systems to navigate pages, fill out forms, and perform tasks directly on the internet.
The development of this internet infrastructure product took only 12 weeks, and it operates using Workers, which is the serverless platform offered by Cloudflare itself. Currently in beta, Kitesurf can be accessed for free by developers through Browser Run, an environment that provides programmatic control of headless browsers.
The main intention of Kitesurf is to supply part of the infrastructure traditionally required for AI agents to use the web, proposing a solution more aligned with this type of software. Unlike browsers focused on the human experience—which prioritize tabs, extensions, and visual elements—this project focuses on aspects such as performance, context management, token cost, scalability, and defense against threats, such as prompt injection attacks.
This novelty emerges at a time when AI systems have evolved from mere question responders to agents capable of taking actions on behalf of users. In this context, the browser establishes itself as a crucial component to allow such agents to interact with various websites and services in the same way a human would.
Cloudflare emphasizes that Kitesurf was designed to reduce the expenditure of computational resources in this process. The company claims that the browser consumes significantly less CPU and memory than Chromium in common operations for agents, including screen capture and HTML extraction.
Kitesurf's architecture also differs from a standard browser. The project integrates several code components, such as a modular rendering mechanism developed by Blitz, Stylo, which is responsible for CSS processing in Firefox, and Boa JS, an ECMAScript mechanism written in Rust. The rest of the structure runs within the Cloudflare Workers ecosystem.
Cloudflare also acknowledges the contribution of Obscura, an open-source headless mechanism built in Rust, to the origin of the project. Initially, a proof of concept was conducted by migrating Obscura to the Workers environment.
Even in its initial stage, Kitesurf has passed over 215 thousand compliance tests with web standards. The company reports that new tests are continuously added, with hundreds being validated weekly.
Among the sites and applications that the browser can render, TodoMVC, used as a reference for comparing JavaScript frameworks, stands out, along with platforms like Wikipedia, Hacker News, the Cloudflare blog, and a large part of the company's control panel.
A relevant aspect highlighted by the company is security. Since a browser operated by AI agents faces different risks than those faced by browsers aimed at human users, Cloudflare points to prompt injection attacks as one of the threats that must be considered in this new operational model.
Kitesurf is available for free while in beta on Browser Run. The tool is intended for developers who wish to create agents capable of operating on the internet without having to build the entire browser infrastructure from scratch.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have the capability to capture photos, videos, and audio, but how this data is handled varies depending on the specific function used. As reported by Engadget, certain functionalities keep files directly on the device itself, while artificial intelligence-based features may transfer this information to Meta's servers.
The complexity increases with the inclusion of cloud storage, voice commands, and AI tools that can analyze the environment visible through the lenses. Each feature implies different levels of data collection and processing.
According to the company itself, images and videos recorded on the glasses remain on the device unless the user decides to share them with Meta or third parties. However, if cloud media storage is active, captures are sent to Meta's servers and stored for a period of thirty days. This option is voluntary but is necessary for the functioning of features such as voice command sharing and autocapture.
Meta assures that it does not use the content of these photos and videos for advertising purposes or to train its AI systems, regardless of the cloud storage settings adopted by the user. Artificial intelligence features require more comprehensive collection; for example, when the user asks Meta AI to analyze something they are seeing, the glasses perform a capture so the assistant can process it.
These images are not saved in the user's gallery but are instead stored by Meta. Furthermore, the company employs service providers to review and categorize some of these captures, aiming for continuous improvement of its systems. A Meta spokesperson clarified to Engadget that 'when people share content with Meta AI, we sometimes use service providers to review this data.'
This aspect is particularly important when personal information is involved. The article highlights that users who use the glasses for accessibility must be aware of this operation and consider avoiding the use of AI when encountering documents containing sensitive data.
Voice interactions follow a similar logic: when interacting with the assistant, the glasses record the audio and generate a transcription, which is then stored by Meta. The company states that it uses machine learning and specialized reviewers in this process. There is also the phenomenon of so-called 'false triggers,' occurring when the glasses mistakenly identify an activation word. In these cases, Meta guarantees the removal of recordings and transcriptions from its systems within ninety days of detection.
The user has the possibility to check and delete these records through the Meta AI application. Another point of attention is the issue of secret recordings. Although an LED normally indicates when the camera is in use, Meta has implemented mechanisms to prevent it from operating when the light is obstructed. However, external modifications and accessories may attempt to bypass this protection. The company released an update that deactivates the camera upon detecting any physical tampering with the LED, although challenges remain in completely curbing this type of misuse.
For those who use Ray-Ban Meta, understanding privacy settings and knowing which features are active is essential to maintaining greater control over the data being captured.
SpaceX intends to establish factories on the Moon for the purpose of producing artificial intelligence satellites and other essential components for its future orbital constellation. This strategy was confirmed by Elon Musk during the company's first quarterly teleconference, held on Tuesday, August 4th, when it operated as a publicly traded company.
According to the businessman, the realization of this project depends both on transporting large quantities of material to the lunar surface and on using robotics in industrial operations. The goal is to leverage the infrastructure of the celestial body to gradually increase SpaceX's production capacity.
The plan includes, in a subsequent phase, sending the manufactured equipment from the Moon via mass electromagnetic accelerators. This proposal aims to significantly increase the number of artificial intelligence systems sent into space, including the production of radiators and solar energy in the lunar environment.
The concept of using the Moon as a manufacturing hub was not introduced in this teleconference; Musk had already presented this idea in February, in a statement related to SpaceX's acquisition of xAI. At that time, the company also indicated that off-Earth manufacturing was part of its long-term goals.
The planned facilities will primarily function to create Starmind satellites, a system that SpaceX aims to develop in a vast orbital constellation. This project envisions up to one million units and includes the use of the Starship to take the initiative beyond Earth's orbit.
To enable lunar operations, the company is heavily betting on automation. Musk stated that robots could take on a considerable portion of the work required to assemble and expand the factories, although the text does not detail which machines will comprise this workforce.
One possibility mentioned in the report is the use of Optimus, a humanoid robot developed by Tesla, another company linked to Musk. The businessman had previously stated that units of this system could be transported by SpaceX to Mars, aiming to support preparations for a future human colonization.
Lunar production will not be limited to satellites. Among the listed items are solar panels, responsible for energy supply, and radiators, necessary to dissipate heat generated by equipment in space.
After establishing this structure, SpaceX intends to use mass electromagnetic accelerators installed on the Moon to launch the locally produced satellites. This method would serve as an alternative to traditional transport procedures and would depend on the prior existence of a well-established lunar industrial chain.
Starship is crucial to this planning. The fully reusable rocket will be responsible for transporting robots and cargo to the Moon and will play a vital role in the company's other space endeavors. According to Bret Johnsen, SpaceX's CFO, this vehicle was designed to quadruple payload capacity and reduce launch costs tenfold compared to the Falcon 9.
The company also seeks to maintain a much higher launch cadence. Initiatives include increasing the production of Raptor engines, expanding manufacturing facilities, and activating multiple launch sites at Starbase, located in South Texas, in addition to the structures planned for complexes 39A and 37 at Cape Canaveral.
The lunar strategy was presented at the same event where SpaceX disclosed its first financial results as a public company. In the second quarter of 2026, the company recorded revenue of US$ 7.8 billion, representing a 92% increase compared to the same period last year. Despite this revenue growth, the company ended the quarter with a loss of US$ 541 million, a lower amount than the $1 billion deficit recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
