Monday - September 11 2023, 06:18 UTC - 1 year ago

A new study conducted at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology has found that the grammatical complexity of a language does not diminish over time when spoken by larger societies of strangers with many non-native speakers. The study reviewed a total of 1,314 languages, measuring the complexity by looking at two distinct measures: fusion and informativity.

Monday - September 11 2023, 01:18 UTC - 1 year ago

A recent study has presented the most precise measurement to date of the electron’s permanent electric dipole moment—a measure of symmetry breaking that helps to account for the matter-antimatter imbalance in the universe. The authors used electrons confined inside molecular ions, subjected to a huge intramolecular electric field. Their results improve on the previous best upper bound of the size of the eEDM by a factor of ~2.4.

Sunday - September 10 2023, 20:54 UTC - 1 year ago

Cardiovascular disease and cancer are two of the leading causes of death in the world, and although they seem to have different origins and causes, they share many risk factors such as obesity, smoking, chronic stress, and poor diet. Recent research hints that therapies designed for cancer can also help treat atherosclerosis. Drugs that target immune cells called macrophages, and antiglycolytic therapies that prevent the breakdown of glucose have been shown to have reversed the disease process in vessels, and reduce inflammation in atherosclerosis.

Sunday - September 10 2023, 16:07 UTC - 1 year ago

Georgia Tech Ph.D. student Niranjan Kumar has created the Cascaded Compositional Residual Learning (CCRL) framework which enables robots to learn an unlimited number of skills as long as they have the computation power, showcased by the robot opening a door using energy transfer. The CCRL is suitable to be used in home assistance robots, guiding robots for the visually impaired and health assistance robots.

Sunday - September 10 2023, 11:52 UTC - 1 year ago

Last week I got a reminder of how uncertain this fall wave of Covid-19 is due to the updates to the vaccines. The US and Europe are expecting three different updated shots from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax, and in Europe it has already been approved whereas in the US, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is set to meet on September 12. FL 1.5.1 and EG.5 are notable variants of concern, with EG.5 being the most common at 20%. Scientists are paying attention to the BA.2.86 variant, known as pirola, which has over 30 mutations in spike.

Sunday - September 10 2023, 07:46 UTC - 1 year ago

As we approach the new academic year, it's essential to ensure you're tech-ready to face the challenges and opportunities of today's educational landscape. Before starting college, make sure to equip yourself with the right items to enhance your learning experience. Here are 11 essential tech supplies which promise to be game-changers in this regard.

Sunday - September 10 2023, 03:20 UTC - 1 year ago

The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany, has developed a technique to efficiently train AI using physical processes instead of digital computers. Their research revealed that neuromorphic computing provides a more energy efficient way to train neural networks for AI applications. This would lead to reductions in energy expenditure and could potentially limit the strain on resources caused by increasing demand for AI systems.

Saturday - September 9 2023, 22:42 UTC - 1 year ago

Engineers have developed a new "brainless" soft robot that has an asymmetrical design and can autonomously navigate its way through difficult terrain. It can also traverse through complex mazes and navigate around moving obstacles. The robot has a variety of applications, such as in search and rescue operations and space exploration, and the results have been published in the journal Soft Robotics.

Saturday - September 9 2023, 17:48 UTC - 1 year ago

The Replicator program is a initiative by the US military to integrate AI chips and software to outsource suppliers of relatively standard drones. The goal is to save time and money with the production of the drones, so that they will cost around $3000-6000. The joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kit, made by Boeing, also helps turn unguided bombs to precision-guided weapons for about $24,000.

Saturday - September 9 2023, 13:00 UTC - 1 year ago

Renewable power is now the clear winner when it comes to cost-effectiveness due to rapidly falling costs and a major spike in fossil fuel prices last year. A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency found that 86 percent of newly commissioned, grid-scale renewable electricity capacity in 2022 had lower costs than fossil-fuel-derived electricity. Furthermore, the combined renewable power capacity deployed around the world since the year 2000 saved roughly $521 billion in fuel costs in 2022.

Saturday - September 9 2023, 08:45 UTC - 1 year ago

A team of Chinese researchers has successfully grown early-stage developing human kidneys inside female pigs using chimeric embryos. The study could provide a bridge between donor organ shortage and large recipient demands, as well as opening up an avenue for regenerative medicine. The researchers used a combination of gene editing, stem cell engineering and optimized environment to create the chimeric embryos.

Saturday - September 9 2023, 04:36 UTC - 1 year ago

Tipping has become more complicated and awkward in North America. Digital payment technologies have changed how and when customers tip, often prompting them to tip for services that were not previously tipped. Tip requests are often not connected to salary and service norms, and customers now commonly see menus of suggested default options - often well above 20% of what they owe. To increase employee wages without raising prices, more employers are succumbing to the temptations of tip creep and tipflation, which has amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday - September 9 2023, 00:23 UTC - 1 year ago

Chinese ChatGPT-like bots are becoming more popular as technology giants like SenseTime, Baidu, and iFlytek launch their own products in the market. Ernie Bot is the latest development in this space, and stands out for its user generated content and role-playing ability. However, it still has many areas of improvement, especially in terms of accuracy and consistency of answers.

Friday - September 8 2023, 19:24 UTC - 1 year ago

Algerian scientists discovered the oldest meteorite fragments from space, Erg Chech 002, using a combination of aluminum-26, uranium, and lead data to determine its age. These sketchy fragments and the isotopy research of along with it could reshape assumptions about the very beginnings of the solar system.

Friday - September 8 2023, 14:26 UTC - 1 year ago

The newest official ChatGPT plugin, called Code Interpreter has come with some limitations for use for scientists who work with biological data utilizing computational methods, but provides a cost-effective and efficient way for coding to those without science backgrounds while minimizing hallucinations.

Friday - September 8 2023, 10:12 UTC - 1 year ago

Alan Turing proved that there exist problems that can never be solved algorithmically. The proof utilizes a mathematical technique called diagonalization which has a distinguished history. Georg Cantor used diagonalization to prove that some infinities are larger than others and Turing adapted this technique to the theory of computation. Turing set up a game with a paradoxical twist, asking an adversary to guess the limit of algorithms and the adversary has to find a problem that A can't solve.

Friday - September 8 2023, 06:08 UTC - 1 year ago

KoBold Metals is a Berkeley-based startup that is using cutting edge artificial intelligence technology to make mineral exploration faster, cheaper, and more accurate. The company raised $200 Million series A funding earlier in the summer and was declared a unicorn. KoBold has two tools - TerraShed, which consolidates geological data, and Machine Prospector, a machine learning model that integrates and sorts geological data. They use a giant metal detector attached to a helicopter to find ore deposits below the surface.

Friday - September 8 2023, 01:25 UTC - 1 year ago

Researchers have discovered a hybrid brain cell, bridging the gap between neurons and astrocytes. This cell can release neurotransmitters, and has potential implications for epilepsy, memory consolidation, and other treatments. The research was co-directed by the University of Lausanne and Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva. An imaging technique known as single-cell transcriptomics was used to cluster the molecular content of the astrocytes.

Thursday - September 7 2023, 20:28 UTC - 1 year ago

The space industry has changed drastically since the late 1960s due to private sector advances, with companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic making up 80% of the US space industry in 2021. The space sector's total output is estimated to be over US$210 billion as of 2021, down from 0.8% in 2012. Private sector investment is growing, while government investment is dwindling, with US space related spending projected to rise to over US$500 billion over the next decade.