Friday - June 23 2023, 10:13 UTC - 1 year ago

A global study found that during strict COVID-19 lockdowns, animals traveled up to 73% longer distances and ventured 36% closer to roads, likely due to reduced human activity. However, in areas with less restrictive lockdowns, animal travel decreased, possibly because these regions saw increased human visits to nature spots. The findings illustrate the significant impact of human presence on wildlife behavior and suggest potential benefits of human behavioral changes to wildlife.

Friday - June 23 2023, 05:26 UTC - 1 year ago

In December 2022, poet and vocal autism advocate DJ Savarese took part in a televised interview with a local news station. During the interview, Savarese used his laptop as a communication device to successfully demonstrate alternative communication methods that did not require cutting edge tech. Despite this, the process involved was surprisingly low-tech, proving that even such seemingly simple tasks require a complex system of technologies to be successful.

Friday - June 23 2023, 00:46 UTC - 1 year ago

The European Union filed an antitrust case against Google on June 14, 2023, accusing the company of abusing power in the online advertising market to disadvantage its competition. The system of programmatic advertising involves a complex network of advertising tech companies, with Google dominating with over 28% of the market share. Ad tech companies decide which ads to show via a real-time bidding auction system. The control of supply-side, demand-side, and an exchange by Google sets the stage for the company to manipulate the market, as alleged by EU and Justice Department.

Thursday - June 22 2023, 20:22 UTC - 1 year ago

Researchers at Caltech have created a new optical hardware utilizing photonic computing to realize cellular automata, a type of computer model consisting of cells that can live, die, reproduce, and evolve into multicellular creatures with their own unique behaviors. This technology could lead to computers that are smaller, faster and use less power than traditional silicon transistors.

Thursday - June 22 2023, 15:41 UTC - 1 year ago

CU Boulder researchers have identified a virus-like protein called PEG10 as a promising new target for treating ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Studies suggest that when present in high levels, PEG10 can interfere with the normal functioning of the brain and spinal cord. With funding from the ALS Association, the National Institutes of Health, and Venture Partners at CU Boulder, Whiteley's lab is researching how to inhibit PEG10 in order to treat the underlying cause of the fatal disease.

Thursday - June 22 2023, 11:19 UTC - 1 year ago

Drop account fraud is one of the fastest growing methods of fraud today. Protect your identity online by following these steps: create and change strong passwords; use two-factor authentication; monitor your credit; protect your tax return information; and be suspicious of emails from unfamiliar sources.

Thursday - June 22 2023, 06:47 UTC - 1 year ago

Carnegie Mellon University have developed Visual-Robotics Bridge (VRB), a model that enables robots to learn by watching videos of human performing everyday tasks in their homes. When tested, the robots were successful in replicating 12 everyday tasks such as picking up a phone, opening a drawer, etc. The model works on affordance, a concept employed by designers to make a product user-friendly and intuitive. In the future, the research team hopes to make VRB more accurate and reliable.

Thursday - June 22 2023, 01:50 UTC - 1 year ago

Sun, an e-commerce company owner, experienced a new type of lawsuit comprised of a mass intellectual-property case along with many other Amazon sellers due to one of her products that had air-filled bumper cushions at the edges to protect the phone. These mass-produced lawsuits are a lucrative business for the plaintiffs and their law firms in the US and are designed to protect IP holders from counterfeiters, who are harder to trace and hold accountable in the e-commerce age.

Wednesday - June 21 2023, 20:53 UTC - 1 year ago

Sorting has been an integral part of computing operations since the dawn of computing, and has recently been taken to the forefront of computing technology. Google's DeepMind team in June announced a breakthrough in sorting technology that is up to 70% faster than current methods. This was achieved by using reinforcement learning to discover enhanced computer science algorithms. These algorithms are used trillions of times every day in software applications of all kinds.

Wednesday - June 21 2023, 16:45 UTC - 1 year ago

Glass is an ancient material that has been used for a multitude of purposes for centuries. It is both a solid and a liquid and has been essential to the technological revolution of the 20th and 21st centuries. Its unique properties make it ideal for a wide range of applications, from decorative art to solar energy generation.

Wednesday - June 21 2023, 12:39 UTC - 1 year ago

MIT engineers have designed “smart” sutures derived from animal tissue, similar to the “catgut” sutures first used by the ancient Romans, coated with hydrogels that can be embedded with sensors, drugs, or even cells that release therapeutic molecules. The sutures are designed to be tough and absorbable and contain structural proteins such as collagen relevant for their medicinal properties. The sutures have the potential to be used to heal wounds and surgery incisions in the body as well as help Crohn's Disease patients through its ability to detect inflammation in resealed intestines.

Wednesday - June 21 2023, 08:21 UTC - 1 year ago

James Burton, an engineer and former toy designer, has created an unlicensed AT-AT toy which is a fully-functioning four-legged walking robot. He modified the original toy’s design by reconstructing it as a robot using 3D printing technology and programmed its quadrupedal system with each leg powered by three servo motors. He employed an Arduino Mega 2560 board to serve as the control system for the servo motors.

Wednesday - June 21 2023, 03:15 UTC - 1 year ago

Israeli government has mandated that all new non-residential buildings must be equipped with rooftop solar panels in an attempt to meet their renewable energy goals and reduce electricity demand from a rapidly expanding population. Israel is lagging behind schedule on their 2030 target to convert 30 percent of electricity supply to renewables and has been relying heavily on the sun for energy. Most of Israel's commercial solar farms are located in the far away Negev desert, so the government also offers incentives such as permit exemptions and tax benefits, while developed countries provide loans and green bonds to support renewable energy initiatives.

Tuesday - June 20 2023, 22:17 UTC - 1 year ago

Three University of Cincinnati professors discuss how advances in artificial intelligence and automation will change the way people work, which jobs will be obsolete, and the value of human workers. Automation and augmentation of existing tasks are two main ways AI can be used, and access to data is becoming more pervasive. It is possible to use AI to make art, but what it means to create is a question best left to philosophers.

Tuesday - June 20 2023, 17:37 UTC - 1 year ago

Researchers from the University of Tsukuba have derived a novel theoretical formula that takes into account the compressibility of the bubble shell to accurately predict the behavior of ultrasound waves as they traverse through liquids containing encapsulated bubbles. This breakthrough could potentially aid advancements in the fields of medical imaging and drug delivery.

Tuesday - June 20 2023, 13:24 UTC - 1 year ago

In the past six months, the public discourse around AI has shifted towards the risk of AI caused human extinction. My colleague Will Douglas Heaven asked AI experts why? Majority concurred that it was extremely exciting to be scared of AI. Despite Pop-tech giants such as Google and Microsoft warning about the risks, Meta has taken the opposite side and their chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has called the idea of a superintelligence taking over the world 'preposterously ridiculous'. Joelle Pineau, Meta’s vice president of AI research says the extreme focus on future risks does not leave much room for discourse on current AI harms. LeCun believes the right thing to do is to 'slam the door behind' current leaders in AI such as OpenAI.

Tuesday - June 20 2023, 08:39 UTC - 1 year ago

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman urged Congress to consider regulating AI during his Senate testimony on May 16, 2023. The solutions Altman proposed of creating an AI regulatory agency and requiring licensing for companies need further exploration, as do the other ideas suggested, such as requiring transparency on training data and establishing clear frameworks for AI-related risks. Rather than creating a new agency, Congress can support the private and public adoption of the NIST risk management framework and pass bills such as the Algorithmic Accountability Act. Regulating AI should involve collaboration among academia, industry, policy experts and international agencies.

Tuesday - June 20 2023, 04:06 UTC - 1 year ago

The Federal Reserve's decision to hold rates steady indicates it believes it is time to pause its aggressive campaign to tame runaway inflation, spurred by the sharpest rate of inflation since the 1980s. The latest consumer price index data suggests inflation is lower than it appears, and further rate hikes may do more harm than good to the banking sector without bringing inflation down. Regionalists have argued for a pause instead of more rate hikes, ultimately leaving the decision on the Federal Open Market Committee lead by Jerome Powell.

Tuesday - June 20 2023, 00:02 UTC - 1 year ago

John D Rockefeller's Standard Oil and Tesla are using vertical and horizontal integration to create entire new industries. This is done through science to engineering, engineering to products, products to business, business to scaled industry and the scaling of markets and supply chain. Standard Oil achieved its goal of controlling the oil industry and Tesla is doing the same with an electric economy.