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Category: robotics/AI – Page 1,638

A Mars-Sized Planet Discovered Orbiting Extremely Close to Host Star — Its Year Is Less Than 10 Hours

Mars-sized object orbiting extremely closely to an M-dwarf star has been validated using the Penn State Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF). The planet, which was originally classified as a false positive in an automated search of data collected by the Kepler space telescope, is about half the size of Earth and is so close to its host star that it orbits in less than 10 hours. If it were orbiting a star the size of our sun it would be skimming the star’s corona—the aura of exceedingly hot plasma.

Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter, along with solid, liquid, and gas. It is an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons. It was first described by chemist Irving Langmuir in the 1920s.

2021 showed us that trucks and SUVs don’t need gas engines

The modern electric vehicle renaissance has been hampered from day one by the physical limitations imposed by the current state of battery technology. Inefficiencies in the form of heavy battery packs and low power densities have long limited not just the range and performance of EVs but the very forms they can take — there’s a reason Tesla started with a Roadster and not a Cybertruck. But steady advancements in power systems over the past few years — alongside skyrocketing demand for larger, electrified vehicles which cater to the US market — has led to a watershed moment in 2021: the emergence of EV pickups and SUVs.

Yes, we all know the Model X exists and Tesla “did it first” — spare me your tweets — however, the sheer number and variety of new, pure EV pickup and SUV models either ready to hit the showroom floor or in active development is staggering compared to just a few years ago. Let’s take a look at some of this year’s standouts.

GM is betting big on its proprietary Ultium battery technology, investing $35 billion in self-driving and EV technologies through 2025. The company has also announced that it intends to sell 30 EV models by the end of 2025 and EVs exclusively after 2035 with the 1,000 horsepower GMC Hummer EV serving as its vanguard offering.

This Tech From UTS Could Be the Next Step in Controlling Robots With Our Brains

The Neuro-Network.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐔𝐓𝐒 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬

𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮 𝙎𝙮𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 … See more.

This new biosensor developed by UTS researchers could be the next step in brain-controlled robotics, given its greater strength.

New AI improves itself through Darwinian-style evolution

AutoML-Zero is unique because it uses simple mathematical concepts to generate algorithms “from scratch,” as the paper states. Then, it selects the best ones, and mutates them through a process that’s similar to Darwinian evolution.

AutoML-Zero first randomly generates 100 candidate algorithms, each of which then performs a task, like recognizing an image. The performance of these algorithms is compared to hand-designed algorithms.-Zero then selects the top-performing algorithm to be the “parent.”

“This parent is then copied and mutated to produce a child algorithm that is added to the population, while the oldest algorithm in the population is removed,” the paper states.

Robot avatar safely trims trees around active power lines

A robot avatar that mimics the motions of a human controller could take the place of workers in several dangerous jobs, such as tree trimming and construction, by the end of 2022.

The challenge: If a tree branch gets too close to a power line, it can cause electrical outages or, even worse, dangerous fires (as Californians know all too well). To avoid this, utility companies have to regularly trim trees near their lines.

But it’s dangerous work, as workers are dozens of feet above the ground, using sharp power tools to trim trees while power lives are still active — this puts them at risk of falls, cuts, and electrocution, all at once.

Robot made of ice can repair and rebuild itself

A team of researchers want to build robots out of ice and send them to space. The idea is that — lacking a local repair shop — the icy bots can use found materials to rebuild themselves.

Ice can be located all over the solar system, from the moon to the distant rings around Saturn. So researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are trying to figure out how to tap into that nearly unlimited resource for robotics.

NASA wants to send the robot dog, Spot, to space. The canine-bot can do many tricks — from herding sheep to helping the NYPD in a hostage situation — but it likely won’t be able to repair itself. Where could it find enough materials to do the job?

AI helps with drug discovery

Drug-target interaction is a prominent research area in drug discovery, which refers to the recognition of interactions between chemical compounds and the protein targets. Chemists estimate that 1,060 compounds with drug-like properties could be made—that’s more than the total number of atoms in the Solar System, as an article reported in the journal Nature in 2017.

Drug development, on average, takes about 14 years and costs up to 1.5 billion dollars. During the journey of in this vast “galaxy,” it is apparent that traditional biological experiments for DTI detection are normally costly and time-consuming.

Prof. Hou Tingjun is an expert in computer-aided drug design (CADD) at the Zhejiang University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In the past decades, he has been committed to developing drugs using computer technology. “The biggest challenge lies in the interactions between unknown targets and drug molecules. How can we discover them more efficiently? This involves a new breakthrough in method.”

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