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Category: robotics/AI – Page 1,694

Why will it take China’s Yutu 2 moon rover so long to reach lunar ‘mystery hut’?

Complex terrain and Yutu 2’s reliance on solar power limit driving speed.

China’s Yutu 2 lunar rover recently spotted something intriguing on the far side of the moon, but it’ll take the vehicle a few months to reach the object for a closer look.

Yutu 2 photographed a strangely cube-shaped rock last month, during the robot’s 36th lunar day of activities. The rover drive team estimates that the object, which has been dubbed the “mystery hut,” to be around 260 feet (80 meters) away. That doesn’t sound far, but it’ll take careful planning and effort by the Yutu 2 team to cover that distance safely.

Artificial intelligence that can discover hidden physical laws in data

Researchers at Kobe University and Osaka University have successfully developed artificial intelligence technology that can extract hidden equations of motion from regular observational data and create a model that is faithful to the laws of physics.

This technology could enable researchers to discover the hidden equations of motion behind for which the laws were considered unexplainable. For example, it may be possible to use physics-based knowledge and simulations to examine ecosystem sustainability.

The research group consisted of Associate Professor YAGUCHI Takaharu and Ph.D. student CHEN Yuhan (Graduate School of System Informatics, Kobe University), and Associate Professor MATSUBARA Takashi (Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University).

Can an Artificial Intelligence Be Ethical? Researchers Asked AI, and It Sees Both Sides

Welcome to the future of moral dilemmas.

Not a day passes without a fascinating snippet on the ethical challenges created by “black box” artificial intelligence systems. These use machine learning to figure out patterns within data and make decisions — often without a human giving them any moral basis for how to do it.

Classics of the genre are the credit cards accused of awarding bigger loans to men than women, based simply on which gender got the best credit terms in the past. Or the recruitment AIs that discovered the most accurate tool for candidate selection was to find CVs containing the phrase “field hockey” or the first name “Jared”.

Artificial intelligence can create better lightning forecasts

Lightning is one of the most destructive forces of nature, as in 2020 when it sparked the massive California Lightning Complex fires, but it remains hard to predict. A new study led by the University of Washington shows that machine learning—computer algorithms that improve themselves without direct programming by humans—can be used to improve lightning forecasts.

Better lightning forecasts could help to prepare for potential wildfires, improve safety warnings for lightning and create more accurate long-range climate models.

“The best subjects for machine learning are things that we don’t fully understand. And what is something in the atmospheric sciences field that remains poorly understood? Lightning,” said Daehyun Kim, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences. “To our knowledge, our work is the first to demonstrate that machine learning algorithms can work for lightning.”

Elon Musk Says That Politically, He’s a “Utopian Anarchist”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t one to follow rules, particularly when he thinks they’re bogus.

The billionaire likes to envision a world, or perhaps a much smaller society on Mars, in which everybody can do as they please without a greater hierarchy of power.

“If there’s a utopia where people have access to any goods or services that they want, there’s plenty for everyone,” Musk told Time magazine after being named the Person of the Year today. “If we have a highly automated future with the robots that can do anything, then any work you do will be because you want to do it, not because you have to do it.”

Dr. Harold White — Advancing Human Exploration Beyond Our Solar System — Limitless Space Institute

Advancing Human Exploration Beyond Our Solar System — Dr. Harold “Sonny” White, Limitless Space Institute

Dr. Harold ‘Sonny’ White, is Director, Advanced Research & Development, at the Limitless Space Institute (LSI — https://www.limitlessspace.org/), in Houston, Texas.

Dr. White has over 25+ years of experience working in the aerospace industry with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, as well as at NASA, and in his current role at the Limitless Space Institute he leads all R&D work and establishes priorities for investigations and expenditures.

Dr. White obtains grants and other resources in support of R&D efforts; markets LSI to major benefactors to increase resources and related R&D efforts; and arranges/schedules/conducts events ensuring appropriately related well-known individuals are involved.

Dr. White holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Rice University, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from University of South Alabama.

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