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Category: robotics/AI – Page 277

Light-powered microscopic swimmers with on/off control open new pathways for drug delivery

Scientists have created tiny disk-shaped particles that can swim on their own when hit with light, akin to microscopic robots that move through a special liquid without any external motors or propellers.

Published in Advanced Functional Materials, the work shows how these artificial swimmers could one day be used to deliver cargo in a variety of fluidic situations, with potential applications in drug delivery, water pollutant clean-up, or the creation of new types of smart materials that change their properties on command.

“The essential new principles we discovered—how to make microscopic objects swim on command using simple materials that undergo when exposed to controllable energy sources—pave the way for applications that range from design of responsive fluids, controlled , and new classes of sensors, to name a few,” explained lead researcher Juan de Pablo.

AI-generated podcasts open new doors to make science accessible

The first study to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to generate podcasts about research published in scientific papers has shown the results were so good that half of the papers’ authors thought the podcasters were human.

In research published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing (EJCN), researchers led by Professor Philip Moons from the University of Leuven, Belgium, used Google NotebookLM, a personalized AI research assistant created by Google Labs, to make podcasts explaining research published recently in the EJCN.

Prof. Moons, who also presented the findings at the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (ACNAP) conference in Sophia Antipolis, France, said, In September 2024, Google launched a new feature in NotebookLM that enables users to make AI-generated podcasts. It made me think about how it could be used by researchers and editors.

Hide and seek: Uncovering new ways to detect vault apps on smartphones

Researchers have discovered a modern solution to detect vault applications (apps) on smartphones, which could be a game-changer for law enforcement. The paper is published in the journal Future Internet.

The analysis, led by researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) and University of Southern Queensland, demonstrates that machine learning (ML) can be used to effectively identify apps.

Smartphones are an integral part of daily life, used by an estimated 5 billion people around the world.

Does Using Artificial Intelligence Ruin Your Actual Intelligence? Scientists Investigated

Since ChatGPT appeared almost three years ago, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on learning has been widely debated. Are they handy tools for personalised education, or gateways to academic dishonesty?

Most importantly, there has been concern that using AI will lead to a widespread “dumbing down”, or decline in the ability to think critically. If students use AI tools too early, the argument goes, they may not develop basic skills for critical thinking and problem-solving.

Is that really the case? According to a recent study by scientists from MIT, it appears so. Using ChatGPT to help write essays, the researchers say, can lead to “cognitive debt” and a “likely decrease in learning skills”

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