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Category: robotics/AI – Page 6

The future of neurotechnology | Sri Sarma | TEDxBoston

NOTE FROM TED: This talk only represents the speaker’s personal approach to and understanding of neural systems, technology, and defense. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/t…

Autonomous systems can process vast amounts of information—but they struggle when the unexpected happens. The human brain, by contrast, thrives in uncertainty. In this provocative talk, Sri Sarma reveals how merging machine intelligence with living neural systems could create a new class of adaptive technologies, from resilient autonomous vehicles to precision therapies that operate inside the human body. The nations that lead this future in \.

Machine learning improves identification of asthma risk in children

A machine learning tool that analyzes information already captured in a child’s electronic health record helped pediatricians more accurately assess asthma risk in standardized clinical case scenarios, according to a pilot randomized clinical trial led by a Regenstrief Institute researcher. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

The study evaluated a machine learning-enabled clinical decision support tool called the Passive Digital Marker, which uses routinely collected EHR data to classify young children as having a high or low risk of developing persistent asthma.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases, but predicting which young children with wheezing or other respiratory symptoms will go on to develop persistent asthma remains difficult. While some children outgrow these symptoms, others require ongoing treatment, making early risk assessment an important but challenging part of pediatric care.

AI unlocks QLED recipe that doubles efficiency and boosts lifetime 40-fold

A technology has been developed that allows artificial intelligence to inversely determine the process conditions for quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) devices—conditions that previously required extensive trial and error to identify.

When applied to actual devices, the technology roughly doubled efficiency and extended operational lifetime more than 40-fold, raising expectations that it could accelerate the development of next-generation displays.

Seoul National University’s College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Jeonghun Kwak of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor Jaehoon Lim of Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Energy Science has developed an AI-based platform that inversely designs the optimal solvent properties for arranging quantum dots uniformly and densely during the fabrication of QLEDs.

China Built An AI Doctor — And It’s Already In 300 Hospitals

This video breaks down exactly how China went from launching a national smart hospital initiative back in 2014 to deploying AI inside over three hundred hospitals by 2025, and eventually opening the world’s first fully integrated AI hospital in March 2026. You’ll see how AI triage systems, robotic pharmacies, and real-time diagnostic assistants are changing what a hospital visit actually looks like, and how this compares to healthcare systems elsewhere that are still struggling with weeks-long appointment waits and fax machines. Whether you find this exciting or concerning, this is a story about where healthcare technology is headed next, and it’s already happening.

Autonomous microdrone achieves first airtoair insect kill on the way ‘towards completely eradicating mosquitoes’ uses car parking sensors, can eliminate insects at up to 26 feet

A micro-drone designed to locate and eradicate mosquitoes has passed an important milestone. Tornyol Systems shared a video where the eponymous autonomous drone chalked up its first live air-to-air kill. For some reason (perhaps demonstration visibility), the 40g (1.4 ounce) drone’s first confirmed kill on video features a moth. Tornyol boldly claims that the demo shows a significant stride has been made “towards completely eradicating mosquitoes.”

Tornyol Systems co-founder Alex Toussaint shared the above Tweet, congratulating the engineering team that has worked alongside him on the project. On the company website, there is a mosquito-hostile manifesto laid out, which provides insight into the company’s primary drone development goal.

George Dvorsky: Specialization is for Insects

Fourteen years ago, I sat down with George Dvorsky for almost 1 hour and 40 minutes. We argued about everything: transhumanism and the paleo diet, animal uplift and non-human person rights, mass extinction, SETI, and whether alien intelligence would be friendly or hostile.

One quote from that conversation has stayed with me ever since. Robert A. Heinlein:

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

In 2012, that sounded like a provocation. In 2026, in the age of AI, it sounds like a survival strategy. When machines out-specialize us at everything, what is left for humans? Perhaps precisely this: to be generalists. To be whole.

Was George right then? Is Heinlein right now?

Watch the full interview and judge for yourself: [ https://snglrty.co/4pU2ZtQ](https://snglrty.co/4pU2ZtQ)

Continue reading “George Dvorsky: Specialization is for Insects” | >

New machine-learning equation accurately assess LDL cholesterol risk

The Martin-Hopkins equation to assess low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in blood samples has been used by laboratories in the U.S. and other countries to guide efforts to lower cardiovascular disease risk. Now, a simplified machine-learning version of this equation has been shown in a study of millions of U.S. adult and child blood samples to match the accuracy of the original—making it broadly accessible. The findings and code were published in JAMA Cardiology.

“We’ve optimized the calculation of LDL cholesterol and made this equation accessible and easier for all labs to implement,” says Seth Martin, M.D., M.H.S., the senior study author and director of the Advanced Lipid Disorders Program and Digital Health Lab at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.

“Our goal is to enable clinicians and patients to make better decisions about starting treatments that prevent heart attacks and strokes and save lives.”

New optical chip design controls light speed in real time, simulations suggest

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Namkyoo Park and Professor Sunkyu Yu of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at SNU, in collaboration with Professor Xianji Piao of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Seoul, has developed a photonic integrated circuit that can slow light on demand.

With the rapid advancement of generative AI and large-scale AI models, computational demands have surged, exposing the limitations of conventional electronic semiconductors, including high power consumption and limited data transmission speeds. As a result, demand for optical computing technologies capable of low-power, ultrafast processing is increasing. However, because light travels at a fixed speed, implementing buffer and memory functions—essential for optical computing—has remained fundamentally challenging.

To address this issue, the joint research team devised a method to freely control both the speed and shape of optical signals using a programmable photonic integrated circuit. Through this approach, the team demonstrated the ability to control “slow light” with a higher degree of freedom than any previously proposed method.

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