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Sep 26, 2023

Elon Musk says Neuralink can create the ‘Luke Skywalker solution’ amid claims over monkey deaths

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI

Elon Musk claims Neuralink could produce Star Wars-style robotic hands, and help save the world from AI.

Sep 26, 2023

This surgical robot can remove brain tumors from children

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

Surgeons at Boston Children’s Hospital have invented a new kind of surgical robot that is extremely adept at handling brain operations.


Kool99/iStock.

“We needed to use basically hollow arms,” DuPont explained to the magazine.

Continue reading “This surgical robot can remove brain tumors from children” »

Sep 26, 2023

Combustion powers bug-sized robots to leap, lift and race

Posted by in categories: chemistry, cosmology, robotics/AI

Call it the big bang for bug-sized robots.

Cornell researchers combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex and outleap its electric-driven competitors.

Sep 26, 2023

Microsoft Wants to Power Its Data Centers Using Nuclear Reactors

Posted by in categories: computing, nuclear energy

Microsoft 365 running on microreactors, what could possibly go wrong?

Sep 26, 2023

YouTuber builds VR gloves for just $22

Posted by in categories: materials, virtual reality

YouTuber Lucas VRTech has designed and built a pair of finger-tracking VR gloves using just $22 in materials — and he’s released all the details on the build so others can make their own.

The challenge: We use our hands to manipulate objects in the real world, but in VR, users typically have to use controllers with buttons and joysticks.

That breaks some of the immersion, limiting the use of VR for not only gaming, but also applications like therapy and job training.

Sep 26, 2023

AI used to bring stable satellite internet to remote areas

Posted by in categories: internet, robotics/AI

AlexLXM/iStock.

However, there may be a solution on the way. Machine learning is being used by a group of academics from the National Research Council (NRC) and the University of Waterloo to address this age-old problem.

Sep 26, 2023

Antiviral drug molnupiravir linked to SARS-CoV-2 mutations

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Liverpool, the University of Cape Town and UKHSA have uncovered a link between an antiviral drug for COVID-19 infections called molnupiravir and a pattern of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Molnupiravir works by inducing mutations in the ’s genetic information, or genome, during replication. Many of these mutations will damage or kill the virus, reducing viral load in the body. It was one of the first antivirals available on the market during the COVID-19 pandemic and was widely adopted by many countries.

In research published in Nature, the scientists used global sequencing databases to map mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus over time. They analyzed a family tree of 15 million SARS-CoV-2 sequences so that at each point in each virus’s evolutionary history they could see which mutations had occurred.

Sep 26, 2023

A non-invasive way to turn a cockroach into a cyborg

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, life extension

A team of mechanical engineers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has found a way to electronically control cockroaches without injuring them. In their paper published in the journal npj Flexible Electronics, the group describes the new technology they used to remotely control the cockroaches and the benefits of doing so.

Prior research teams have created a variety of cyborg , but they all had one feature in common—they all involved attaching probes to the insect’s nervous system—procedures that led to damage to the insect, and likely some degree of pain.

Continue reading “A non-invasive way to turn a cockroach into a cyborg” »

Sep 26, 2023

Intel CEO says the chip maker’s technology is central to AI boom

Posted by in categories: business, robotics/AI

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, plotting a comeback for the once-dominant chipmaker, made the case that the company’s technology will be vital to an industrywide boom in artificial intelligence computing.

Speaking at Intel’s annual Innovation conference, Gelsinger pointed to advances that his company is making in and software developer tools for AI. The opportunity will only grow as more artificial intelligence capabilities are powered by personal computers, he said.

“AI represents a generational shift, giving rise to a new era of global expansion where computing is even more foundational to a better future for all,” Gelsinger said. “For developers, this creates massive societal and business opportunities to push the boundaries of what’s possible, to create solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.”

Sep 26, 2023

Using quantum materials as catalysts for fertilizer synthesis

Posted by in categories: food, quantum physics

Synthetic fertilizers, one the most important developments in modern agriculture, have enabled many countries to secure a stable food supply. Among them, organic ureas (or organoureas) have become prominent sources of nitrogen for crops. Since these compounds do not dissolve immediately in water, but instead are slowly decomposed by soil microorganisms, they provide a stable and controlled supply of nitrogen, which is crucial for plant growth and function.

However, traditional methods to synthesize organoureas are environmentally harmful due to their use of toxic substances, such as phosgene. Although alternative synthesis strategies have been demonstrated, these either rely on expensive and scarce noble metals or employ catalysts that cannot be reused easily.

In a recent effort to address these challenges, a research team including Honorary Professor Hideo Hosono from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, has leveraged the quantum properties of bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) to synthesize organoureas. Their study is published in Science Advances.