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Best known for co-discovering the gömböc—the first convex 3D shape with just two balancing points—Domokos aims to understand the physical world by describing its forms in the simplest possible geometry.

He often begins new projects by concocting original ways to classify shapes. To prove that the gömböc existed before they found it, he and Péter Várkonyi introduced mathematically precise definitions of flatness and thinness. To categorize pebbles, Domokos counts their number of stable and unstable balancing points. And to describe tessellating patterns in rock cracks or nanomaterials, he calculates just two numbers: the average number of “tiles” meeting at each vertex in the “mosaic” and the average number of vertices per tile.

The point is to find “a new language” to describe the shapes, says mathematician Krisztina Regős, one of Domokos’s graduate students. “The first thing that people do when they understand something: give it a name,” Domokos says. “And shapes don’t have names.”

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Core inflation remains elevated in advanced economies, with economists calling for tighter monetary policies in order to improve price and financial stability for sustained economic growth. With inflation only slowly moving towards sustainable targets, investors can leverage insights into teen spending patterns, behaviors, and advancements in technology to identify broader economic and market trends.

In a recent Piper Sandler Taking Stock With Teens survey that analyzed discretionary spending patterns, fashion trends, technology, and brand and media preferences, inflation was determined to be the number two social concern among teens, pointing to initial signs of a slowdown in teen spending.

“Inflation reached its highest mindshare in terms of political and social issues, right behind the environment,” said Edward Yruma, senior research analyst.

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AI feature only available in the US.

Google announced Thursday that it’s adding another generative AI feature to its Search engine. Google is giving users the ability to create images using textual prompts. For now, it’s only available to users in the United States who have opted for Google’s experimental Search Generative Engine (SGE), which integrates generative AI into the world’s most visited website.

A user could type in “hands holding flowers with a view of mountains in the background,” the search engine would spew up to four images in the results. Because Google doesn’t want users to… More.

Google.

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The researchers tested their algorithm on a replica of a US Army combat ground vehicle and found it was 99% effective in preventing a malicious attack.

Australian researchers have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm to detect and stop a cyberattack on a military robot in seconds.

The research was conducted by Professor Anthony Finn from the University of South Australia (UniSA) and Dr Fendy Santoso from Charles Sturt University in collaboration with the US Army Futures Command. They simulated a MitM attack on a GVT-BOT ground vehicle and trained its operating system to respond to it, according to the press release.

According to Professor Finn, an autonomous systems researcher at UniSA, the robot operating system (ROS) is prone to cyberattacks because it is highly networked. He explained that Industry 4, characterized by advancements in robotics, automation, and the Internet of Things, requires robots to work together, where sensors, actuators, and controllers communicate and share information via cloud services. He added that this makes them very vulnerable to cyberattacks. He also said that computing power is increasing exponentially every few years, enabling them to develop and implement sophisticated AI algorithms to protect systems from digital threats.

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The service was supposed to be launched in beta this year but has been pushed back after Starship has failed to reach orbit.

SpaceX’s satellite-powered mobile telephony service could be available in 2024, according to recent changes in the service provider’s webpage. Direct to Cell will allow text, voice, and data services from Starlink’s V2 satellites.

Launched more than 30 years ago, satellite-based telephone services are still as challenging to use as they were back then. With the advent of satellite-based internet services, thanks to Starlink, interest in telephony has increased again. Apple introduced it in their latest iPhone but limited it to emergency purposes and nothing beyond basic texts.

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A study finds a material that is 120 times faster than similar ones, demonstrating its precision in remotely stimulating neurons and repairing severed sciatic nerves in rats.

A new study is paving the way for alternative approaches to treating brain and nerve problems gently without the need for major surgery by introducing a magnetoelectric material.

Despite challenges such as nerve cells not responding well to the signals made by these materials, Researchers wanted to find a way to make these signals easier for our nerves to understand.

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It can be used in the development of vaccines and treatments.

Now, scientists at Harvard Medical School and the University of Oxford have produced an AI tool that can achieve that called EVEscape.

What if we could predict virus mutations before they actually took place? We could prepare for their arrival and perhaps even conceive of vaccines in time to protect populations.

This is according to a press release by the institutions published on Wednesday.

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The vast set of information has been detailed in a series of 21 papers.

The majority of our actions are initiated by the brain, which plays a pivotal role in processing sensory information, making decisions, coordinating movements, and regulating bodily functions.

Overall, the human brain is an incredibly complex organ. It contains over 86 billion neurons – perhaps around the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

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Google’s Green Light initiative uses AI and Google Maps to optimize traffic lights and reduce emissions.

Traffic jams are not only frustrating but also harmful to the environment. According to a study, road transportation accounts for a large share of global and urban greenhouse gas emissions, and the situation is worse at city intersections, where pollution can be 29 times higher than on open roads. The main reason is vehicles’ frequent stopping and starting, which consumes more fuel and emits more carbon dioxide.

But what if we could use artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize traffic lights and reduce these emissions? That is the idea behind Green Light, a Google Research initiative that… More.

XH4D/iStock.

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Separating molecules is critical to producing many essential products. For example, in petroleum refining, the hydrocarbons—chemical compounds composed of hydrogens and carbons—in crude oil are separated into gasoline, diesel and lubricants by sorting them based on their molecular size, shape and weight. In the pharmaceutical industry, the active ingredients in medications are purified by separating drug molecules from the enzymes, solutions and other components used to make them.

These separation processes take a substantial amount of energy, accounting for roughly half of U.S. industrial energy use. Traditionally, molecular separations have relied on methods that require intensive heating and cooling that make them very energy inefficient.

We are chemical and biological engineers. In our newly published research in Science, we designed a new type of membrane with nanopores that can quickly and precisely separate a diverse range of molecules under harsh industrial conditions.

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