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Scientists have developed a new artificial neural network that mimics the brain structures of ants and helps robots recognize and remember routes in complex natural environments, such as cornfields. The approach could improve the performance of agricultural robots that need to move through dense and plant-filled landscapes.
It’s possible to upload your brain to a computer, but technology needs to advance first. Here’s what has to happen before we emulate a mind.
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Don’t worry about your hips or knees as you age. Arthritis in those joints isn’t inevitable. Keep doing the activities you enjoy. Those hopeful words come from Rafael Sierra, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Mayo Clinic specializing in hip and knee reconstruction. Dr. Sierra says there is no need to curtail your activities out of fear that you’ll wear out those joints as you age and need joint replacement.
However, certain conditions, such as birth defects and anatomical issues, may predispose a person to have hip or knee problems. Untreated, hip dysplasia and hip impingement are leading causes of hip replacement in people under 50. Having bowlegs, knock knees — or other structural issues — can hasten the need for knee replacement.
“But it’s not like the rest of us have to be worried and say, ‘OK, at age 50, maybe I should have my hips or knees examined by a doctor,’” Dr. Sierra says. “In general, your body — your musculoskeletal system — will let you know when you have issues.”
Ripples in space-time called gravitational waves are normally associated with massive objects like black holes, but we could make our own using lasers – and perhaps even use them to communicate.
By Alex Wilkins
Magnetically confined neutral antihydrogen atoms released in a gravity field were found to fall towards Earth like ordinary matter, in accordance with Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Bill Gates is a staunch advocate for nuclear energy, and although he no longer oversees day-to-day operations at Microsoft, its business strategy still mirrors the sentiment. According to a new job listing first spotted on Tuesday by The Verge, the tech company is currently seeking a “principal program manager” for nuclear technology tasked with “maturing and implementing a global Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and microreactor energy strategy.” Once established, the nuclear energy infrastructure overseen by the new hire will help power Microsoft’s expansive plans for both cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Among the many, many, (many) concerns behind AI technology’s rapid proliferation is the amount of energy required to power such costly endeavors—a worry exacerbated by ongoing fears pertaining to climate collapse. Microsoft believes nuclear power is key to curtailing the massive amounts of greenhouse emissions generated by fossil fuel industries, and has made that belief extremely known in recent months.
[Related: Microsoft thinks this startup can deliver on nuclear fusion by 2028.].
FedEx handles over 15 million packages daily. A two-armed, AI-infused robot is now helping pack some of them into delivery trucks with expert care.
And that is just health care. In 1940, there were 42 workers per beneficiary of Social Security. Today, there are only 2.8 workers per beneficiary, and that number is getting smaller. We are going broke, and the young men who will play a huge role in determining our nation’s future are going there with AI girlfriends in their pockets.
While the concept of an AI girlfriend may seem like a joke, it really isn’t that funny. It is enabling a generation of lonely men to stay lonely and childless, which will have devastating effects on the U.S. economy in less than a decade.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered that radiation therapy combined with two types of immunotherapy—one that boosts T cells, and another that boosts dendritic cells—can control tumors in preclinical models of triple negative breast cancer, a cancer type that’s typically resistant to immunotherapy alone. Immunotherapy activates the body’s own immune system to fight cancer but isn’t effective for difficult-to-treat “cold” tumors, like this.
The findings were published Aug. 24 in Nature Communications. Though radiation therapy has previously been combined with T-cell boosting immunotherapy, it rarely succeeds in eliminating cold tumors. The new, preclinical study found that activating another type of immune cell called a dendritic cell, in addition to the other two approaches, produced a synergistic effect that elicited tumor regression.
“I think this is quite exciting,” said principal investigator Dr. Sandra Demaria, professor of radiation oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and pathologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who conducted the research under the auspices of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “There is so much room for improvement to provide more effective therapeutic options, especially for patients with cold tumors.”
