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Sep 10, 2022

New AI program uses a decade of citizen science to find 40,000 rare ring galaxies

Posted by in categories: cosmology, cyborgs, robotics/AI, science

A Royal Astronomical Society press release revealed that during the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) 2022, currently being hosted at the University of Warwick, scientists will announce the discovery of 40,000 ring galaxies discovered using a “cyborg” approach — a combination of human and machine intelligence.

The work will be presented by Dr. Mike Walmsley of the University of Manchester and the Galaxy Zoo collaboration — a decade-long citizen science project on the Zooniverse platform.

Volunteers for the Galaxy Zoo project look through pictures of galaxies and classify them by shape and features. Studying the morphology of galaxies is an important step in understanding how they interact with their surroundings. In the words of Galaxy Zoo’s “About” section:

Sep 10, 2022

Scientists Discover Plastic-Eating Worms That Digest Styrofoam

Posted by in categories: biological, food, sustainability

Humanity has left its mark on the Earth, from cities of steel to mountains of styrofoam. The latter is proving to be a problem, as many of the synthetic materials we produce don’t degrade in anything approaching a human timescale. Scientists have long sought to develop better plastic recycling methods, and the answer might be crawling around in the wild. Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia say that a beetle larvae (it looks like a worm in larval form) may hold the key to eliminating polystyrene from the environment.

Styrofoam, technically known as polystyrene, is one of the most common types of plastic, accounting for 7–10 percent of all the non-fibrous plastics produced. You probably encounter it frequently in packing materials where the material’s foam conformation is adept at absorbing impacts. The solid version of polystyrene can be used to make transparent containers, disposable utensils, and more. However, polystyrene carries a recycling ID of 6, meaning it’s difficult to process and is not accepted at most curbside pickups.

Scientists have long searched for microbes or insect enzymes that could help break down durable plastics like polystyrene, and a beetle known as Zophobas morio might have it. It’s a species of darkling beetle, and the larval form is more commonly known as a superworm. They look like larger mealworms and are often used as a food source for insectivorous animals. In addition to being a high-protein, low-carb snack, this creature’s gut carries a unique mixture of bacterial enzymes that can digest polystyrene. The researchers reported that darkling beetle larva can subsist entirely on a diet of polystyrene — they can even grow while eating a pile of plastic.

Sep 10, 2022

Deepfakes aren’t going away: Future-proofing digital identity

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

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Deepfakes aren’t new, but this AI-powered technology has emerged as a pervasive threat in spreading misinformation and increasing identity fraud. The pandemic made matters worse by creating the ideal conditions for bad actors to take advantage of organizations’ and consumers’ blindspots, further exacerbating fraud and identity theft. Fraud stemming from deepfakes spiked during the pandemic, and poses significant challenges for financial institutions and fintechs that need to accurately authenticate and verify identities.

As cybercriminals continue to use tools like deepfakes to fool identity verification solutions and gain unauthorized access to digital assets and online accounts, it’s essential for organizations to automate the identity verification process to better detect and combat fraud.

Sep 10, 2022

Scientists Solve Century-Old Supergene Mystery

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Researchers have solved the century-old mystery of a supergene that causes efficient cross-pollination in flowers. The results reveal that sequence length variation at the DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Sep 10, 2022

Dubai will be home to the world’s largest net-zero carbon urban tech district

Posted by in categories: climatology, education, employment, sustainability

The new district will create over 4,000 jobs.

Architectural practice URB has been commissioned to engineer the world’s largest Urban Tech District along the Al Jaddaf Creekside in Dubai. “Rising population, urbanization and impacts of climate change are increasing the need for cities to be resilient, liveable and smart. Thus the creation of sustainable cities is no longer a choice, it has become a necessity. This requires planners with experience in designing and delivering sustainable communities,” says URB on its website.

The new construction will join the global transition towards achieving net-zero carbon goals and become home to top-tier entrepreneurs, establishing Dubai as an urban center for innovation and empowering a unique tech ecosystem to unfold in the emirate and across the world. It will also feature several commercial and educational facilities. population, urbanization and impacts of climate change are increasing the need for cities to be resilient, liveable and smart. Thus the creation of sustainable cities is no longer a choice, it has become a necessity. This requires planners with experience in designing and delivering sustainable communities, says URB on its website.

Sep 10, 2022

A new AI-powered x-ray technique for detecting explosives could identify cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, information science, robotics/AI, terrorism

“If we get a similar hit rate in detecting texture in tumors, the potential for early diagnosis is huge,” says scientist.

Researchers at University College London.

The potentially early-stage fatal tumors in humans could be noticed by the new x-ray method that collaborates with a deep-learning Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm to detect explosives in luggages, according to a report published by MIT Technology Review on Friday.

Sep 10, 2022

AI system makes models like DALL-E 2 more creative

Posted by in categories: internet, robotics/AI

Researchers develop a new method that uses multiple models to create more complex images with better understanding.

The internet had a collective feel-good moment with the introduction of DALL-E, an artificial intelligence-based image generator inspired by artist Salvador Dali and the lovable robot WALL-E that uses natural language to produce whatever mysterious and beautiful image your heart desires. Seeing typed-out inputs like “smiling gopher holding an ice cream cone” instantly spring to life clearly resonated with the world.

Getting said smiling gopher and attributes to pop up on your screen is not a small task.

Continue reading “AI system makes models like DALL-E 2 more creative” »

Sep 10, 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis could be treated by eating probiotic bacteria

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food

Experiments in rats hint that an immune-suppressing drug that can be taken by eating a probiotic may relieve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis more effectively than injections.

Sep 10, 2022

Watch SpaceX launch the huge BlueWalker 3 satellite, Starlink fleet on rocket’s record-setting 14th flight tonight

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will fly for a record-breaking 14th time on Saturday night (Sept. 10), launching 34 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites and a huge direct-to-smartphone connectivity test spacecraft to orbit, and you can watch it live.

The two-stage Falcon 9, topped with the Starlinks and AST SpaceMobile’s Blue Walker 3 test satellite, is scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida Saturday at 9:10 p.m. EDT (0110 GMT on Sept. 11). Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company (opens in new tab).

Sep 10, 2022

A sneaky interloper behind our galaxy’s center complicates the search for dark matter

Posted by in category: cosmology

Well, not so fast.

Crocker’s paper, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, argues that this “substructure” doesn’t belong to the Fermi bubble at all but instead a satellite galaxy behind the bubble (from our galactic perspective) called the Dwarf Sagittarius Spheroidal Galaxy, or Sagittarius dSph.