Lifeboat Foundation

To set some benchmarks for their simulator, the researchers tried out three different design algorithms working in conjunction with a deep reinforcement learning algorithm that learned to control the robots through many rounds of trial and error.

The co-designed bots performed well on the simpler tasks, like walking or carrying things, but struggled with tougher challenges, like catching and lifting, suggesting there’s plenty of scope for advances in co-design algorithms. Nonetheless, the AI-designed bots outperformed ones design by humans on almost every task.

Continue reading “Robots Evolve Bodies and Brains Like Animals in MIT’s New AI Training Simulator” »

China has succeeded in literally changing the weather, a new study claims.

As the South China Morning Post reports, researchers say that during the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial celebration over the summer, weather authorities successfully modified the weather above Beijing to clear the sky and reduce pollution for the tens of thousands gathered for a commemorative ceremony in Tiananmen Square.

They did so using cloud seeding technology, a long-studied but controversial process that involves shooting silver iodide particles into the clouds, with the idea of attracting water droplets to modify the weather.

Neoen reveals plans for another big battery in South Australia which could be even bigger than the Victorian Big Battery opened on Wednesday.

French renewable energy and battery storage developer Neoen, fresh from the formal opening of the Victorian Big Battery – the biggest in Australia to date – has revealed plans for a potentially even bigger battery in South Australia.

Neoen is due to hold a community open day on Thursday for the Blyth battery, which will be sized up to 300MW and 800MWh, trumping the 300MW/450MWh capacity of the newly opened VBB near Geelong.

Continue reading “Neoen reveals plans for another 300MW big battery in South Australia” »

Designed for high resolution from load cells and high amperage on the MOSFETs, this automation board packs a punch.

With the Zappi, Myenergi offers a compact charging station that can charge the electric vehicle in the garage or carport at home with solar power from the roof without any additional components.

Researchers from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and Saratov State University have come up with an inexpensive method for visualizing blood flow in the brain. The new technique is so precise it discerns the motions of individual red blood cells — all without the use of toxic dyeing agents or expensive genetic engineering. The study was published in The European Physical Journal Plus.

To understand more about how the brain’s blood supply works, researchers map its blood vessel networks. The resulting visualizations can rely on a variety of methods. One highly precise technique involves injecting fluorescent dyes into the blood flow and detecting the infrared light they emit. The problem with dyes is they are toxic and also may distort mapping results by affecting the vessels. Alternatively, researchers employ genetically modified animals, whose interior lining of blood vessels is engineered to give off light with no foreign substances involved. Both methods are very expensive, though.

Researchers from Skoltech and Saratov State University have devised an inexpensive method for visualizing even the smallest capillaries in the brain. The method — which integrates optical microscopy and image processing — is dye-free and very fine-grained, owing to its ability to detect each and every red blood cell travelling along a blood vessel. Since the number of RBCs in capillaries is not that high, every cell counts, so this is an important advantage over other methods, including dye-free ones.

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Researchers at Human Brain Project partner University of Granada in Spain have designed a new artificial neural network that mimics the structure of the cerebellum, one of the evolutionarily older parts of the brain, which plays an important role in motor coordination. When linked to a robotic arm, their system learned to perform precise movements and interact with humans in different circumstances, surpassing performance of previous AI-based robotic steering systems. The results have been published in the journal Science Robotics.

Johns Hopkins gets the grant to use artificial intelligence to promote healthy aging. The National Institute of Aging has allocated over $20M to Hopkins for them to execute their plans to promote healthy aging.

This new development will considerably help in providing a better lifestyle and living experience to senior citizens. Johns Hopkins will use the allocated funds over five years to build an AI and technology collaboratory (AITC).

The new collaboratory will have members from the Johns Hopkins University schools of medicine and nursing, the Whiting School of Engineering, and the Carey Business School. The collaboratory will also have members from various industries, senior citizens of the country, and technology developers.

Americans have become accustomed to images of Hellfire missiles raining down from Predator and Reaper drones to hit terrorist targets in Pakistan or Yemen. But that was yesterday’s drone war.

A revolution in unmanned aerial vehicles is unfolding, and the U.S. has lost its monopoly on the technology.

Some experts believe the spread of the semi-autonomous weapons will change ground warfare as profoundly as the machine gun did.