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May 1, 2021

New genetic target for blood cancer treatment

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Targeting a pathway that is essential for the survival of certain types of acute myeloid leukaemia could provide a new therapy avenue for patients, the latest research has found.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute found that a specific genetic mutation, which is linked with poor prognosis in blood cancer, is involved in the development of the disease when combined with other mutations in mice and human cell lines.

The study, published today (30th April) in Nature Communications, provides a greater understanding of how the loss-of-function mutation in the CUX1 gene leads to the development and survival of acute myeloid leukaemia. The findings suggest that targeting a pathway that is essential for these to continue growing could lead to new targeted therapies for some patients.

May 1, 2021

World’s largest compressed air grid “batteries” will store up to 10GWh

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

California is set to be home to two new compressed-air energy storage facilities – each claiming the crown for the world’s largest non-hydro energy storage system. Developed by Hydrostor, the facilities will have an output of 500 MW and be capable of storing 4 GWh of energy.

As the world shifts towards renewable energy, grid-scale storage is becoming ever more crucial. Getting carbon emissions to net-zero will require a patchwork of technologies to smooth out unpredictable and inconvenient generation curves, with pumped hydro, huge lithium-ion batteries, tanks full of molten salt or silicon, thermal bricks, or heavy blocks stacked up in towers or suspended in mineshafts all in the mix.

Continue reading “World’s largest compressed air grid ‘batteries’ will store up to 10GWh” »

May 1, 2021

Advances in Detectors: The Quanta image sensor (QIS): Making every photon count

Posted by in categories: computing, mobile phones, space

One of the interesting consequences of the emergent upshift in visual systems is that all streetlights, car headlights and other external sources of lighting will no longer be needed within around a decade. This will not only make astronomers happy, since they will be able to see the dark skies again but will simplify urban infrastructure. The three convergent elements making this change of affairs come about are the following:

1) Quanta Image Sensors, whether of the SPAD or the CIS-QIS versions are expected to become widely available within 5 to 10 years. Unlike the CMOS image sensors in billions of cell-phone cameras, which only register packets of the incoming light, these sensors can register single photons of light. The most versatile of these are the QIS sensors being developed by Fossum—who also developed the CMOS sensor—wherein a single jot\.

Continue reading “Advances in Detectors: The Quanta image sensor (QIS): Making every photon count” »

Apr 30, 2021

Computer vision inches toward ‘common sense’ with Facebook’s latest research

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

Machine learning is capable of doing all sorts of things as long as you have the data to teach it how. That’s not always easy, and researchers are always looking for a way to add a bit of “common sense” to AI so you don’t have to show it 500 pictures of a cat before it gets it. Facebook’s newest research takes a big step toward reducing the data bottleneck.

The company’s formidable AI research division has been working for years now on how to advance and scale things like advanced computer vision algorithms, and has made steady progress, generally shared with the rest of the research community. One interesting development Facebook has pursued in particular is what’s called “semi-supervised learning.”

Generally when you think of training an AI, you think of something like the aforementioned 500 pictures of cats — images that have been selected and labeled (which can mean outlining the cat, putting a box around the cat or just saying there’s a cat in there somewhere) so that the machine learning system can put together an algorithm to automate the process of cat recognition. Naturally if you want to do dogs or horses, you need 500 dog pictures, 500 horse pictures, etc. — it scales linearly, which is a word you never want to see in tech.

Apr 30, 2021

New Law of Physics Helps Humans and Robots Grasp the Friction of Touch

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

Still calling 2025 for the debut of a robotic set of human level hands.


Although robotic devices are used in everything from assembly lines to medicine, engineers have a hard time accounting for the friction that occurs when those robots grip objects – particularly in wet environments. Researchers have now discovered a new law of physics that accounts for this type of friction, which should advance a wide range of robotic technologies.

“Our work here opens the door to creating more reliable and functional haptic and robotic devices in applications such as telesurgery and manufacturing,” says Lilian Hsiao, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of a paper on the work.

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Apr 30, 2021

Machine learning algorithm helps unravel the physics underlying quantum systems

Posted by in categories: information science, quantum physics, robotics/AI

Scientists from the University of Bristol’s Quantum Engineering Technology Labs (QETLabs) have developed an algorithm that provides valuable insights into the physics underlying quantum systems—paving the way for significant advances in quantum computation and sensing, and potentially turning a new page in scientific investigation.

Apr 30, 2021

Mining robot stranded on Pacific Ocean floor in deep-sea mining trial

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

A seabed mining robot being tested on the Pacific Ocean floor at a depth of more than 4 km (13000 ft) has become detached, the Belgian company running the experimental trial said on Wednesday.

Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), the deep-sea exploratory division of dredging company DEME Group, has been testing Patania II, a 25-tonne mining robot prototype, in its concession in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since April 20.

The machine is meant to collect the potato-sized nodules rich in cobalt and other battery metals that pepper the seabed in this area, and was connected to GSR’s ship with a 5km cable.

Apr 30, 2021

Episode 48 — Brent Tully Celebrates 50 Years Of Mapping The Local Cosmos

Posted by in categories: mapping, space

Great new episode with University of Hawaii cosmologist Brent Tully who’s been mapping the local cosmos for 50 years now. This is a good one! Please have a listen.


World-renowned, University of Hawaii cosmologist Brent Tully on 50 years of mapping the nearby universe which includes our own home supercluster ‘Laniakea.’ Tully candidly assesses the state of cosmography, the science of making 3D maps of the nearby universe and speculates on when astronomers will finally map the cosmos in its entirety.

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Apr 30, 2021

The Robot Surgeon Will See You Now

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

The project is a part of a much wider effort to bring artificial intelligence into the operating room. Using many of the same technologies that underpin self-driving cars, autonomous drones and warehouse robots, researchers are working to automate surgical robots too. These methods are still a long way from everyday use, but progress is accelerating.


Real scalpels, artificial intelligence — what could go wrong?

Apr 30, 2021

Bosch Using AI to Find Root Cause of Defective Parts

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Leading industrial companies are using artificial intelligence to analyze data from their manufacturing tracking systems to spot the causes of potential defects in real-time.

Robert Bosch GmbH is one of the latest to deploy AI to analyze data from its manufacturing execution systems, as the monitoring and tracking systems are called. General Electric Co. and Siemens AG have already deployed such systems.