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Analog AI processor company Mythic launched its M1076 Analog Matrix Processor today to provide low-power AI processing.

The company uses analog circuits rather than digital to create its processor, making it easier to integrate memory into the processor and operate its device with 10 times less power than a typical system-on-chip or graphics processing unit (GPU).

The M1076 AMP can support up to 25 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of AI compute in a 3-watt power envelope. It is targeted at AI at the edge applications, but the company said it can scale from the edge to server applications, addressing multiple vertical markets including smart cities, industrial applications, enterprise applications, and consumer devices.

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“I didn’t think I would be emotional about this.”

It’s not just humans that use prosthetic limbs—wounded or disabled animals can benefit from them, too. In the past, we’ve reported on cats, dogs, and even an elephant who have been fitted for prosthesis. The latest creature who’s now learning to walk on an artificial foot is an adorable duck named Waddles.

Waddles was born with a deformed leg, but his adoptive owner Ben Weinman wanted to help him live a better life. He contacted Derrick Campana, a Certified Pet Prostheticist at Bionic Pets who made a 3D-printed prosthetic leg and foot.

A clip from the NatGeo Wild series, The Wizard of Paws, was recently shared online, revealing the heartwarming moment when Waddles was fitted with his new leg. At first, he’s not quite sure what to make of it, but after a little encouragement from Weinman and Campana, he starts happily toddling along on both feet.

Continue reading “Waddles the Disabled Duck Walks for the First Time on His 3D-Printed Prosthetic Leg” | >

Discovery in Salamanders by James W. Godwin, Ph.D., brings science closer to the development of regenerative medicine therapies.

Many salamanders can readily regenerate a lost limb, but adult mammals, including humans, cannot. Why this is the case is a scientific mystery that has fascinated observers of the natural world for thousands of years.

Now, a team of scientists led by James Godwin, Ph.D., of the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, has come a step closer to unraveling that mystery with the discovery of differences in molecular signaling that promote regeneration in the axolotl, a highly regenerative salamander, while blocking it in the adult mouse, which is a mammal with limited regenerative ability.

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Last Tuesday, teams from Google and Harvard published an intricate map of every cell and connection in a cubic millimeter of the human brain.

The mapped region encompasses the various layers and cell types of the cerebral cortex, a region of brain tissue associated with higher-level cognition, such as thinking, planning, and language. According to Google, it’s the largest brain map at this level of detail to date, and it’s freely available to scientists (and the rest of us) online. (Really. Go here. Take a stroll.)

“The human brain is an immensely complex network of brain cells which is responsible for all human behavior, but until now, we haven’t been able to completely map these connections within even a small region of the brain,” said Dr. Alexander Shapson-Coe, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Lichtman Lab and lead author of a preprint paper about the work.

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Designing an autonomous, learning smart garden.

In the first episode of Build Out, Colt and Reto — tasked with designing the architecture for a “Smart Garden” — supplied two very different concepts, that nevertheless featured many overlapping elements. Take a look at the video to see what they came up with, then continue reading to see how you can learn from their explorations to build your very own Smart Garden.

Both solutions aim to optimize plant care using sensors, weather forecasts, and machine learning. Watering and fertilizing routines for the plants are updated regularly to guarantee the best growth, health, and fruit yield possible.

Colt’s solution is optimized for small-scale home farming, using a modified CNC machine to care for a fruit or vegetable patch. The drill bit is replaced with a liquid spout, UV light, and camera, while the cutting area is replaced with a plant bed that includes sensors to track moisture, nutrient levels, and weight.

Continue reading “Building a Garden that Cares for Itself” | >

This is an automatic hydroponics system that also has scaleable farms that use 95 percent less water.

Grow fresh herbs, vegetables, and more in 3 easy steps all year round with AeroGarden indoor garden systems. No soil, no sun, & no green thumb required!

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It’s ten times more powerful than the current U.S. effort.

Earlier this month, Chinese artificial intelligence (A.I.) researchers at the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) unveiled Wu Dao 2.0, the world’s biggest natural language processing (NLP) model. And it’s a big deal.

NLP is a branch of A.I. research that aims to give computers the ability to understand text and spoken words and respond to them in much the same way human beings can.

Continue reading “Amazing New Chinese A.I.-Powered Language Model Wu Dao 2.0 Unveiled” | >

Bill Gates isn’t going to use it to track you.

Your next doctor’s appointment could soon become much more informative thanks to new microchips the size of dust mites, only visible beneath a microscope.

Picture this: Your surgeon wants to continuously monitor your lungs prior to a procedure to ensure your respiratory system is strong enough to deal with anesthesia. So, a technician uses a hypodermic needle to inject a few small microchips into your body. Then, they use an ultrasound machine to communicate with the chips, which show your lungs are primed for the operation. Your subsequent surgery is a breeze.

Continue reading “Yes, Scientists Built the Worlds Smallest Implantable Chip. But Dont Freak Out” | >

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has recently commissioned three private companies, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin and General Atomics, to develop nuclear fission thermal rockets for use in lunar orbit.

Such a development, if flown, could usher in a new era of spaceflight. That said, it is only one of several exciting avenues in rocket propulsion. Here are some others.

The standard means of propulsion for spacecraft uses chemical rockets. There are two main types: solid-fueled (such as the solid rocket boosters on the Space Shuttle), and liquid-fueled (such as the Saturn V).

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In a decade-long quest, scientists at Berkeley Lab, the University of Hawaii, and Florida International University uncover new clues to the origins of the universe – and land new chemistry for cleaner combustion engines.

For nearly half a century, astrophysicists and organic chemists have been on the hunt for the origins of C6H6, the benzene ring – an elegant, hexagonal molecule comprised of 6 carbon and 6 hydrogen atoms.

Astrophysicists say that the benzene ring could be the fundamental building block of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, the most basic materials formed from the explosion of dying, carbon-rich stars. That swirling mass of matter would eventually give shape to the earliest forms of carbon – precursors to molecules some scientists say are connected to the synthesis of the earliest forms of life on Earth.

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