Impact Lab – Page 365 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

Machine Learning Bot Can Replace Your Gardener, It Plants and Weeds on Its Own

August 19, 2021

Gardening is a rewarding activity indeed, both for your mind, as well as for your body. Unfortunately though, most of us can’t find enough time to dedicate to it, as our hectic lifestyles get in the way. That’s where this smart garden robot comes in, to make sure you don’t have to sow yourself, but just reap the benefits.

Sybil is a small, but a very capable device with machine learning capabilities. It can autonomously plant, weed, and map your entire garden.

Robotics, Science & Technology News

Magnetic ‘millirobots’ climb and swim to deliver drugs to neural tissue

August 19, 2021

Researchers from Purdue University have developed magnetic ‘millirobots’ which can climb slopes, move against a current, and deliver substances to rodent neural tissue with great precision.

The study investigated how the robots – ‘Magnetically Aligned Nanorods In Alginate CapsuleS’ (aka ‘Maniacs’) – could perform as drug delivery vehicles inside the body. It found that, when controlled using a magnetic field, the robots can move against fluid flow, climb slopes and move through neural tissue, such as the spinal cord, to deposit substances at precise locations.

Disease in the central nervous system can be very difficult to treat. Lamar Mair of Weinberg Medical Physics, which partnered with the academics on the study, explained: “Delivering drugs orally or intravenously, for example, to target cancers or neurologic diseases, may affect regions of the body and nervous system that are unrelated to the disease. Targeted drug delivery may lead to improved efficacy and reduced side-effects due to lower off-target dosing.”

AI, Science & Technology News

OpenAI can translate English into code with its new machine learning software Codex

August 19, 2021

‘We see this as a tool to multiply programmers’

By James Vincent

AI research company OpenAI is releasing a new machine learning tool that translates the English language into code. The software is called Codex and is designed to speed up the work of professional programmers, as well as help amateurs get started coding.

In demos of Codex, OpenAI shows how the software can be used to build simple websites and rudimentary games using natural language, as well as translate between different programming languages and tackle data science queries. Users type English commands into the software, like “create a webpage with a menu on the side and title at the top,” and Codex translates this into code. The software is far from infallible and takes some patience to operate, but could prove invaluable in making coding faster and more accessible.

“IT TAKES PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY PROGRAMMERS AND REMOVES THE DRUDGE WORK.”

Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Israeli Start-Up Creates Robotic Beehives To Support Dwindling Bee Colonies

August 19, 2021

By Bharat Sharma

An Israeli startup has done the unthinkable by creating an artificial beehive to facilitate stable bee colonies under ideal conditions.

The next-gen hive which constitutes multiple layers of honeycombs can house up to 2 million bees… and that’s not it!

The robotic set-up also scans beehives for diseases, pesticides, and other hazards that may pose a threat to the gentle creatures.

On multiple occasions, scientists have highlighted how dwindling populations of bees threaten existing ecosystems on planet Earth.

In the face of new dangers posed by climate change clubbed with receding natural habitats for organisms, beekeepers are trying out new ways to preserve existing populations of bees.

Batteries, Science & Technology News

Hyundai and UL ally to give EV batteries a second life

August 19, 2021

The two agreed to advance safe deployment and use of second-life battery energy storage systems.

Underwriters Laboratories, a U.S. standards development organization, and Koren car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Co. signed a memorandum of understanding to help further the safe deployment and use of second-life battery energy storage systems (SLBESS).

The two said they will collaborate on SLBESS initiatives, including safety testing and assessment, a North America product demonstration project, and evaluation process development. They said they intend to use their worldwide presence to further SLBESS market adoption.

Second-life batteries often consist of electric vehicle batteries that no longer meet the requirements of automotive applications, but are still worthwhile additions as grid-connected energy storage devices.

Science & Technology News, Space

NASA is training human-like robots to explore caves on Mars

August 19, 2021

BY SOPHIE LEWIS

When searching for signs of life on other planets, scientists say caves are a crucial place to look. But how can a team on Earth effectively explore intricate, dark, unfamiliar landscapes on another world?

NASA and Boston Dynamics have found an answer: Fully autonomous robots.

Caves are one of the most likely places to find signs of both current and past life on other planets because they are capable of protecting life from cosmic rays and extreme temperature fluctuations around our solar system. A NASA project called BRAILLE is now working on exploring Mars-like caves that already exist on Earth in order to hone key technologies for future missions.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Cleveron conducts ‘world’s first’ driving exams with a driverless semi-autonomous last-mile delivery vehicle

August 19, 2021

Cleveron, an Estonian-based technology company, partnered with LRK Driving School to conduct what they say are “the world’s first driving exams with an unmanned semi-autonomous car”.

The exams were carried out with Cleveron’s last-mile delivery vehicle Cleveron 701. All four Cleveron specialists passed the exam and received the world’s first tele-operated vehicle certificates.

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Personalized regenerative medicine company developing implanted cell pouches to treat chronic disease

August 16, 2021

In response to emailed questions, Encellin CEO offered an overview of the company’s device that functions like a pouch to help implanted cells survive in the body.

By STEPHANIE BAUM

Crystal Nyitray, Ph.D., the CEO and Co-founder of Encellin provided an overview of the company’s emerging cell tech to treat chronic endocrine disorders hypoglycemia and hypocalcemia.

Why did you start this company?

Encellin was founded because we have unique opportunity to help millions of patients. The technology developed at UCSF needed a way to move forward, so we created Encellin. Also starting a company gives you the chance a create a specialized team of people dedicated to advancing a therapy forward. We get to create a culture that cares about helping patients, and has the courage to try new ways of thinking.

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

SpaceX and a Canadian Startup Will Turn Space Into a Billboard

August 16, 2021

Space is going to be a billboard. If you like to run your own ad, the collaboration accepts cryptocurrencies only.

By Ameya Paleja

Just as paid human spaceflights are about to begin, advertising is making a mark in space too. A Canadian startup called Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) has tied up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, taking advertising to space on a small satellite aboard the Falcon 9 rocket, Business Insider reported. However, the collaboration won’t feature a classic advertising billboard that we are used to see around, the ads will run on a pixelated display screen on a satellite called a CubeSat.

Calgary-based GEC is an intellectual property, manufacturing, and logistics company, all rolled into one. Through its subsidiaries, Geometric Space, GeometricLabs, Geometric Medical, and Geometric Gaming, the company is inventing and manufacturing products and services for its customers in the private as well as the public sectors. As the company claims, during the pandemic, it supplied “ethically sourced” nitrile gloves to institutions in Canada and the U.S. while also developing a solid-state Sodium-Ion battery product.

Bitcoin, Science & Technology News

SEC Chairman Says Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real, Crypto Rules Are Clear

August 16, 2021

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says that Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovation is real. “It has been and could continue to be a catalyst for change in the fields of finance and money,” he said.

by Kevin Helms

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Innovation Is Real.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation last week at the Aspen Security Forum where he outlined his plans to regulate the crypto space. He began by referencing the Bitcoin whitepaper and its creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.

“His innovation spurred the development of crypto assets and the underlying blockchain technology,” Gensler said about Satoshi, adding that “the crypto asset class has ballooned” and is now worth about $1.83 trillion.

Bitcoin, Science & Technology News

Bitcoin mining is suddenly one of the most profitable businesses on the planet

August 15, 2021

The sweeping shutdown delivered a huge prize to the rest of the world’s miners.

BY SHAWN TULLY

Would you believe that Bitcoin mining generates just as much revenue as the age-old pursuit of unearthing gold and silver ore? Right now, minting this most unorthodox asset may also rank as the most profitable major industry on the planet. The entrepreneurs running their towering racks of rigs 24/7 were garnering stupendous margins when prices surged to over $60,000 in mid-April. Now they’re pocketing even fatter returns at prices that are one-third lower. And we’re talking numbers that for now surpass such famously lucrative enclaves as Big Pharma, luxury goods, and software.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Science’s next great leap: using squirrels to teach robots how to ‘parkour’

August 15, 2021

Researchers studying rodents’ leaping abilities suggest findings could help them create nimble artificial intelligence systems

ByJoe Pinkstone

Squirrels use techniques similar to those of parkour athletes when leaping from one branch to another, a study has found.

Parkour, a form of freerunning, is a popular sport where people jump over and under obstacles at speed and often involves leaping long distances.

A team of US-based researchers at University of California, Berkeley studied the biomechanics of bounding squirrels in eucalyptus trees and observed how and when they flung themselves from one branch to another.