Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Long-term exposure to nitrate in drinking water may be a risk factor for prostate cancer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The nitrate ingested over the course of a person's adult lifetime through the consumption of tap water and bottled water could be a risk factor for prostate cancer, particularly in the case of aggressive tumors and in younger men.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General
Published

Artificial intelligence (AI) reconstructs motion sequences of humans and animals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Imagine for a moment, that we are on a safari watching a giraffe graze. After looking away for a second, we then see the animal lower its head and sit down. But, we wonder, what happened in the meantime? Computer scientists have found a way to encode an animal's pose and appearance in order to show the intermediate motions that are statistically likely to have taken place.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Smoke particles from wildfires can erode the ozone layer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study finds that smoke particles in the stratosphere can trigger chemical reactions that erode the ozone layer -- and that smoke particles from Australian wildfires widened the ozone hole by 10 percent in 2020.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Study examines potential use of machine learning for sustainable development of biomass      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Machine learning can be valuable in supporting sustainable development of biomass if it is applied across the entire lifecyle of biomass and biomass-derived products, according to a new study.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology
Published

Gas monitoring at volcanic fields outside Naples, Italy, exposes multiple sources of carbon dioxide emissions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The Phlegraean volcanic fields just west of Naples, Italy, are among the top eight emitters of volcanic carbon dioxide in the world. Since 2005, the Solfatara crater -- one of many circular depressions in the landscape left by a long history of eruptions --has been emitting increased volumes of gas. Today it emits 4,000-5,000 tons of carbon dioxide each day, equivalent to the emissions from burning ~500,000 gallons of gasoline. Researchers estimate that as much as 20%--40% of the current carbon dioxide emissions are from the dissolution of calcite in the rocks, while 60%--80% is from underground magma.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Elegantly modeling Earth's abrupt glacial transitions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Milutin Milankovitch hypothesized that the timing of glacial transitions has been controlled by the orbital parameters of the Earth, which suggests that there may be some predictability in the climate, a notoriously complex system. Now researchers propose a new paradigm to simplify the verification of the Milankovitch hypothesis. The new 'deterministic excitation paradigm' combines the physics concepts of relaxation oscillation and excitability to link Earth's orbital parameters and the glacial cycles in a more generic way.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

Will future computers run on human brain cells?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 'biocomputer' powered by human brain cells could be developed within our lifetime, according to researchers who expect such technology to exponentially expand the capabilities of modern computing and create novel fields of study.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Nanotechnology Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Plants and Animals Physics: Optics
Published

Tiny new climbing robot was inspired by geckos and inchworms      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A tiny robot that could one day help doctors perform surgery was inspired by the incredible gripping ability of geckos and the efficient locomotion of inchworms.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

Real or fake text? We can learn to spot the difference      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While apprehensions about employment and schools dominate headlines, the truth is that the effects of large-scale language models such as ChatGPT will touch virtually every corner of our lives. These new tools raise society-wide concerns about artificial intelligence's role in reinforcing social biases, committing fraud and identity theft, generating fake news, spreading misinformation and more. A team of researchers is seeking to empower tech users to mitigate these risks. The authors demonstrate that people can learn to spot the difference between machine-generated and human-written text.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Robot helps students with learning disabilities stay focused      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineering researchers are successfully using a robot to help keep children with learning disabilities focused on their work.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General
Published

Smash or pass? This computer can tell      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Could an app tell if a first date is just not that into you? Engineers say the technology might not be far off. They trained a computer to identify the type of conversation two people were having based on their physiological responses alone.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Physics: Optics
Published

Compact, non-mechanical 3D lidar system could make autonomous driving safer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new system represents the first time that the capabilities of conventional beam-scanning lidar systems have been combined with those of a newer 3D approach known as flash lidar. The nonmechanical 3D lidar system is compact enough to fit in the palm of the hand and solves issues of detecting and tracking poorly reflective objects.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

New AI technology could change game prep for Super Bowl teams      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New artificial intelligence technology being developed by engineers could significantly cut down on the time and cost that goes into film study for Super Bowl-bound teams (and all NFL and college football teams), while also enhancing game strategy by harnessing the power of big data.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

AI can predict the effectiveness of breast cancer chemotherapy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers have developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict if women with breast cancer would benefit from chemotherapy prior to surgery.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

AI-Powered FRIDA robot collaborates with humans to create art      (via sciencedaily.com) 

FRIDA, a robotic arm with a paintbrush taped to it, uses artificial intelligence to collaborate with humans on works of art. Ask FRIDA to paint a picture, and it gets to work putting brush to canvas. The robot uses AI models similar to those powering tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT and DALL-E 2, which generate text or an image, respectively, in response to a prompt. FRIDA simulates how it would paint an image with brush strokes and uses machine learning to evaluate its progress as it works. FRIDA's final products are impressionistic and whimsical. The brushstrokes are bold. They lack the precision sought so often in robotic endeavors. If FRIDA makes a mistake, it riffs on it, incorporating the errant splotch of paint into the end result.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Solving a machine-learning mystery      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have explained how large language models like GPT-3 are able to learn new tasks without updating their parameters, despite not being trained to perform those tasks. They found that these large language models write smaller linear models inside their hidden layers, which the large models can train to complete a new task using simple learning algorithms.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Can pigeons match wits with artificial intelligence?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Can a pigeon match wits with artificial intelligence? Researchers tested pigeons' learning abilities and concluded the birds employ the same basic process, called associative learning, as the most advanced AI technologies.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

Interactive cyber-physical human: Generating contact-rich whole-body motions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Performing human-like motions that involve multiple contacts is challenging for robots. In this regard, a researcher has envisioned an interactive cyber-physical human (iCPH) platform with complementary humanoid (physical twin) and simulation (digital twin) elements. iCPH combines human measurement data, musculoskeletal analysis, and machine learning for data collection and augmentation. As a result, iCPH can understand, predict, and synthesize whole-body contact motions.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Robot: I'm sorry. Human: I don't care anymore!      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Humans are less forgiving of robots after multiple mistakes -- and the trust is difficult to get back, according to a new study.