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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Geoscience: Geology
Published Metamaterials with built-in frustration have mechanical memory
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered how to design materials that necessarily have a point or line where the material doesn't deform under stress, and that even remember how they have been poked or squeezed in the past. These results could be used in robotics and mechanical computers, while similar design principles could be used in quantum computers.
Published Earth was created much faster than we thought: This makes the chance of finding other habitable planets in the Universe more likely
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Over the past decades, researchers thought Earth was created over a period of more than 100 million years. However, a new study from suggests that the creation of Earth was much more rapid, and that water and other essential ingredients for life were delivered to Earth very early on.
Published Plate tectonics not required for the emergence of life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New finding contradicts previous assumptions about the role of mobile plate tectonics in the development of life on Earth. Moreover, the data suggests that 'when we're looking for exoplanets that harbor life, the planets do not necessarily need to have plate tectonics,' says the lead author of a new paper.
Published Hybrid AI-powered computer vision combines physics and big data
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have laid out a new approach to enhance artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technologies by adding physics-based awareness to data-driven techniques. The study offered an overview of a hybrid methodology designed to improve how AI-based machinery sense, interact and respond to its environment in real time -- as in how autonomous vehicles move and maneuver, or how robots use the improved technology to carry out precision actions.
Published Study explains unusual deformation in Earth's largest continental rift
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Computer models confirm that the African Superplume is responsible for the unusual deformations, as well as rift-parallel seismic anisotropy observed beneath the East African Rift System.
Published Four-legged robot traverses tricky terrains thanks to improved 3D vision
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new model that trains four-legged robots to see more clearly in 3D. The advance enabled a robot to autonomously cross challenging terrain with ease -- including stairs, rocky ground and gap-filled paths -- while clearing obstacles in its way.
Published Geologists challenge conventional view of Earth's continental history, stability with new study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The seemingly stable regions of the Earth's continental plates -- the so-called stable cratons -- have suffered repetitive deformation below their crust since their formation in the remote past, according to new research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This hypothesis defies decades of conventional plate tectonics theory and begs to answer why most cratons have remained structurally stable while their underbellies have experienced significant change.
Published Researchers describe the melting of gold nanoparticles in gold-bearing fluids in the Earth's crust
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Gold is a precious metal that has always fascinated humans. From Priam's Treasure to the legend of El Dorado, gold --regarded as the noblest of metals-- has been a symbol of splendour and wealth in many civilizations. Historically, gold deposits were known to form when metal was transported dissolved by hot aqueous solution flows --hydrothermal fluids-- until it accumulated in some areas in the Earth's upper crust. The recent discovery of gold nanoparticles in such mineral deposits has brought some doubts on the validity of the classical model.
Published Mori3: A polygon shape-shifting robot for space travel
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By combining inspiration from the digital world of polygon meshing and the biological world of swarm behavior, the Mori3 robot can morph from 2D triangles into almost any 3D object. The research shows the promise of modular robotics for space travel.
Published Campi Flegrei volcano edges closer to possible eruption
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The new study used a model of volcano fracturing to interpret patterns of earthquakes and ground uplift, and concluded that parts of the volcano had been stretched nearly to breaking point.
Published South Africa, India and Australia shared similar volcanic activity 3.5 billion years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Daitari greenstone belt shares a similar geologic make-up when compared to the greenstones exposed in the Barberton and Nondweni areas of South Africa and those from the Pilbara Craton of north-western Australia.
Published Chatgpt designs a robot
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Poems, essays and even books -- is there anything the OpenAI platform ChatGPT can't handle? These new AI developments have inspired researchers to dig a little deeper: For instance, can ChatGPT also design a robot? And is this a good thing for the design process, or are there risks?
Published Sponge makes robotic device a soft touch
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists have found.
Published Bubble, bubble, more earthquake trouble? Geoscientists study Alaska's Denali fault
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geochemists report findings from collected and analyzed helium and carbon isotopic data from springs along a nearly 250-mile segment of Alaska's Denali Fault. The fault's mantle fluid flow rates, they report, fall in the range observed for the world's other major and active strike-slip faults that form plate boundaries.
Published Robot 'chef' learns to recreate recipes from watching food videos
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have trained a robotic 'chef' to watch and learn from cooking videos, and recreate the dish itself.
Published Below the surface: Researchers uncover reasons to rethink how mountains are built
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study suggests that the answers to how and why mountains form are buried deeper than once thought. Clues in the landscape of southern Italy allowed researchers to produce a long-term, continuous record of rock uplift, the longest and most complete record of its kind.
Published Researchers cultivate archaea that break down crude oil in novel ways
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The seafloor is home to around one-third of all the microorganisms on the Earth and is inhabited even at a depth of several kilometers. Only when it becomes too hot does the abundance of microorganisms appear to decline. But how, and from what, do microorganisms in the deep seafloor live? How do their metabolic cycles work and how do the individual members of these buried communities interact? Researchers have now been able to demonstrate in laboratory cultures how small, liquid components of crude oil are broken down through a new mechanism by a group of microorganisms called archaea.
Published Petit-spot volcanoes involve the deepest known submarine hydrothermal activity, possibly release CO2 and methane
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Underwater volcanism and its hydrothermal activity play an important role in marine biogeochemical cycles, especially the carbon cycle. But the nature of hydrothermal activity at 'petit-spot' volcanoes have not been revealed at all. Now, scientists reveal that petit-spot hydrothermal activity occurs on the deepest seafloor known to date and could release carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, which may have implications for the global carbon cycle.
Published Newborn baby inspires sensor design that simulates human touch
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As we move into a world where human-machine interactions are becoming more prominent, pressure sensors that are able to analyze and simulate human touch are likely to grow in demand.
Published Ground beneath Thwaites Glacier mapped
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The ground beneath Antarctica's most vulnerable glacier has now been mapped, helping scientists to better understand how it is being affected by climate change. Analysis of the geology below the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica shows there is less sedimentary rock than expected -- a finding that could affect how the ice slides and melts in the coming decades.