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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published Tattoo technique transfers gold nanopatterns onto live cells


For now, cyborgs exist only in fiction, but the concept is becoming more plausible as science progresses. And now, researchers are reporting that they have developed a proof-of-concept technique to 'tattoo' living cells and tissues with flexible arrays of gold nanodots and nanowires. With further refinement, this method could eventually be used to integrate smart devices with living tissue for biomedical applications, such as bionics and biosensing.
Published Fossil feces infested with parasites from over 200 million years ago



Fossilized feces preserve evidence of ancient parasites that infected an aquatic predator over 200 million years ago, according to a new study.
Published The 'unknome': A database of human genes we know almost nothing about



Researchers hope that a new, publicly available database they have created will shrink, not grow, over time. That's because it is a compendium of the thousands of understudied proteins encoded by genes in the human genome, whose existence is known but whose functions are mostly not.
Published Whale-like filter-feeding discovered in prehistoric marine reptile



A remarkable new fossil from China reveals for the first time that a group of reptiles were already using whale-like filter feeding 250 million years ago.
Published Latest in body art? 'Tattoos' for individual cells



Engineers have developed nanoscale tattoos -- dots and wires that adhere to live cells -- in a breakthrough that puts researchers one step closer to tracking the health of individual cells.
Published Butterflies can remember where things are over sizeable spaces



Heliconius butterflies are capable of spatial learning, scientists have discovered. The results provide the first experimental evidence of spatial learning in any butterfly or moth species.
Published Self-supervised AI learns physics to reconstruct microscopic images from holograms


Researchers have unveiled an artificial intelligence-based model for computational imaging and microscopy without training with experimental objects or real data. The team introduced a self-supervised AI model nicknamed GedankenNet that learns from physics laws and thought experiments. Informed only by the laws of physics that universally govern the propagation of electromagnetic waves in space, the researchers taught their AI model to reconstruct microscopic images using only random artificial holograms -- synthesized solely from 'imagination' without relying on any real-world experiments, actual sample resemblances or real data.
Published Discovery in nanomachines within living organisms -- cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) unleashed as living soft robots



A new study suggests that Cytochromes P450 (CYP450s) enzymes can sense and respond to stimuli, acting like soft robots in living systems.
Published Modified virtual reality tech can measure brain activity


The research team at The University of Texas at Austin created a noninvasive electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor that they installed in a Meta VR headset that can be worn comfortably for long periods. The EEG measures the brain's electrical activity during the immersive VR interactions.
Published New photocatalytic system converts carbon dioxide to valuable fuel more efficiently than natural photosynthesis


A research team recently developed a stable artificial photocatalytic system that is more efficient than natural photosynthesis. The new system mimics a natural chloroplast to convert carbon dioxide in water into methane, a valuable fuel, very efficiently using light. This is a promising discovery, which could contribute to the goal of carbon neutrality.
Published Robots cause company profits to fall -- at least at first


Researchers have found that robots can have a 'U-shaped' effect on profits: causing profit margins to fall at first, before eventually rising again. The researchers studied industry data from the UK and 24 other European countries between 1995 and 2017, and found that at low levels of adoption, robots have a negative effect on profit margins. But at higher levels of adoption, robots can help increase profits.
Published Robotic grippers offer unprecedented combo of strength and delicacy


New robotic grippers are flexible enough to handle soft and fragile objects as well as heavier ones.
Published Thermal imaging innovation allows AI to see through pitch darkness like broad daylight


Engineers have developed HADAR, or heat-assisted detection and ranging.
Published New chemical process makes it easier to craft amino acids that don't exist in nature



Chemists describe a powerful new way to create new-to-nature, 'unnatural' amino acids, which could find use in protein-based therapies and open up novel branches of organic chemistry.
Published 3D display could soon bring touch to the digital world


Engineers have designed a new, shape-shifting display that can fit on a card table and allows users to draw 3D designs and more.
Published Scientists discover secret of virgin birth, and switch on the ability in female flies



Scientists have pinpointed a genetic cause for virgin birth for the first time, and once switched on the ability is passed down through generations of females.
Published Reinforcement learning allows underwater robots to locate and track objects underwater


A team has shown that reinforcement learning -i.e., a neural network that learns the best action to perform at each moment based on a series of rewards- allows autonomous vehicles and underwater robots to locate and carefully track marine objects and animals.
Published Researchers tickle rats to identify part of the brain critical for laughter and playfulness



To study play behaviors in animals, scientists must be able to authentically simulate play-conducive environments in the laboratory. Animals like rats are less inclined to play if they are anxious or restrained, and there is minimal data on the brain activity of rats that are free to play. After getting rats comfortable with a human playmate, tickling them under controlled conditions, then measuring the rats' squeaks and brain activity, a research team reports that a structure in rat brains called the periaqueductal gray is essential for play and laughter.
Published This 3D printed gripper doesn't need electronics to function


This soft robotic gripper is not only 3D printed in one print, it also doesn't need any electronics to work.
Published 'Time-traveling' pathogens in melting permafrost pose likely risk to environment



Ancient pathogens that escape from melting permafrost have real potential to damage microbial communities and might potentially threaten human health, according to a new study.