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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published Lingering effects of Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans



Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits -- until now.
Published Chatgpt designs a robot



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 New dino, 'Iani,' was face of a changing planet



A newly discovered plant-eating dinosaur may have been a species' 'last gasp' during a period when Earth's warming climate forced massive changes to global dinosaur populations.
Published Sponge makes robotic device a soft touch



A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists have found.
Published Robot 'chef' learns to recreate recipes from watching food videos



Researchers have trained a robotic 'chef' to watch and learn from cooking videos, and recreate the dish itself.
Published Newborn baby inspires sensor design that simulates human touch



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 Geneticists discover hidden 'whole genome duplication' that may explain why some species survived mass extinctions



Geneticists have unearthed a major event in the ancient history of sturgeons and paddlefish that has significant implications for the way we understand evolution. They have pinpointed a previously hidden 'whole genome duplication' (WGD) in the common ancestor of these species, which seemingly opened the door to genetic variations that may have conferred an advantage around the time of a major mass extinction some 200 million years ago.
Published 107-million-year-old pterosaur bones: Oldest in Australia



A team of researchers have confirmed that 107-million-year-old pterosaur bones discovered more than 30 years ago are the oldest of their kind ever found in Australia, providing a rare glimpse into the life of these powerful, flying reptiles that lived among the dinosaurs.
Published Robot centipedes go for a walk



Researchers show how their multilegged walking robot can be steered by inducing a dynamic instability. By making the couplings between segments more flexible, the robot changes from walking straight to moving in a curved path. This work can lead to more energy-efficient and reliable robotic navigation of terrain.
Published Nanorobotic system presents new options for targeting fungal infections


Researchers have developed a nanorobot system that targets fungal infections in the mouth.
Published Effective as a collective: Researchers investigate the swarming behavior of microrobots



Miniaturization is progressing rapidly in just any field and the trend towards the creation of ever smaller units is also prevalent in the world of robot technology. In the future, minuscule robots used in medical and pharmaceutical applications might be able to transport medication to targeted sites in the body. Statistical physics can contribute to the foundations for the development of such technologies.
Published Robots and Rights: Confucianism Offers Alternative



As robots assume more roles in the world, a new analysis reviewed research on robot rights, concluding that granting rights to robots is a bad idea. Instead, the article looks to Confucianism to offer an alternative.
Published Iron-rich rocks unlock new insights into Earth's planetary history



A new study suggests iron-rich ancient sediments may have helped cause some of the largest volcanic events in the planet's history.
Published Researchers build bee robot that can twist



A robotic bee that can fly fully in all directions has been developed. With four wings made out of carbon fiber and mylar as well as four light-weight actuators to control each wing, the Bee++ prototype is the first to fly stably in all directions. That includes the tricky twisting motion known as yaw, with the Bee++ fully achieving the six degrees of free movement that a typical flying insect displays.
Published Fossils of a saber-toothed top predator reveal a scramble for dominance leading up to 'the Great Dying'



A tiger-sized saber-toothed creature called Inostrancevia has previously only been found in Russia. But scientists have discovered its fossils in South Africa, suggesting that it migrated 7,000 miles across the supercontinent Pangaea during the world's worst mass extinction 252 million years ago. Heading to South Africa allowed it to fill a gap in a faraway ecosystem that had lost its top predators.
Published Physical chemists develop photochromic active colloids shedding light on the development of new smart active materials



In nature, the skin of cephalopods (animals with tentacles attached to the head) exhibits unparalleled camouflage ability. Their skin contains pigment groups that can sense changes in environmental light conditions and adjust their appearance through the action of pigment cells. Although intricate in nature, this colour-changing ability is fundamentally based on a mechanical mechanism in which pigment particles are folded or unfolded under the control of radial muscles. Inspired by this natural process, a research team forms dynamic photochromic nanoclusters by mixing cyan, magenta and yellow microbeads, achieving photochromism on a macro scale.
Published Fossil of mosasaur with bizarre 'screwdriver teeth' found in Morocco



Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, a sea-dwelling lizard from the age of the dinosaurs, with strange, ridged teeth unlike those of any known reptile. Along with other recent finds from Africa, it suggests that mosasaurs and other marine reptiles were evolving rapidly up until 66 million years ago, when they were wiped out by an asteroid along with the dinosaurs and around 90% of all species on Earth.
Published Scales or feathers? It all comes down to a few genes



Scales, spines, feathers and hair are examples of vertebrate skin appendages, which constitute a remarkably diverse group of micro-organs. Despite their natural multitude of forms, these appendages share early developmental processes at the embryonic stage. Researchers have discovered how to permanently transform the scales that normally cover the feet of chickens into feathers, by specifically modifying the expression of certain genes.
Published Culprit behind destruction of New York's first dinosaur museum revealed



A new paper rewrites the history of the darkest, most bizarre event in the history of palaeontology.
Published Milk reaction inspires new way to make highly conductive gel films



A research team has developed what they call a 'dip-and-peel' strategy for simple and rapid fabrication of two-dimensional ionogel membranes. By dipping sustainable biomass materials in certain solvents, molecules naturally respond by arranging themselves into functional thin films at the edge of the material that can easily be removed using nothing more than a simple set of tweezers.