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Categories: Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Environmental: Ecosystems
Published Should we tax robots?
(via sciencedaily.com) A small tax on robots, as well as on trade generally, will help reduce income inequality in the U.S., according to economists.
Published Using deep learning to monitor India's disappearing forest cover
(via sciencedaily.com) Using satellite monitoring data, researchers have developed a deep learning algorithm that could provide real-time monthly land use and land cover maps for parts of India.
Published UK woodlands could store almost twice as much carbon as previously estimated
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source UK forests could store almost double the amount of carbon than previous calculations suggest, with consequences for our understanding of carbon stocks and humanity's response to climate change, according to a new study.
Published Do polar bear paws hold the secret to better tire traction?
(via sciencedaily.com) Traction is important. Humans have been continually interested in discovering how to better move across wet or frozen surfaces safely -- whether to improve shoes for walking on sidewalks or tires to maneuver the roadways. But what makes it possible for some Arctic animals to walk and run across the ice so effortlessly and gracefully without slipping and falling? Researchers took a deep dive into the paws of polar bears to find out. What the team discovered was that all bears (except sun bears) have papillae on their paw pads, but that the papillae on polar bears were taller -- up to 1.5 times. And, that the taller papillae of polar bears help to increase traction on snow relative to shorter ones. Even though polar bears have smaller paw pads compared to the other species (likely because of greater fur coverage for heat conservation), the taller papillae of polar bears compensate for their smaller paw pads, giving them a 30-50% increase in frictional shear stress.
Published New winged robot can land like a bird
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have developed a method that allows a flapping-wing robot to land autonomously on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism. The innovation could significantly expand the scope of robot-assisted tasks.
Published New robot does 'the worm' when temperature changes
(via sciencedaily.com) A new gelatinous robot that crawls, powered by nothing more than temperature change and clever design, brings 'a kind of intelligence' to the field of soft robotics.
Published New study finds logged tropical forests are surprisingly vibrant and need protection
(via sciencedaily.com) New study examines the flow of ecological energy across old-growth forests, logged forests and oil palm. The study surveys mammal and bird species across these landscapes to calculate food energetic pathways: how photosynthetic energy cascades from sunlight to be distributed among organisms. Relative to energy flow in old-growth forests, study finds 2.5 times more total energy flows in logged forests. The study findings question the use of the word 'degraded' to describe logged tropical forests.
Published Model shows how intelligent-like behavior can emerge from non-living agents
(via sciencedaily.com) A new model describes how biological or technical systems form complex structures equipped with signal-processing capabilities that allow the systems to respond to stimulus and perform functional tasks without external guidance.
Published Transplants can save dying coral reefs, but genetically diverse donors are key
(via sciencedaily.com) Study uses lab-grown coral clones to determine why some coral thrive when transplanted onto coral reefs and others die.
Published Bolstering the safety of self-driving cars with a deep learning-based object detection system
(via sciencedaily.com) Self-driving cars need to implement efficient, effective, and accurate detection systems to provide a safe and reliable experience to its users. To this end, an international research team has now developed an end-to-end neural network that, in conjunction with the Internet-of-Things technology, detects object with high accuracy (> 96%) in both 2D and 3D. The new method outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods and the way to new 2D and 3D detection systems for autonomous vehicles.
Published Computer vision technology effective at determining proper mask wearing in a hospital setting, pilot study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) In a survey and study of hospital employee volunteers, researchers found that a low-cost computer vision system was feasible and well received.
Published Uncovering plant invasions in the tropics
(via sciencedaily.com) An international collaboration of scientists has created the first inventory of flora introduced to the tropics, filling a knowledge gap about invasive plants in the tropics.
Published New study highlights urgent need to safeguard deep reefs -- one of the largest and least protected ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) New study finds very few deep reefs have any form of protection, and face a multitude of threats, set only to escalate in the near future. Deep reefs are found below 30m and have a larger geographic range than shallow reefs. Deep reefs are biological hotspots, essential for climate change resilience, ocean health and food security, and a refuge for ocean life threatened in shallow waters.
Published Microbial miners could help humans colonize the moon and Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) The biochemical process by which cyanobacteria acquire nutrients from rocks in Chile's Atacama Desert has inspired engineers at the University of California, Irvine to think of new ways microbes might help humans build colonies on the moon and Mars.
Published Bat diversity and abundance are highest in old deciduous forest stands on the river banks in Eastern Ukraine
(via sciencedaily.com) European forest-dwelling bats require complex woodland structures at both the micro-habitat and the landscape level for successful breeding in summer. Particularly, the results from Kharkiv region (Eastern Ukraine) demonstrate that large stands of mature forests older than 90 years improved the breeding activity of bats, their abundance and overall species richness. Abundance and species richness increased from upland plots surrounded by agricultural lands to riverine or waterside plots with high forest cover.
Published Warming seas' negative impact on giant kelp starts in early life
(via sciencedaily.com) Kelp forests are one of the most diverse and productive natural ecosystems on the planet, but in the past 50 to 100 years significant swaths have been lost and many of the remaining systems show a declining trajectory.
Published Climate whiplash increased wildfires on California's west coast about 8,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have been studying the effects of the sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred about 8,200 years ago, the so-called 8.2-kiloyear event, with the help of mineral deposits present in White Moon Cave in Northern California. New indications show that oscillations between extreme wetness and aridity in California were closely linked with the occurrence of wildfires. The researchers have concluded that such events are likely to become more common in the face of human-induced climate change.
Published Mekong Delta will continue to be at risk for severe flooding, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Reef corals provide an accurate, high-resolution record of the influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation on rainfall, flooding and droughts in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam.
Published Soft robot detects damage, heals itself
(via sciencedaily.com) Engineers have created a soft robot capable of detecting when and where it was damaged -- and then healing itself on the spot.
Published In the tropics, nitrogen-fixing trees take a hit from herbivores
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The ability of tropical forests to grow and store carbon is limited, in part, by herbivory. Insects and other animals prefer to feed on nitrogen-fixing trees, reducing the success of fixers and the nitrogen they provide. Experts now recommend accounting for herbivory constraints on nitrogen-fixing trees in climate models and projections of the tropical forest carbon sink.