Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Climate change shown to cause methane to be released from the deep ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has shown that fire-ice -- frozen methane which is trapped as a solid under our oceans -- is vulnerable to melting due to climate change and could be released into the sea.

Paleontology: Climate Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Limitations of asteroid crater lakes as climate archives      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In southern Germany just north of the Danube, there lies a large circular depression between the hilly surroundings: the Nördlinger Ries. Almost 15 million years ago, an asteroid struck this spot. Today, the impact crater is one of the most useful analogues for asteroid craters on early Mars. Studying the deposits of the former lake that formed in the crater is particularly informative. These deposits have been of great interest ever since NASA began exploring Martian craters for signs of water and life on Mars.

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

Exposure to soft robots decreases human fears about working with them      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Seeing robots made with soft, flexible parts in action appears to lower people's anxiety about working with them or even being replaced by them. A study found that watching videos of a soft robot working with a person at picking and placing tasks lowered the viewers' safety concerns and feelings of job insecurity. This was true even when the soft robot was shown working in close proximity to the person. This finding shows soft robots hold a potential psychological advantage over rigid robots made of metal or other hard materials.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

AI networks are more vulnerable to malicious attacks than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Artificial intelligence tools hold promise for applications ranging from autonomous vehicles to the interpretation of medical images. However, a new study finds these AI tools are more vulnerable than previously thought to targeted attacks that effectively force AI systems to make bad decisions.

Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

More than a meteorite: New clues about the demise of dinosaurs      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Ecology: Trees Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Crocodile family tree mapped: New light shed on croc evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Around 250 million years ago, 700 species of reptiles closely related to the modern-day crocodile roamed the earth, now new research reveals how a complex interplay between climate change, species competition and habitat can help explain why just 23 species of crocodile survive today.     

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

A color-based sensor to emulate skin's sensitivity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a step toward more autonomous soft robots and wearable technologies, researchers have created a device that uses color to simultaneously sense multiple mechanical and temperature stimuli.

Anthropology: General Paleontology: Climate
Published

Aging societies more vulnerable to collapse      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Societies and political structures, like the humans they serve, appear to become more fragile as they age, according to an analysis of hundreds of pre-modern societies. A new study, which holds implications for the modern world, provides the first quantitative support for the theory that the resilience of political states decreases over time. 

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

Brainstorming with a bot      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Electronic nanomaterials experts have imagined how recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) could aid scientific brainstorming and ideation. To accomplish this, they have developed a chatbot with knowledge in the kinds of science he's been engaged in.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Energy: Technology Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Scientists use A.I.-generated images to map visual functions in the brain      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated the use of AI-selected natural images and AI-generated synthetic images as neuroscientific tools for probing the visual processing areas of the brain. The goal is to apply a data-driven approach to understand how vision is organized while potentially removing biases that may arise when looking at responses to a more limited set of researcher-selected images.

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

2D material reshapes 3D electronics for AI hardware      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers demonstrated monolithic 3D integration of layered 2D material into novel processing hardware for artificial intelligence computing. The new approach provides a material-level solution for fully integrating many functions into a single, small electronic chip -- and paves the way for advanced AI computing. 

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

Antarctica's ancient ice sheets foreshadow dynamic changes in Earth's future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Identifying how and why Antarctica's major ice sheets behaved the way they did in the early Miocene could help inform understanding of the sheets' behavior under a warming climate. Together, the ice sheets lock a volume of water equivalent to more than 50 meters of sea level rise and influence ocean currents that affect marine food webs and regional climates. Their fate has profound consequences for life nearly everywhere on Earth.  

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Decoding past climates through dripstones      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent study demonstrates how dripstones can be crucial for reconstructing past climates. The new approach can provide a detailed picture of the climate around early human occupations in South Africa.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Trees Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Climate
Published

600 years of tree rings reveal climate risks in California      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The San Joaquin Valley in California has experienced vast variability in climate extremes, with droughts and floods that were more severe and lasted longer than what has been seen in the modern record, according to a new study of 600 years of tree rings from the valley.

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

How do you make a robot smarter? Program it to know what it doesn't know      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have come up with a new way to teach robots to know when they don't know. The technique involves quantifying the fuzziness of human language and using that measurement to tell robots when to ask for further directions. Telling a robot to pick up a bowl from a table with only one bowl is fairly clear. But telling a robot to pick up a bowl when there are five bowls on the table generates a much higher degree of uncertainty -- and triggers the robot to ask for clarification.

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

Researchers engineer a material that can perform different tasks depending on temperature      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report that they have developed a new composite material designed to change behaviors depending on temperature in order to perform specific tasks. These materials are poised to be part of the next generation of autonomous robotics that will interact with the environment.

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

Defending your voice against deepfakes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Computer scientists have developed AntiFake, a tool to protect voice recordings from unauthorized speech synthesis.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Deoxygenation levels similar to today's played a major role in marine extinctions during major past climate change event      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have made a surprising discovery that sheds new light on the role that oceanic deoxygenation (anoxia) played in one of the most devastating extinction events in Earth's history. Their finding has implications for current day ecosystems -- and serves as a warning that marine environments are likely more fragile than apparent. New research, published today in leading international journal Nature Geosciences, suggests that oceanic anoxia played an important role in ecosystem disruption and extinctions in marine environments during the Triassic--Jurassic mass extinction, a major extinction event that occurred around 200 million years ago.  Surprisingly however, the study shows that the global extent of euxinia (an extreme form of de-oxygenated conditions) was similar to the present day.

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

New method uses crowdsourced feedback to help train robots      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new technique enables an AI agent to be guided by data crowdsourced asynchronously from nonexpert human users as it learns to complete a task through reinforcement learning. The method trains the robot faster and better than other approaches.