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

A roadmap to help AI technologies speak African languages      (via sciencedaily.com) 

From text-generating ChatGPT to voice-activated Siri, artificial intelligence-powered tools are designed to aid our everyday life -- as long as you speak a language they support. These technologies are out of reach for billions of people who don't use English, French, Spanish or other mainstream languages, but researchers in Africa are looking to change that. Scientists now draw a roadmap to develop better AI-driven tools for African languages.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

The positional transmitter of statoliths unveiled: It keeps plants from getting lazy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants orient their organs in response to the gravity vector, with roots growing towards gravity and shoots growing in the opposite direction. The movement of statoliths responding to the inclination relative to the gravity vector is employed for gravity sensing in both plants and animals. However, in plants, the statolith takes the form of a high-density organelle, known as an amyloplast, which settles toward gravity within the gravity sensing cell. Despite the significance of this gravity sensing mechanism, the exact process behind it has eluded scientists for over a century.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

Researchers identify peptides for pollen tube growth in rice      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rapid alkalinization factors (RALFs) are required for pollen tube germination and elongation, an essential process in plant fertilization. But their role in monocot plants remains unexplored. Scientists have now identified OsRALF17 and OsRALF19 in rice and determined their functions in pollen tube germination and growth. This study provides novel insights into the role of RALFs in rice fertilization, paving the way for enhanced grain yield.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mathematics: Modeling
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Turning ChatGPT into a 'chemistry assistant'      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Developing new materials requires significant time and labor, but some chemists are now hopeful that artificial intelligence (AI) could one day shoulder much of this burden. In a new study, a team prompted a popular AI model, ChatGPT, to perform one particularly time-consuming task: searching scientific literature. With that data, they built a second tool, a model to predict experimental results.

Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: General
Published

The oldest and fastest evolving moss in the world might not survive climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A 390-million-year-old moss called Takakia lives in some of Earth's most remote places, including the icy cliffs of the Tibetan Plateau. In a decade-long project, a team of scientists climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world to find Takakia, sequence its DNA for the first time, and study how climate change is impacting the moss. Their results show that Takakia is one of the fastest evolving species ever studied -- but it likely isn't evolving fast enough to survive climate change.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Quantum material exhibits 'non-local' behavior that mimics brain function      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research shows that electrical stimuli passed between neighboring electrodes can also affect non-neighboring electrodes. Known as non-locality, this discovery is a crucial milestone toward creating brain-like computers with minimal energy requirements.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mathematics: Modeling
Published

New model reduces bias and enhances trust in AI decision-making and knowledge organization      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new explainable artificial intelligence (AI) model to reduce bias and enhance trust and accuracy in machine learning-generated decision-making and knowledge organization.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research Mathematics: Modeling Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Self-supervised AI learns physics to reconstruct microscopic images from holograms      (via sciencedaily.com) 

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.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published

Out with the life coach, in with the chatbot      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As we start to edge out of winter, improving our diet and boosting our exercise start to appear on our agenda. But, when it comes to encouraging a healthier lifestyle, it may surprise you that artificial intelligence could be your best friend.

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

Modified virtual reality tech can measure brain activity      (via sciencedaily.com) 

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.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Environmental: Biodiversity
Published

Kordofan giraffes face local extinction if poaching continues      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon's Bénoué National Park without intervention.

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

Robots cause company profits to fall -- at least at first      (via sciencedaily.com) 

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.

Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Research
Published

Researchers are using monkey poop to learn how an endangered species chooses its mates      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers turned to the monkeys' poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Sea level rise shifts habitat for endangered Florida Keys species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly published study describes the response to sea level rise by the silver rice rat, an endangered species only found in the Florida Keys.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction
Published

Why you shouldn't declaw tigers or other big cats      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers looked at the effects of declawing on larger cat species and found that declawing disproportionately impacts their muscular capabilities as compared to their smaller brethren.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

GPT-3 can reason about as well as a college student, psychologists report      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The artificial intelligence language model GPT-3 performed as well as college students in solving certain logic problems like those that appear on standardized tests. The researchers who conducted the experiment write that the results prompt the question of whether the technology is mimicking human reasoning or using a new type of cognitive process. Solving that question would require access to the software that underpins GPT-3 and other AI software.

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

Reinforcement learning allows underwater robots to locate and track objects underwater      (via sciencedaily.com) 

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.

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

This 3D printed gripper doesn't need electronics to function      (via sciencedaily.com) 

This soft robotic gripper is not only 3D printed in one print, it also doesn't need any electronics to work.