Showing 20 articles starting at article 621

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Nature, Engineering: Robotics Research

Return to the site home page

Engineering: Robotics Research Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Network of robots can successfully monitor pipes using acoustic wave sensors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An inspection design method and procedure by which mobile robots can inspect large pipe structures has been demonstrated with the successful inspection of multiple defects on a three-meter long steel pipe using guided acoustic wave sensors.

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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

Slash-and-burn agriculture can increase forest biodiversity, researchers find      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The slash-and-burn agriculture practiced by many Indigenous societies across the world can actually have a positive impact on forests, according to a new study done in Belize. Researchers found that in areas of the rainforest in which Indigenous farmers using slash-and-burn techniques created intermediate-sized farm patches -- neither too small nor too large -- there were increases in forest plant diversity.

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.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life
Published

Fish ecologist's research indicates need to conserve iconic migratory snook in Mexico      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biologists investigated the snook’s almost 400-mile migration up into the rainforest habitat of the Usumacinta River. They have found that the snook, which connect aquatic food webs and support fisheries, spawn and start their lives in coastal nursery habitats before moving into river habitats that offer an array of food resources.

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.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Pioneering research method reveals bluefin tuna's fate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Mediterranean spawning grounds of Bluefin tuna -- the largest tuna and one of the most powerful fish in the sea -- are under threat, due to rising sea temperatures. A pioneering research method to decode bluefin 'otoliths' (a stony tissue found in their ear) has determined the threshold sea temperature at which bluefin thrive to be 28 degrees Celsius.

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.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Predicting the fate of shallow coastal ecosystems for the year 2100      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study of shallow-water ecosystems estimates that, by 2100, climate change and coastal land usage could result in significant shrinkage of coral habitats, tidal marshes, and mangroves, while macroalgal beds remain stable and seagrass meadows potentially expand.

Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Autonomous excavator constructs a 6-meter-high dry-stone wall      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers taught an autonomous excavator to construct dry stone walls itself using boulders weighing several tons and demolition debris.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

How do temperature extremes influence the distribution of species?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As the planet gets hotter, animal and plant species around the world will be faced with new, potentially unpredictable living conditions, which could alter ecosystems in unprecedented ways. A new study investigates the importance of temperature in determining where animal species are currently found to better understand how a warming climate might impact where they might live in the future.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Robotics Research Environmental: General Physics: Optics
Published

AI for perovskite solar cells: Key to better manufacturing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tandem solar cells based on perovskite semiconductors convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells. In order to make this technology ready for the market, further improvements with regard to stability and manufacturing processes are required. Researchers have succeeded in finding a way to predict the quality of the perovskite layers and consequently that of the resulting solar cells: Assisted by Machine Learning and new methods in Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is possible assess their quality from variations in light emission already in the manufacturing process.

Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

First comprehensive look at effects of 2020-2021 California megafires on terrestrial wildlife habitat      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In 2020 and 2021, California experienced fire activity unlike anything recorded in the modern record. When the smoke cleared, the amount of burned forest totaled ten times more than the annual average going back to the late 1800s. We know that wildlife in western forests evolved with changing habitat and disturbances like wildfire. Each species responds differently, some benefiting from openings, others losing critical habitat. What we don't know is how increasing fire severity at large scales is impacting their habitat and survival, because many species are not adapted to these types of 'megafires.'

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature
Published

A stronger core for better plant breeding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new software tool with enhanced genome-sequencing powers has been developed, increasing the speed and accuracy at which researchers can improve plants through breeding.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Looking for 'LUCA' and the timing of cellular evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

LUCA, the 'last universal common ancestor' of all living organisms, lived 4.32 to at most 4.52 billion years ago. What LUCA looked like is unknown, but it must have been a cell with among others ribosomal proteins and an ATP synthase.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Deep-sea mining and warming trigger stress in a midwater jellies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The deep sea is home to one of the largest animal communities on earth which is increasingly exposed to environmental pressures. However, our knowledge of its inhabitants and their response to human-induced stressors is still limited. A new study now provides first insights into the stress response of a pelagic deep-sea jellyfish to ocean warming and sediment plumes caused by deep-sea mining.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Forest modeling shows which harvest rotations lead to maximum carbon sequestration      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Forest modeling shows that a site's productivity -- an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate -- is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration.

Engineering: Robotics Research Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

AI finds formula on how to predict monster waves      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using 700 years' worth of wave data from more than a billion waves, scientists have used artificial intelligence to find a formula for how to predict the occurrence of these maritime monsters. Long considered myth, freakishly large rogue waves are very real and can split apart ships and even damage oil rigs.