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Categories: Biology: Marine, Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Published Giants of the Jurassic seas were twice the size of a killer whale



There have been heated debates over the size of Jurassic animals. The speculation was set to continue, but now a chance discovery in an Oxfordshire museum has led to palaeontologists publishing a paper on a Jurassic species potentially reaching a whopping 14.4 meters -- twice the size of a killer whale.
Published Nature favors creatures in largest and smallest sizes



Surveying the body sizes of Earth's living organisms, researchers found that the planet's biomass -- the material that makes up all living organisms -- is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.
Published How life and geology worked together to forge Earth's nutrient rich crust



Around 500 million years ago life in the oceans rapidly diversified. In the blink of an eye -- at least in geological terms -- life transformed from simple, soft-bodied creatures to complex multicellular organisms with shells and skeletons. Now, research has shown that the diversification of life at this time also led to a drastic change in the chemistry of Earth's crust -- the uppermost layer we walk on and, crucially, the layer which provides many of the nutrients essential to life.
Published Basic 'toolkit' for organ development is illuminated by sea star



One of the basic and crucial embryonic processes to unfold in virtually every living organism is the formation of hollow, tubular structures that go on to form blood vessels or a digestive tract, and through branching and differentiation, complex organs including the heart and kidneys. This study illuminates fundamental design principles of tubulogenesis for all chordates, including mammals.
Published Earth's first animals had particular taste in real estate



Even without body parts that allowed for movement, new research shows -- for the first time -- that some of Earth's earliest animals managed to be picky about where they lived.
Published The influence of AI on trust in human interaction



As AI becomes increasingly realistic, our trust in those with whom we communicate may be compromised. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have examined how advanced AI systems impact our trust in the individuals we interact with.
Published Scurrying centipedes inspire many-legged robots that can traverse difficult landscapes



Intrigued to see if the many limbs could be helpful for locomotion in this world, a team of physicists, engineers, and mathematicians are using this style of movement to their advantage. They developed a new theory of multilegged locomotion and created many-legged robotic models, discovering the robot with redundant legs could move across uneven surfaces without any additional sensing or control technology as the theory predicted.
Published AI could run a million microbial experiments per year



Automation uncovers combinations of amino acids that feed two bacterial species and could tell us much more about the 90% of bacteria that humans have hardly studied. An artificial intelligence system enables robots to conduct autonomous scientific experiments -- as many as 10,000 per day -- potentially driving a drastic leap forward in the pace of discovery in areas from medicine to agriculture to environmental science.
Published Gutless marine worms on a Mediterranean diet: Animals can synthesize phytosterols



Phytosterols are good for your health, but humans and other animals are not able to make them themselves, only plants can. To acquire phytosterols, humans are increasingly turning to supplements, green smoothies, or a Mediterranean diet with plenty of plant-based foods. Researchers have now discovered that tiny gutless worms from the Mediterranean can synthesize phytosterols on their own. Their study provides evidence that many other animals also have the genes needed to make their own phytosterols.
Published How seaweed has been misleading scientists about reef health



For decades, scientists have used the amount of seaweed at the ocean's surface as a proxy for the health of coral reefs below. However, a new global study of more than 1,200 marine locations over a 16-year period reveals that this approach has been misleading -- and may even have hidden signs of reef stress.
Published Indo-Pacific corals more resilient to climate change than Atlantic corals



In the face of global warming and other environmental changes, corals in the Atlantic Ocean have declined precipitously in recent years, while corals in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are faring better. By describing several species of symbiotic algae that these corals need to grow, an international team has found that these mutualistic relationships from the Indo-Pacific may be more flexible and ultimately resilient to higher ocean temperatures than those in the Atlantic.
Published Deep neural network provides robust detection of disease biomarkers in real time



A lab has developed a deep neural network that improves the accuracy of their unique devices for detecting pathogen biomarkers.
Published A touch-responsive fabric armband -- for flexible keyboards, wearable sketchpads



It's time to roll up your sleeves for the next advance in wearable technology -- a fabric armband that's actually a touch pad. Researchers say they have devised a way to make playing video games, sketching cartoons and signing documents easier. Their proof-of-concept silk armband turns a person's forearm into a keyboard or sketchpad. The three-layer, touch-responsive material interprets what a user draws or types and converts it into images on a computer.
Published Highly dexterous robot hand can operate in the dark -- just like us



Researchers demonstrated a highly dexterous robot hand, one that combines an advanced sense of touch with motor learning algorithms in order to achieve a high level of dexterity. In addition, the hand worked without any external cameras -- it's immune to lighting, occlusion, or similar issues. Because the hand doesn't rely on vision to manipulate objects, it can do so in difficult lighting conditions that would confuse vision-based algorithms -- it even operates in the dark.
Published Male California sea lions are becoming bigger and better fighters as their population rebounds



California sea lions have managed to maintain -- and, in the case of males, increase -- their average body size as their population grows and competition for food becomes fiercer. This is in contrast to other marine mammals, whose average body size tends to decrease as their numbers increase. Researchers report that sexual selection was a strong driving force for males to grow bigger and to strengthen muscles in their neck and jaw that help them fight for mates. Both male and female sea lions evaded food shortages by diversifying their diets and, in some cases, foraging further from the shore.
Published Speedy robo-gripper reflexively organizes cluttered spaces



A new gripper robot grasps by reflex. Rather than start from scratch after a failed attempt, the bot adapts in the moment to reflexively roll, palm, or pinch an object to get a better hold.
Published Twilight zone at risk from climate change



Life in the ocean's 'twilight zone' could decline dramatically due to climate change, new research suggests.
Published Brain circuits for locomotion evolved long before appendages and skeletons



Scientists found parallels between the neural circuitry that guides locomotion in sea slugs and in more complex animals like mammals.
Published How a horse whisperer can help engineers build better robots



New research shows us that age-old interactions between people and their horses can teach us something about building robots designed to improve our lives.
Published Ocean ecosystem: Mixotrophic microorganisms play key role



Researchers have identified a previously unknown group of bacteria, called UBA868, as key players in the energy cycle of the deep ocean. They are significantly involved in the biogeochemical cycle in the marine layer between 200 and 1000 meters.