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Categories: Engineering: Robotics Research, Environmental: Ecosystems
Published How fungus farming ants keep their gardens healthy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 'Weed early and often' is the key to a productive garden. Interestingly, certain species of ants are also avid gardeners, a practice they've refined over 50 million years. They too weed their underground fungus gardens, but how they know what to weed out has been a mystery. Now, a multidisciplinary team of scientists report how ants distinguish the good fungus from the bad.
Published How will a warming world impact the Earth's ability to offset our carbon emissions?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New work deploys a bold new approach for inferring the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration -- which represents one side of the equation balancing carbon dioxide uptake and carbon dioxide output in terrestrial environments. This will improve scientists' models for climate change scenarios.
Published This salty gel could harvest water from desert air
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers synthesized a superabsorbent material that can soak up a record amount of moisture from the air, even in desert-like conditions.
Published 10-year countdown to sea-ice-free Arctic
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research team predicts Arctic without ice by the end of 2030s if current increasing rate of greenhouse gas emission continues.
Published Scientists discover urea in atmosphere revealing profound consequences for climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Areas of the ocean that are rich in marine life are having a bigger impact on our ecosystems and the climate than previously thought, new research suggests.
Published Metamaterials with built-in frustration have mechanical memory
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered how to design materials that necessarily have a point or line where the material doesn't deform under stress, and that even remember how they have been poked or squeezed in the past. These results could be used in robotics and mechanical computers, while similar design principles could be used in quantum computers.
Published The life below our feet: Team discovers microbes thriving in groundwater and producing oxygen in the dark
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A survey of groundwater samples drawn from aquifers beneath more than 80,000 square miles of Canadian prairie reveals ancient groundwaters harbor not only diverse and active microbial communities, but also unexpectedly large numbers of microbial cells. Strikingly, some of these microbes seem to produce 'dark oxygen' (in the absence of sunlight) in such abundance that the oxygen may nourish not only those microbes, but may leak into the environment and support other oxygen-reliant microbes that can't produce it themselves.
Published Hybrid AI-powered computer vision combines physics and big data
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have laid out a new approach to enhance artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technologies by adding physics-based awareness to data-driven techniques. The study offered an overview of a hybrid methodology designed to improve how AI-based machinery sense, interact and respond to its environment in real time -- as in how autonomous vehicles move and maneuver, or how robots use the improved technology to carry out precision actions.
Published Newly planted vegetation accelerates dune erosion during extreme storms, research shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Newly planted vegetation on coastal sand dunes can accelerate erosion from extreme waves.
Published Preserving forests to protect deep soil from warming
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An innovative, decade-long experiment in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains shows carbon stocks buried deep underground are vulnerable to climate change. The findings have implications for mitigating global warming through the natural carbon sinks provided by soil and forests which capture 25% of all carbon emissions.
Published Hotter sand from microplastics could affect sea turtle development
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has found that extreme concentrations of microplastics could increase the temperature of beach sand enough to threaten the development of incubating sea turtles.
Published Plant remediation effects on petroleum contamination
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Initial choices about fertilization and grass seeding could have a long-lasting effect on how plants and their associated microbes break down pollution in petroleum-contaminated soils.
Published Four-legged robot traverses tricky terrains thanks to improved 3D vision
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new model that trains four-legged robots to see more clearly in 3D. The advance enabled a robot to autonomously cross challenging terrain with ease -- including stairs, rocky ground and gap-filled paths -- while clearing obstacles in its way.
Published Mori3: A polygon shape-shifting robot for space travel
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By combining inspiration from the digital world of polygon meshing and the biological world of swarm behavior, the Mori3 robot can morph from 2D triangles into almost any 3D object. The research shows the promise of modular robotics for space travel.
Published Ancient herbivore's diet weakened teeth leading to eventual starvation, study suggests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have shed light on the life of the ancient reptile Rhynchosaur, which walked the earth between 250-225 million years ago, before being replaced by the dinosaurs.
Published Eddies: Circular currents and their influence on the world's hottest ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Water from the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean via the Indonesia Archipelago thanks to a vast network of currents that act as a conveyor belt, transporting warmth and nutrients. Currents can sometimes form circular motions and these are known as eddies. An international group of researchers has modeled the impacts of eddies on the currents that carry water from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
Published MethaneMapper is poised to solve the problem of underreported methane emissions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source MethaneMapper is an artificial intelligence-powered hyperspectral imaging tool that researchers have developed to detect real-time methane emissions and trace them to their sources. The tool works by processing hyperspectral data gathered during overhead, airborne scans of the target area.
Published Lost giants: New study reveals the abundance decline of African megafauna
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A groundbreaking new paper focuses on the size and abundance of living and fossil African large mammals, shedding light on the ecological dynamics behind the decline of these iconic creatures. The findings challenge previous assumptions about the causes of megafaunal extinctions in Africa and provide new insights into the restructuring of ecosystems over millions of years.
Published Chatgpt designs a robot
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Poems, essays and even books -- is there anything the OpenAI platform ChatGPT can't handle? These new AI developments have inspired researchers to dig a little deeper: For instance, can ChatGPT also design a robot? And is this a good thing for the design process, or are there risks?
Published Sponge makes robotic device a soft touch
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists have found.