Environmental: General Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Tree rings reveal a new kind of earthquake threat to the Pacific Northwest, US      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tree rings reveal a new kind of earthquake threat to the Pacific Northwest. These findings could have implications for seismic preparedness measures in the region.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology
Published

Exploring the effect of water on seismic wave attenuation in the upper mantle      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The mechanism facilitating the smooth movement of the oceanic lithosphere over the underlying asthenosphere (upper mantle) remains poorly understood. Recently, researchers from Japan investigated the effect of water on the seismic properties of olivine rocks, finding that water retention in the asthenosphere can induce sharp drops in shear wave velocity. This also explained other seismic changes observed at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. These findings provide invaluable insights into the diverse seismic activities on Earth.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

One-hour training is all you need to control a third robotic arm, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study has found that people can learn to use supernumerary robotic arms as effectively as working with a partner in just one hour of training.

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

Scientists successfully maneuver robot through living lung tissue      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have shown that their steerable lung robot can autonomously maneuver the intricacies of the lung, while avoiding important lung structures.

Chemistry: General Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Energy: Technology Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Combustion powers bug-sized robots to leap, lift and race      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex and outleap its electric-driven competitors.

Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Making AI smarter with an artificial, multisensory integrated neuron      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The feel of a cat's fur can reveal some information, but seeing the feline provides critical details: is it a housecat or a lion? While the sound of fire crackling may be ambiguous, its scent confirms the burning wood. Our senses synergize to give a comprehensive understanding, particularly when individual signals are subtle. The collective sum of biological inputs can be greater than their individual contributions. Robots tend to follow more straightforward addition, but researchers have now harnessed the biological concept for application in artificial intelligence (AI) to develop the first artificial, multisensory integrated neuron.

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

Evolution wired human brains to act like supercomputers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have confirmed that human brains are naturally wired to perform advanced calculations, much like a high-powered computer, to make sense of the world through a process known as Bayesian inference.

Computer Science: General Energy: Technology Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Battery-free robots use origami to change shape in mid-air      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed small robotic devices that can change how they move through the air by 'snapping' into a folded position during their descent. Each device has an onboard battery-free actuator, a solar power-harvesting circuit and controller to trigger these shape changes in mid-air.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Largest historic fire death toll belongs to aftermath of 1923 Japan Earthquake      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fires that raged in the days following the 1 September 1923 magnitude 7.9 Kant earthquake killed roughly 90% of the 105,000 people who perished in and around Tokyo, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history -- comparable to the number of people killed in the World War II atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The story of the conflagration, not well-known outside of Japan, holds important lessons for earthquake scientists, emergency response teams and city planners, according to a new article.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Scientific ocean drilling discovers dynamic carbon cycling in the ultra-deep-water Japan Trench      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hadal trenches, with their deepest locations situated in the so-called hadal zone, the deepest parts of the ocean in water depth >6km, are the least-explored environment on Earth, linking the Earth's surface and its deeper interior. An international team conducting deep-subsurface sampling in a hadal trench at high spatial resolution has revealed exciting insights on the carbon cycling in the trench sediment.

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

'Brainless' robot can navigate complex obstacles      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers who created a soft robot that could navigate simple mazes without human or computer direction have now built on that work, creating a 'brainless' soft robot that can navigate more complex and dynamic environments.

Computer Science: General Mathematics: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

What do neurons, fireflies and dancing the Nutbush have in common?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Synchronicity is all around us, but it is poorly understood. Computer scientists have now developed new tools to understand how human and natural networks fall in and out of sync.

Computer Science: General Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Breathe! The shape-shifting ball that supports mental health      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A soft ball designed to support mental health by 'personifying' breath has been invented by a computer science student.

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

Tiny, shape-shifting robot can squish itself into tight spaces      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Imagine a robot that can wedge itself through the cracks in rubble to search for survivors trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed building. Engineers are working toward to that goal with CLARI, short for Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Paving the way for advanced quantum sensors      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Quantum physics has allowed for the creation of sensors far surpassing the precision of classical devices. Now, several new studies show that the precision of these quantum sensors can be significantly improved using entanglement produced by finite-range interactions. Researchers were able to demonstrate this enhancement using entangled ion-chains with up to 51 particles.

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

AI helps robots manipulate objects with their whole bodies      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new AI technique enables a robot to develop complex plans for manipulating an object using its entire hand, not just fingertips. This model can generate effective plans in about a minute using a standard laptop.

Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

Scientists invent micrometers-thin battery charged by saline solution that could power smart contact lenses      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have developed a flexible battery as thin as a human cornea, which stores electricity when it is immersed in saline solution, and which could one day power smart contact lenses.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Do measurements produce the reality they show us?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The measurement values determined in sufficiently precise measurements of physical systems will vary based on the relation between the past and the future of a system determined by its interactions with the meter. This finding may explain why quantum experiments often produce paradoxical results that can contradict our common-sense idea of physical reality.

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

How artificial intelligence gave a paralyzed woman her voice back      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) that has enabled a woman with severe paralysis from a brainstem stroke to speak through a digital avatar.