A.I./Robotics

A soft robot, attached to a balloon and submerged in a transparent column of water, dives and surfaces, then dives and surfaces again, like a fish chasing flies. Soft robots have performed this kind of trick before. But unlike most soft robots, this one is made and operated with no hard or electronic parts. Inside,…

Taking a cue from biological cells, researchers from MIT, Columbia University, and elsewhere have developed computationally simple robots that connect in large groups to move around, transport objects, and complete other tasks. This so-called “particle robotics” system — based on a project by MIT, Columbia Engineering, Cornell University, and Harvard University researchers — comprises many…

Can artificial intelligence (AI) help us understand how the brain understands language? Can neuroscience help us understand why AI and neural networks are effective at predicting human perception? Research from Alexander Huth and Shailee Jain from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) suggests both are possible. In a paper presented at the 2018…

Both developing babies and elderly adults share a common characteristic: the many cells making up their bodies are always on the move. As we humans commute to work, cells migrate through the body to get their jobs done. Biologists have long struggled to quantify the movement and changing morphology of cells through time, but now,…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms such as Deep Learning have become integral parts of our daily lives: they enable digital speech assistants or translation services, improve medical diagnostics and are an indispensable part of future technologies such as autonomous driving. Based on an ever increasing amount of data and powerful novel computer architectures,…

The black box fallacy Progress from a field defined largely by academic work into real commercial applications had happened very rapidly. Many points along the diagnostic chain are poised for rapid transformation. But it’s still early days, and nothing happens overnight in healthcare. Patient data is sensitive, and human lives hang in the balance, two…

A study by German scientists from Jena and Hamburg, published today in the journal Nature, shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can substantially improve our understanding of the climate and the Earth system. Especially the potential of deep learning has only partially been exhausted so far. In particular, complex dynamic processes such as hurricanes, fire propagation,…

Before the age of GPS, humans had to orient themselves without on-screen arrows pointing down an exact street, but rather, by memorizing landmarks and using learned relationships among time, speed and distance. They had to know, for instance, that 10 minutes of brisk walking might equate to half a mile traveled. A new Johns Hopkins…

Human tissues experience a variety of mechanical stimuli that can affect their ability to carry out their physiological functions, such as protecting organs from injury. The controlled application of such stimuli to living tissues in vivo and in vitro has now proven instrumental to studying the conditions that lead to disease. At EPFL, Selman Sakar’s…

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) program that can automatically provide species-level identification of microscopic marine organisms. The next step is to incorporate the AI into a robotic system that will help advance our understanding of the world’s oceans, both now and in our prehistoric past. Specifically, the AI program has proven capable of…

A research team from Aalto University and the Technical University of Denmark has created an artificial intelligence (AI) technique that they hope will accelerate the development of new technologies like wearable electronics and flexible solar panels. The technology, dubbed ARTIST (Artificial Intelligence for Spectroscopy), can determine instantaneously how a specific molecule will react to light—essential…

Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia obtained the first soft robot mimicking plant tendrils: it is able to curl and climb, using the same physical principles determining water transport in plants. The research team is led by Barbara Mazzolai and results have been published in Nature Communications. In the future this tendril-like soft robot could…

A new technique could reduce the time and discomfort of adjusting to a new prosthetic knee. A collaboration between researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina and Arizona State University has resulted in a new technique that enables more rapid “tuning” of powered prosthetic knees, allowing patients to comfortably walk with…

Researchers from UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and Stanford have demonstrated a computer system that can discover and identify the real-world objects it “sees” based on the same method of visual learning that humans use. The system is an advance in a type of technology called “computer vision,” which enables computers to read and identify…

Single lens eyes, like those in humans and many other animals, can create sharp images, but the compound eyes of insects and crustaceans have an edge when it comes to peripheral vision, light sensitivity and motion detection. That’s why scientists are developing artificial compound eyes to give sight to autonomous vehicles and robots, among other…