The Grim Reefer shares a report from Live Science: Once a mighty kauri tree — a species of conifer that can grow up to 165 feet (50 meters) tall — the low, leafless stump looks like it should be long dead. But, as a new study published today in the journal iScience reminds us, looks are only surface-deep. Below the soil,…
Tag: Sensors
Waymo and DeepMind Mimic Evolution To Develop New, Better Way To Train Self-Driving AI
Alphabet’s autonomous driving and robotaxi company Waymo teamed up with fellow Alphabet company and AI specialist DeepMind to develop new training methods that would help makes its training better and more efficient. TechCrunch reports: The two worked together to bring a training method called Population Based Training (PBT for short) to bear on Waymo’s challenge of building better virtual drivers, and…
Meet a family of NASA space robots
NASA engineers are working on a new family of space robots that can roll, climb, and use artificial intelligence to navigate around obstacles in rough terrains on other worlds. Meet the family, here. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-space-robots-lemur-ice-worm-robosimian…
A Cell Tower In the Swiss Alps Is Struck By Lightning More Than 100 Times a Year
Wave723 quotes IEEE Spectrum: Atop a rocky peak in the Swiss Alps sits a telecommunications tower that gets struck by lightning more than 100 times a year, making it perhaps the world’s most frequently struck object. Taking note of the remarkable consistency with which lightning hits this 124-meter structure, researchers have adorned it with instruments for a front-row view of these…
Inside ‘Starshot’, the Audacious Plan To Shoot Tiny Ships To Alpha Centauri
“Starshot wants to build the world’s most powerful laser and aim it at the closest star. What could go wrong?” An anonymous reader quotes MIT’s Technology Review: In 2015, Philip Lubin, a cosmologist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, took the stage at the 100-Year Starship Symposium in Santa Clara. He outlined his plan to build a laser so powerful…
Electronics projects for beginners: Sensors for talking to plants
Ever wanted to know if your plant is happy or sad? A BBC micro:bit and a moisture sensor will get you and your garden plants communicating Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332380-900-electronics-projects-for-beginners-sensors-for-talking-to-plants/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Quantum sensor breakthrough using naturally occurring vibrations in artificial atoms
A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have discovered a new method that could be used to build quantum sensors with ultra-high precision. …
Tesco, One of the World’s Largest Supermarket Operators, Is Testing Cashierless Stores Solely Dependent On Cameras
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Tesco, one of the world’s largest supermarket operators, is one of several grocers testing cashierless stores with cameras that track what shoppers pick (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source), so they pay by simply walking out the door. The retailers hope the technology — similar to that pioneered by Amazon.com Inc….
Electronics projects for beginners: Make a robot biscuit butler
Take a BBC micro:bit, add a motor, a chassis and some infrared sensors and then put your feet up with a nice cup of tea: your biscuits will be on their way shortly Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332370-800-electronics-projects-for-beginners-make-a-robot-biscuit-butler/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Redefining the limits of measurement accuracy
For centuries, humans have been expanding their understanding of the world through more and more precise measurement of light and matter. Today, quantum sensors achieve extremely accurate results. An example of this is the development of atomic clocks, which are expected to neither gain nor lose more than a second in thirty billion years. Gravitational waves were detected via quantum sensors…