IT IS hard to go an individual day without hearing about both huge crises that humanity is grappling with right now, the covid-19 pandemic and the climate emergency. In both cases, science and technology have already been crucial in identifying the issues and their possible solutions. Those two issues might seem to be like quite…
Category: Tech Review
US Army scientists create a formula for the perfect walking robot
The existing generation of robots with legs are drastically less efficient than they may be, which means the near future for such machines could be bright. Alexander Kott at the united states Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, Maryland, and his colleagues have performed an assessment using the Heglund formula, which describes the energy needed…
Meteorite-hunting drones could help find freshly fallen space rocks
Meteorites are among the most important objects scientists can study to understand the solar system, but finding them is tricky and time-consuming. Now, one team of researchers is wanting to speed up the procedure with drones. Robert Citron at the University of California, Davis, and his colleagues have already been trialling using drones and machine…
The fundamental guide to the algorithms that run your life
IT IS extremely difficult to go a day without interacting with an algorithm. They help direct the whole of our online experience, recommending might know about buy, read, watch and pay attention to. Some 74 per cent of adults in the US use Facebook at least one time a day – and what they see…
Quantum microscope can examine cells in unprecedented detail
Powerful microscopes have made a quantum leap. Using a quantum trick with light has allowed researchers to examine living cells in unprecedented detail without destroying them, a method that could improve medical diagnoses and microbiology research. The microscopes that are generally used to examine living biological systems shine a couple of bright lights on their…
Banning extreme views on YouTube does indeed avoid their spread
Banning people who voice extreme views on social media does actually reduce their audience. The practice of “deplatforming” – denying someone the ability to post on a social network once they violate the conditions of service – has enter into question in recent years, because it was thought that it could just relocate extremist users…
Autonomous walking excavator can build walls and dig trenches
A prototype of an autonomous construction vehicle weighing 12 tonnes has demonstrated that it can operate on very difficult terrain without a human operator. A Swiss-German team is among the most first to successfully convert a type of excavator that can “walk” on extendable struts and handle steep slopes to ensure that it can operate…
Google is using AI to design processors that run AI better
Engineers at Google have tasked an artificial intelligence with designing faster and better processors – and used its chip designs to build up another generation of specialised computers that run the same kind of AI algorithms. Google operates at such a sizable scale that it designs its computer chips rather than buying commercial products. This…
Stealthy marine robot starts studying mysterious deep-water life
A stealthy autonomous underwater robot that may track elusive underwater creatures without disturbing them may help us better understand the most significant daily migration of life on the planet. Mesobot, a 250-kilogram robot that operates either unconnected to a power source or tethered with a lightweight fibre-optic cable, has the ability to move around below…
How Apple’s efforts to bring privacy to the masses changes the web
Apple has announced a swathe of upgrades for its tablet, phone and computer operating systems that could change the way millions of people’s data is transmitted over the internet – a boon for privacy enthusiasts, but a potential problem for advertisers, law enforcement agencies and governments. At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, the company announced…