Friday 31 May 2019

Societal values and perceptions shape energy production and use as much as new technology

Societal values and perceptions have shaped the energy landscape as much as the technologies that drive its production and consumption, a new paper from an Oregon State University researcher suggests.

* This article was originally published here

Amazon digital assistant Alexa gets new skill: amnesia

Amazon on Wednesday added the ability to tell its Alexa digital assistant to forget what it has heard in a move that could assuage concerns about Echo devices remembering conversations.

* This article was originally published here

US holds CBD hearing as fans, sellers await legal clarity

CBD products have surged in popularity despite confusion around their legal status . Now U.S. regulators are exploring ways to officially allow the hemp ingredient in food, drinks and dietary supplements.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers add 'time-travel' feature to drives to fight ransomware attacks

One of the latest cyber threats involves hackers encrypting user files and then charging "ransom" to get them back. In the paper, "Project Almanac: A Time-Traveling Solid State Drive," University of Illinois students Chance Coats and Xiaohao Wang and Assistant Professor Jian Huang from the Coordinated Science Laboratory look at how they can use the commodity storage devices already in a computer, to save the files without having to pay the ransom.

* This article was originally published here

PULP Dronet: A 27-gram nano-UAV inspired by insects

Researchers at ETH Zürich and the University of Bologna have recently created PULP Dronet, a 27-gram nano-size unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a deep learning-based visual navigation engine. Their mini-drone, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, can run aboard an end-to-end, closed-loop visual pipeline for autonomous navigation powered by a state-of-the-art deep learning algorithm.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers try to recreate human-like thinking in machines

Researchers at Oxford University have recently tried to recreate human thinking patterns in machines, using a language guided imagination (LGI) network. Their method, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could inform the development of artificial intelligence that is capable of human-like thinking, which entails a goal-directed flow of mental ideas guided by language.

* This article was originally published here

Exercise, therapy may improve depression, diabetes outcomes

(HealthDay)—Exercise and/or behavioral treatment interventions may provide clinically meaningful improvements in depression outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and major depressive disorder (MDD), according to a study published online May 21 in Diabetes Care.

* This article was originally published here

G20 digital tax takes step closer

Global efforts to impose a unified tax policy on Google, Facebook and other internet giants have cleared a major hurdle ahead of a G20 summit in Japan, officials said Friday.

* This article was originally published here

How much coffee is too much?

(HealthDay)—From cappuccinos to cold brew, coffee is a morning must for many Americans, but is it healthy and how much is too much?

* This article was originally published here

Shared control allows a robot to use two hands working together to complete tasks

A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the Naval Research Laboratory has designed and built a robotic system that allows for bimanual robot manipulation through shared control. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the group explains the ideas behind their work and how well they worked in practice.

* This article was originally published here

Bipedal robot Digit seen as final step in autonomous delivery system

Self-driving cars for delivering packages is already familiar enough as a "vision." As Ford continues sketching out the self-driving car as part of the transportation future, the delivery system that needs to fulfill the customer's one-click shopping wish adds to its interest.

* This article was originally published here

FDA approves first test for Zika in human blood

(HealthDay)—The first test to detect the Zika virus in human blood has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

* This article was originally published here

Violent video games, unlocked guns a dangerous combo for kids

(HealthDay)—Shoot 'em up video games might be making your children far too comfortable with how they approach and handle real-life firearms, a new study argues.

* This article was originally published here

Smoke from Canadian wildfires drifts into 5 US states

Smoke from large wildfires in Canada's Alberta province has drifted into five U.S. states and is causing haze and air quality issues.

* This article was originally published here

Examining perceptions of accessibility symbols

Recent research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Occupational Therapy has assessed individual comprehension and perceptions of nine existing and newly created accessibility pictograph symbols, and it identified one that represented universal access to fitness equipment.

* This article was originally published here

Research deepens understanding of gut bacteria's connections to human health, disease

Researchers at Oregon State University have made an important advance in understanding the roles that gut bacteria play in human health.

* This article was originally published here

Winter could pose solar farm 'ramping' snag for power grid

By adding utility-scale solar farms throughout New York state, summer electricity demand from conventional sources could be reduced by up to 9.6% in some places.

* This article was originally published here

Release of solar panel dataset helps cities make power grids more safe, reliable

Solar power researchers have traditionally only used the power measurements from single residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to estimate the power generated within a city. But one installation isn't a good representation of all the rooftops in the city, where the time of day, panel direction, and shade cast by trees and clouds affect power production.

* This article was originally published here

Understanding why virus can't replicate in human cells could improve vaccines

The identification of a gene that helps to restrict the host range of the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) could lead to the development of new and improved vaccines against diverse infectious agents, according to a study published May 30 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Bernard Moss of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues.

* This article was originally published here

Over half a million corals destroyed by port of Miami dredging, study finds

A team of researchers including scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, published new findings that reveal significant damage to Miami's coral reefs from the 16-month dredging operation at the Port of Miami that began in 2013. The study found that sediment buried between half to 90 percent of nearby reefs, resulting in widespread coral death.

* This article was originally published here

Transgenic fungus rapidly killed malaria mosquitoes in West African study

According to the World Health Organization, malaria affects hundreds of millions of people around the world, killing more than 400,000 annually. Decades of insecticide use has failed to control mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite and has led to insecticide-resistance among many mosquito strains. In response, scientists began genetically modifying mosquitoes and other organisms that can help eradicate mosquitoes. Until now, none of these transgenic approaches made it beyond laboratory testing.

* This article was originally published here