(Source: infinity-imagined)
Ancient ‘Loch Ness Monster’ Suffered Arthritis
A female pliosaur fossil had her massive lower jaw knocked askew as a result of getting old.
Glittery Teal and Raspberry Violet Peacock Ore Pyrite Mineral
A beautiful teal blue and raspberry violet chalcopyrite (peacock ore) from Mexico.
Allowing Errors Makes Chip More Powerful, Efficient
Researchers have unveiled an “inexact” computer chip that challenges the industry’s 50-year pursuit of accuracy. The design improves power and resource efficiency by allowing for occasional errors. Prototypes unveiled this week at the ACM International Conference on Computing Frontiers in Cagliari, Italy, are at least 15 times more efficient than today’s technology.
The research, which earned best-paper honors at the conference, was conducted by experts from Rice Univ., Singapore’s Nanyang Technological Univ. (NTU), Switzerland’s Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) and the Univ. of California, Berkeley.
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Allowing-Errors-Makes-Chip-More-Powerful-Efficient-051712.aspx
Did you know that neurons come in a variety of extraordinary shapes? Imaged above is Ferris Jabr’s drawing, based on reconstructions and drawings by neuroanatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, of different types of neurons: A. Purkinje cell B. Granule cell C. Motor neuron D. Tripolar neuron E. Pyramidal Cell F. Chandelier cell G. Spindle neuron H. Stellate cell. In addition to their varying shapes, they each have different functions.
Some neurons send electrical signals along fibers that stretch several feet; other neurons’ branches extend only a few millimeters away from the cell body. Some neurons possess a fractal beauty similar to that of ferns and corals: Purkinje cells, for example, often sport finely branched nets, like a sea fan. But some of their neighbors look more like tangled tumbleweeds. One neuron might appear more or less round under the microscope—like a firework frozen in climax—whereas another might spider through the brain like a daddy longlegs.
Excitatory neurons mostly stimulate other cells; inhibitory neurons prefer to stifle. Most neurons fire in patterns, but their tempos vary: some keep a steady beat, others remain largely silent except for the occasional burst of activity and still other cells continually fire like a trigger-happy toddler playing laser tag.
This is a part of Ferris Jabr’s Know Your Neurons series where he will be exploring the “cellular diversity of the nervous system.” He goes on to explain the discovery and naming of the neuron.
Artificial Intelligence Could Be on Brink of Passing Turing Test
One hundred years after Alan Turing was born, his eponymous test remains an elusive benchmark for artificial intelligence. Now, for the first time in decades, it’s possible to imagine a machine making the grade.
Turing was one of the 20th century’s great mathematicians, a conceptual architect of modern computing whose codebreaking played a decisive part in World War II. His test, described in a seminal dawn-of-the-computer-age paper, was deceptively simple: If a machine could pass for human in conversation, the machine could be considered intelligent.
Artificial intelligences are now ubiquitous, from GPS navigation systems and Google algorithms to automated customer service and Apple’s Siri, to say nothing of Deep Blue and Watson — but no machine has met Turing’s standard. The quest to do so, however, and the lines of research inspired by the general challenge of modeling human thought, have profoundly influenced both computer and cognitive science.
There is reason to believe that code kernels for the first Turing-intelligent machine have already been written.
“Two revolutionary advances in information technology may bring the Turing test out of retirement,” wrote Robert French, a cognitive scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, in an Apr. 12 Science essay. “The first is the ready availability of vast amounts of raw data — from video feeds to complete sound environments, and from casual conversations to technical documents on every conceivable subject. The second is the advent of sophisticated techniques for collecting, organizing, and processing this rich collection of data.”
New Generation of Robots Poised to Transform Global Agriculture
“We’ve started with a clean sheet of paper”, commented Blackmore. “We’re re-evaluating the whole approach to agriculture. At the moment, crops are drilled in straight rows to suit machines, but what if they were drilled to follow the contours of the land, or to take account of the micro level environmental conditions within a portion of a field? The potential boost to production we could generate if harvests were staggered to suit the crop rather than mechanisation is immense. We’re talking about micro tillage, mechanical weeding and planting using small, smart, autonomous, modular machines.”
The new generation of agricultural robots have notched up some impressive trial results already. Though much smaller than typical farm machinery, they can act co-operatively and carry out tasks such as spraying with a boom. Lasers are used for multiple tasks, from harvesting to weeding. Tractor operations like ploughing, disking and harrowing always create soil compaction and also typically move over 65% of the field area while operating. Yet studies show that 90% of cultivation energy is used to repair damage caused by tractors.
“The obvious conclusion is we must stop running tractors on land wherever possible”, said Blackmore. “The new generation of lightweight robots will move on wide, low pressure tyres and only cultivate the minimum volume of soil to create therequired seed environment. Seeds will be precisely placed, according to soil moisture levels. Their movements will be controlled by SAFAR (Software Architecture for Agricultural Robots) and routes will be planned via Google Earth. These demonstrators have also proved themselves capable of selective harvesting, enabling farmers to grow a higher quality of crop, as those plants that still need time to grow, are left in the field.
“Unlike industries like aerospace, agriculture is a low margin industry, so it is vital that these new robots are both robust and affordable. Realistically, they are bound to be put to work on high value crops to begin with – there have already been trials on sensors designed to artificially “smell” ripeness. Agriculture twenty years from now will be a mix of the traditional and the new, but the new robots will be intelligent enough to work with the natural environment to maintain both economic competitiveness and sustainable, high quality food production.”
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Chinese Restauranteur Boasts 18 Robot Workers
A restaurant in Harbin, China staffs 18 robots; one to welcome customers as they arrive, others to cook the food, and more to deliver plates to tables. The owner says the robots, which cost between 200,000~300,000 yuan ($32,000~$48,000 USD), can display 10 different emotions and speak simple phrases.
The robot stops automatically if a customer gets in its way thanks to ultrasonic range sensors, and will sound an alarm if it needs to be repaired. And it knows to return to its power source when it gets low on juice (its batteries have a life of around 5 hours).
[source]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3g6oldsh91r08k60o1_500.jpg)
Chinese Restauranteur Boasts 18 Robot Workers
A restaurant in Harbin, China staffs 18 robots; one to welcome customers as they arrive, others to cook the food, and more to deliver plates to tables. The owner says the robots, which cost between 200,000~300,000 yuan ($32,000~$48,000 USD), can display 10 different emotions and speak simple phrases.
The robot stops automatically if a customer gets in its way thanks to ultrasonic range sensors, and will sound an alarm if it needs to be repaired. And it knows to return to its power source when it gets low on juice (its batteries have a life of around 5 hours).
[source]
