"Xenobots" - Tiny Pacman-Like Bio Robots Designed by AI are now Able to Replicate Themselves - Science News

Burlington (USA) About two years ago, Scientists from the University of Vermont (UVM) introduced the so-called xenobots. At that time, they still had to be assembled by hand from frog cells according to the blueprints of an AI. The team has now taken a huge step forward by allowing the tiny robots to reproduce themselves, as explained in the research journal PNAS (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112672118). This represents a groundbreaking breakthrough that will allow robots to be used in humans in the future.

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What Lurks in a Drowned Forest in Alabama?

The next miracle drug might be hiding in a primeval undersea forest.

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Researchers develop a paper-thin loudspeaker

MIT researchers created an ultrathin loudspeaker that can turn any rigid surface into a high-quality, active audio source. The fabrication process can enable the thin-film devices to be produced at scale.

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China to build a lunar communications and navigation constellation

China plans to set up a constellation around the moon to provide communication and navigation services for future operations on the lunar surface. China will take the lead in demonstrating a small, lunar relay communication and navigation system, Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), told Chinese media on April 24.

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Rocket Lab catches dummy booster with a helicopter in dramatic new video

The company will try to catch a real rocket for the first time on Thursday (April 28), if the weather cooperates.

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China Will Test Planetary Defense by Crashing a Spacecraft into An Asteroid

China plans to crash a spaceship into an asteroid that is potentially hazardous to Earth to alter its trajectory, a maneuver that caps off a multi-step planetary defense strategy that was outlined by a representative of the nation’s space agency on Sunday, reports SpaceNews.

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There should be more evidence of alien technology than alien biology across the Milky Way

The Drake equation is one of the most famous equations in astronomy. It has been endlessly debated since it was first posited in 1961 by Frank Drake, but so far has served as an effective baseline for discussion about how much life might be spread throughout the galaxy. However, all equations can be improved, and a team of astrobiologists and astronomers think they have found a way to improve this one.

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In a remote Alaskan village, a solar-plus-storage microgrid is replacing diesel

The issue of solar panel reliability has existed since the beginning of the industry, in part because solar panels do not function effectively in cold and snowy conditions. That myth has been debunked time and again as a small but significant solar-plus-storage microgrid project in Alaska is implemented.

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AI study finds that males are represented four times more than females in literature

An artificial intelligence study on female prevalence in literature finds a staggering discrepancy in female representation.

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NASA opens a 50-year-old lunar sample to prepare for the moon landings

NASA scientists just opened a lunar sample that had remained sealed since it was collected on the Moon 50 years ago, a blog post from the space agency reveals. The organization said it was opening the sample, one of the last remaining unopened lunar samples from its Apollo missions, in order to prepare for its upcoming Artemis moon landings.

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A combination of three simple treatments may reduce invasive cancer risk by 61% among adults aged 70+

A new study published in Frontiers in Aging found that a combination of high-dose vitamin D, omega-3s, and a simple home strength exercise program (SHEP) showed a cumulative reduction by 61% in cancer risk in healthy adults aged 70 or older. It is the first study to test the combined benefit of three affordable public health interventions for the prevention of invasive cancers. Following future studies, the results may impact the future of cancer prevention in older adults.

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How a new heat battery can quickly make millions of homes gas-free

The need to take homes off gas has increased ever since the conflict in Ukraine. A heat battery with salt and water as simple components could provide a quick and large-scale solution for over three million households in the Netherlands—twice the target set by the Dutch government.

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People who reject the theory of human evolution tend to have more bigoted attitudes

Individuals who accept human evolution tend to exhibit reduced levels of prejudice compared to those who reject the scientific theory, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

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Game Changer: Supersonic X-59 One Step Closer to First Flight

The X-59 designers have big plans for the airplane. It will be able to fly at an altitude of 55,000 feet at Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour).

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Eating meat may not have been as crucial to human evolution as we thought

The oldest evidence of Homo erectus comes from an arid hillside near the border of Ethiopia and Kenya. Though the 1.9-million-year-old fossil is only a tiny shard, more complete, if more recent individuals show that the species looked recognizably human. The species had long legs and short arms. Its face was flat, without a chimp-like snout. Behind that face was a hefty brain, bigger than that of any of its predecessors.

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From wolf to chihuahua: new research reveals where the dingo sits on the evolutionary timeline of dogs

The first high-quality Australian dingo genome gives a multi-thousand-year-old snapshot into the evolutionary history of dogs.

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These Glasses for the Blind Can Read Documents, Scan Faces

Smart glasses from Envision are built on the enterprise edition of Google Glass.

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YouTuber Trevor Jacob's pilot's license revoked by FAA after filmed plane crash

Trevor Jacob posted a 12-minute video of a crash to his YouTube channel and it has received more than 1.7 million views. The FAA has revoked his pilot's license.

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Overlooked gravitational wave signals point to 'exotic' black hole scenarios

Revisiting their initial data, LIGO-Virgo Collaboration scientists discover 10 new black-hole mergers. In a new analysis of their gravitational wave data, scientists with the international LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (LVC) have discovered 10 new examples of merging binary black holes.

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Elon Musk Says Tesla Robotaxis Are 2 Years Away. When Have We Heard That Before?

The CEO told investors Tesla is aspiring to reach production volume on an autonomous robotaxi by 2024.

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Astronomers discover micronovae, a new kind of stellar explosion

A team of astronomers, with the help of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), have observed a new type of stellar explosion—a micronova. These outbursts happen on the surface of certain stars, and can each burn through around 3.5 billion Great Pyramids of Giza of stellar material in only a few hours.

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Delta confirms it worked with SpaceX to trial Starlink's satellite internet

SpaceX has been working to put Starlink internet on planes for quite some time..

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Study finds raising the minimum wage delays marriages and significantly reduces divorce rates

New research provides evidence that states that raised their minimum wages delayed marriages and reduced divorce rates among low-wage earners. The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, was the first to systematically examine the impact of minimum wages increases on marriage stability in the United States.

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Hydrogen-breathing aliens? New study suggests alien life uses different chemistry to ours

The first time we find evidence of life on a planet orbiting another star (an exoplanet), it is probably going to be by analysing the gases in its atmosphere. With the number of known Earth-like planets growing, we could soon discover gases in an exoplanet’s atmosphere that are associated with life on Earth.

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US military confirms an interstellar meteor collided with Earth

A meteor crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2014, but it wasn't until Harvard scientists researched its velocity and trajectory five years later that they learned it came from outside our solar system.

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Mystery of why humans die around 80 may finally be solved

The mystery of why humans die at around 80, while other mammals live far shorter or longer lives, may finally have been solved by scientists.

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Eyeing green vote, Macron vows to exit oil, coal and gas

President Emmanuel Macron promised on Saturday to make France the "first great nation" to stop using oil, coal and gas as energy sources, in a pitch to young and green voters he fears could abstain in next week's election runoff.

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Virologists Identify More Than 5,000 New Viruses in the Ocean

Virologists have identified 5,504 new virus species floating in ocean water samples. The viruses were found using a machine learning algorithm to study 35,000 water samples from all over the globe, reports Vishwam Sankaran for the Independent.

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The sun has blasted Mercury with a plasma wave

The sun's activity has been increasing far faster than scientists forecasted.

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Vegan diets are healthier and safer for dogs, study suggests

Vegan diets are healthier and safer for dogs than conventional meat-based diets, according to the largest study to date, as long as they are nutritionally complete. The diet and health of more than 2,500 dogs were followed over a year using surveys completed by their owners. These assessed seven general indicators of health, such as multiple visits to the vets, and 22 common illnesses.

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4 billion-year-old comet, largest ever seen, set to pass through our solar system

A huge comet with a solid center more than twice the width of Rhode Island is on an orbital path that will swing it inside our cosmic neighborhood, astronomers say. The icy interloper is traveling 22,000 mph from the edge of the solar system toward the sun. In a study published Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, scientists said the comet is no cause for concern because it will not pass anywhere near Earth.

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The Planet With Three Suns Was Just a Ghost

One of the weirdest planets ever spotted by astronomers now appears to have been a false positive. Perspective is important, even when it comes to astronomy. Just like those cheesy Instagram shots of tourists appearing to hold up famous landmarks by their fingers, sometimes an entire planet can be just an optical illusion.

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Over half of Americans would delete themselves from the internet if they could

More than half of Americans (55%) surveyed in a new study from NordVPN say that they would choose to delete themselves from the internet if they could. To compile its study, the VPN maker commissioned the market research firm Propeller Insights to survey 1,002 US consumers aged 18 and over in December of last year.

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Study finds an unexpected upside to imposter syndrome

Even many successful people harbor what is commonly called impostor syndrome, a sense of being secretly unworthy and not as capable as others think. First posited by pyschologists in 1978, it is often assumed to be a debilitating problem. But research by an MIT scholar suggests this is not universally true. In workplace settings, at least, those harboring impostor-type concerns tend to compensate for their perceived shortcomings by being good team players with strong social skills, and are often recognized as productive workers by their employers.

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Scientists spot elusive mini red giant stars, victims of stellar stealing

A tug-of-war between neighboring stars led to the formation of two strange types of red giant star, as seen in the eyes of a lost telescope. Astronomers reported finding 40 examples of two different varieties of slimmed-down red giant stars. Scientists expected that such objects existed, since red giants are often in binary systems next to the dense core of a dead star, called a white dwarf, that can sometimes be a greedy neighbor. (These mismatched pairs arise because red giants form together; then, late in their lives, each sheds its layers of gas to become a white dwarf.)

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces record-breaking 25th flight

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity just flew farther and faster than it ever has before. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity aced its 25th flight on the Red Planet last Friday (April 8), setting new personal bests for speed and distance. "#MarsHelicopter is breaking records again! Ingenuity completed its 25th and most ambitious flight. It broke its distance and ground speed records, traveling 704 meters [2,310 feet] at 5.5 meters per second while flying for 161.3 seconds," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity's mission, tweeted on Tuesday (April 12).

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New magneto-electric transistor cuts energy use while saving space. Here's why this could be huge

Physicists in the United States have just announced a major breakthrough after they literally put a new spin on one of the greatest inventions in history: the transistor. The scientists made an entirely novel switching device called a magneto-electric transistor that uses 5% less energy than conventional semiconductor transistors, while potentially reducing the number of transistors needed to store data by as much as 75%.

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61st anniversary of human spaceflight marred by Russian invasion of Ukraine

Humanity took a giant leap 61 years ago today (April 12), but marking the milestone is far more complicated than usual this year. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launched to Earth orbit aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, becoming the first person ever to reach space. The landmark moment continued a string of space firsts for the Soviet Union, which kicked off the space age with the launch of the satellite Sputnik 1 in October 1957.

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Major solar breakthrough means energy can be stored for up to 18 years

The future of solar has just got brighter with this ‘ultra-thin’ device for converting stored energy into electricity.

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Bitcoin fans are psychopaths who don’t care about anyone, study shows

A team of experts recently surveyed more than 500 people to uncover the personality traits that are most common among crypto nuts.

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Psilocybin Rewires Brain Connections To Help Alleviate Depression

Psilocybin fosters greater connections between different regions of the brain in depressed people, freeing them up from long-held patterns of rumination and excessive self-focus, according to a new study by scientists at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London.

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Researchers create bacteria that could protect your gut from antibiotics

In 1928, Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming discovered what we know today as penicillin. Fleming’s work and that of his successors would go on to forever change how we treat bacterial infections. And to this day, antibiotics are one of the most powerful tools we have to protect people from a host of harmful bacteria.

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Giant space telescopes could be made out of liquid

The Hubble space telescope has a primary mirror of 2.4 meters. The Nancy Grace Roman telescope also has a mirror measuring 2.4 meters, and the James Webb Space Telescope has a whopping 6.5 meter primary mirror. They get the job done that they were designed to do, but what if… we could have even bigger mirrors?

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Turning back the clock: Human skin cells de-aged by 30 years in trial

While findings are still in the early stages, they could revolutionise regenerative medicine, especially if it can be replicated in other cell types.

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Researchers home in on possible “day zero” for Antikythera mechanism

arXiv preprint suggests December 23, 178 BCE; others think it was summer 204 BCE.

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How often you wash your dog's bowl can affect your health, too, study says

Pet feeding can have negative health consequences if not managed properly. Some dog owners aren't aware of US Food and Drug Administration guidelines for pet feeding, which could help mitigate risk for bacterial contamination, a new study has found.

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Wearing shoes in the house is just plain gross. The verdict from scientists who study indoor contaminants

It is best to leave your filth outside the door.

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Cosmic milestone: NASA confirms 5,000 exoplanets

The count of confirmed exoplanets has just ticked past the 5,000 mark, representing a 30-year journey of discovery led by NASA space telescopes.

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Nissan, NASA aim to ditch rare, pricey metals in solid-state batteries

Nissan is partnering with NASA on a computational approach to developing all-solid-state batteries that don’t rely on rare or expensive metals, the AP has reported. The automaker, which was the first to market with an affordable, mass-produced electric vehicle in the Leaf, is clearly hoping to make up for lost time. Nissan has floundered of late with its electrification strategy. Its second EV, the Ariya, is scheduled to arrive this fall, some 12 years after the first Leaf was sold. The company hopes that its in-house solid-state batteries will debut in passenger vehicles by 2028.

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US trees may provide over $100 billion dollars in savings via environmental benefits—but face growing threats

The concept of ecosystem services allows researchers to quantify the benefits that nature contributes to people into monetary units. A study publishing April 5th in the open-access journal PLOS Sustainability and Transformation by Jeannine Cavender-Bares and Stephen Polasky at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, United States, and colleagues suggests that trees provide greater economic value when used to regulate climate and air quality than the value they produce as wood products, food crops, and Christmas trees.

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