81 articles from FRIDAY 27.1.2023
Development of machine vision system capable of locating king flowers on apple trees
A machine vision system capable of locating and identifying apple king flowers within clusters of blossoms on trees in orchards was devised by Penn State researchers—a critical early step in the development of a robotic pollination system—in a first-of-its-kind study.
Disabled people were Holocaust victims, excluded from German society and murdered by Nazi programs
When Dominic Perrottet admitted to wearing a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party, he apologized to Jews and veterans—but not to the other groups who were persecuted by the Nazis, including disabled people.
Video: The Sample Transfer Arm: A helping hand for Mars
The mission to return Martian samples back to Earth will use a European 2.5 meter-long robotic arm to pick up tubes filled with precious soil from Mars and transfer them to a rocket for an historic interplanetary delivery.
Gas stoves: Why did they become the pariah du jour?
One-third of U.S. households—more than 40 million homes—cook with gas. There has been much consternation about the danger of gas stoves in the news lately and talk of banning them since a Consumer Product Safety commissioner recently suggested the move.
India to get 12 cheetahs from South Africa next month
India will receive 12 cheetahs from South Africa next month that will join eight others it received from Namibia in September as part of an ambitious plan to reintroduce the cats in the country after 70...
When alpha mice are trounced by weaklings, they spiral into depression
When two male mice meet in a confined space, the rules of engagement are clear: The lower ranking mouse must yield. But when these norms go out the window—say, when researchers rig such an encounter to favor the weakling—it sends the higher ranking male into a depressionlike spiral. That’s the conclusion of a new neuroimaging study that reveals how the mouse brain responds to an...
The impact of zoos on society is largely underestimated, says study
The benefits of zoos to society and local communities are largely underestimated by the wider population, new research shows.
Assessing weathering conditions around the globe to understand rate-limiting factors for major rock types
A quartet of researchers at Pennsylvania State University has assessed differing weathering conditions around the globe in an attempt to better understand the rate-limiting factors for major rock types.
Be kind to bees, build with bee bricks
We know that bees are important to natural ecosystems and also to human agriculture and horticulture. They are great pollinators of so plant flowering plant species and are also a source of food and materials we have used for thousands of years, namely honey, honeycomb, and beeswax.
The Download: watermarking AI text, and freezing eggs
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. A watermark for chatbots can spot text written by an AI What’s happened: A new method could help us to spot AI-generated texts. Watermarking buries hidden patterns in the text that are invisible…
Hubble Views a Stellar Duo in Orion Nebula
Portal origin URL: Hubble Views a Stellar Duo in Orion NebulaPortal origin nid: 485242Published: Friday, January 27, 2023 - 08:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: The bright variable star V 372 Orionis takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.Portal image: Two bright stars with diffraction spikes. Larger star:...
A watermark for chatbots can expose text written by an AI
Hidden patterns purposely buried in AI-generated texts could help identify them as such, allowing us to tell whether the words we’re reading are written by a human or not.
These “watermarks” are invisible to the human eye but let computers detect that the text probably comes from an AI system. If embedded in large language models, they could help prevent some of the problems that these...
University of Guelph students are in the race to grow food in space
As part of the Canadian Space Agency's Deep Space Food Challenge, students at the University of Guelph showcased how they would grow food in...
5 people were killed in B.C.'s backcountry this year. Experts say this deadly season started months ago
Five people have been killed in avalanches across B.C. in the past month, including experienced skiiers and brothers on a guided heli-skiing trip in B.C.'s Interior. Experts have an explanation for what's making this season so deadly — and they say it started months...
How do I know if egg freezing is for me?
This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here.
Egg freezing is on my mind. At 36, I’m at an age when many of my friends have had babies, and the few who haven’t are weighing up their options. If they plan on having children at some point in the future, should they be freezing their eggs...