180348799
submission
alternative_right writes:
To teach robots how to become tomato pickers, Osaka Metropolitan University Assistant Professor Takuya Fujinaga, Graduate School of Engineering, programmed them to evaluate the ease of harvesting for each tomato before attempting to pick it.
Fujinaga's new model uses image recognition paired with statistical analysis to evaluate the optimal approach direction for each fruit. The system involves image processing/vision of the fruit, its stems, and whether it is concealed behind another part of the plant. These factors inform robot control decisions and help it choose the best approach. The findings are published in Smart Agricultural Technology.
180347971
submission
alternative_right writes:
Across several studies, the speed of an enzyme's activity correlated strongly with a statistical measure called "maximum entropy." The breakthrough meant they could use a purely statistical and computational approach to determine the maximum entropy—thus, predicting enzyme function.
Instead of the most mutationally explosive virus known, they turned to pathogens with more constrained evolutionary landscapes. One of the first was hepatitis C virus (HCV). There, the picture changed. Maximum entropy aligned much more cleanly with the mutations the virus actually adopted under drug pressure. That opened the possibility of forecasting its "next move," as Warshel put it—a way of playing chess with the virus, using both the strength of each mutation and its likelihood.
180347913
submission
alternative_right writes:
"Our results showed that cats vocalized more frequently toward male caregivers, while no other demographic factor had a discernible effect on the frequency or duration of greetings," write the researchers in their published paper.
A total of 22 different behavior types were looked at by the researchers, including yawning (often a sign of cat stress) and food-related behaviors (including heading to their food bowl). The vocalizations were the only behaviors that changed based on the owners' sex.
180331629
submission
alternative_right writes:
A recipient of a kidney transplant presented a medical mystery when he died from rabies
in January 2025 only weeks after his surgery in an Ohio hospital, despite having had no documented contact with the disease.
A close investigation by the CDC revealed the cause: The Michigan man's donor kidney was infected by the deadly virus – only the fourth time rabies has been transmitted via transplanted organs in the US since 1978.
The case, the CDC says, highlights the need for stronger guidance for transplant teams where the donor has a history of exposure to animals.
180314809
submission
alternative_right writes:
Researchers engineered a strained germanium layer on silicon that allows charge to move faster than in any silicon-compatible material to date. This record mobility could lead to chips that run cooler, faster, and with dramatically lower energy consumption. The discovery also enhances the prospects for silicon-based quantum devices.
180314673
submission
alternative_right writes:
A molecular clock is a method that allows scientists to estimate when organisms diverged and when traits first emerged. Basically, all lifeforms on the planet have a few things in common, such as the universal genetic code, an almost-universal set of amino acids, and a universal reliance on ATP for energy.
Scientists can estimate the rate at which mutations occur in a specific DNA sequence, compare the same sequence in multiple species, and work backwards to estimate when those species last shared an ancestor. They can also use a molecular clock to figure out when traits or gene functions first appeared.
180294377
submission
alternative_right writes:
If you want to stand out at your next metal gig, don't settle for a spot of color in a sea of black – go ultrablack instead.
Engineers at Cornell University have created the blackest fabric on record, finding it absorbs 99.87 percent of all light that dares to illuminate its surface.
To make something ultrablack, you can't just dip it in a dye and call it a day. It requires manipulating the structure of a material on the nanoscopic scale so that it captures as much light as possible.
180288595
submission
alternative_right writes:
A 15-year quest ends with a monument, drawing crowds and nostalgia as Detroit embraces its cult-film past
The statue looms and glints at more than 11 feet tall and weighing 3,500 pounds, looking out at the city with, how to put it a characteristically stern expression?
Despite its daunting appearance and history as a crimefighter of last resort, the giant new bronze figure of the movie character RoboCop is being seen as a symbol of hope, drawing fans and eliciting selfie mania since it began standing guard over Detroit on Wednesday afternoon.
180274511
submission
alternative_right writes:
A new Florida Atlantic University study reveals significant mental health differences between dark web users and those who use only the surface web, and sheds light on a group whose involvement in this secretive online space has largely kept them outside the scope of traditional research.
Published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, the study finds that dark web users reported substantially higher levels of depressive symptoms and paranoid thoughts as compared to surface web users. In addition, there were substantial differences between dark web users and surface web users pertaining to suicidal thoughts, non-suicidal self-injury and digital self-harm.
Adults who reported suicidal thoughts had nearly three times greater odds of reporting dark web use. Likewise, those who reported non-suicidal self-injury (e.g. cutting or burning oneself) were nearly five times more likely to report use of the dark web, and individuals who had engaged in digital self-harm (anonymously posting hurtful or negative comments about themselves online) had more than 19 times greater odds of reported dark web use.
"Our findings suggest that many individuals who turn to the dark web may be doing so not just for privacy concerns, but as a reflection of deeper mental health struggles and the possible desire to socialize and engage in information-seeking in a context free of scrutiny that might otherwise be experienced on the surface web or offline," said Meldrum.
180270067
submission
alternative_right writes:
On average, managers spend 23 hours a week in meetings. Much of what happens in them is considered to be of low value, or even entirely counterproductive. The paradox is that bad meetings generate even more meetings in an attempt to repair the damage caused by previous ones.
A 2015 handbook laid the groundwork for the nascent field of "Meeting Science". Among other things, the research revealed that the real issue may not be the number of meetings, but rather how they are designed, the lack of clarity about their purpose, and the inequalities they (often unconsciously) reinforce.
Faced with what we call meeting madness, the solution is not to eliminate meetings altogether, but to design them better. It begins with a simple but often forgotten question: why are we meeting?
180261777
submission
alternative_right writes:
According to a 2023 review that brought together data from dozens of studies, distinct differences can be seen between the gut microbiomes of 'speeders' and 'slowpokes'.
Since the human gut microbiome is intrinsically linked to health, this could have implications that have gone unnoticed before now.
In particular, slow transit times and constipation have been linked with metabolic and inflammatory disorders, as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
180244501
submission
alternative_right writes:
The discovery of strange, ultra-red objects—especially the extreme case known as The Cliff—has pushed astronomers to propose an entirely new type of cosmic structure: black hole stars. These exotic hybrids could explain rapid black hole growth in the early universe, but their existence remains unproven.
180244467
submission
alternative_right writes:
Quantum communication follows a similar idea, but individual photons act as the information carriers. A zero or one is encoded through the direction of the photon's polarization (i.e., their orientation in the horizontal and vertical directions or in a superposition of both states). Because photons behave according to quantum mechanics, their polarization cannot be measured without leaving detectable traces. Any attempt to intercept the message would be exposed.
Teleportation requires the photons to be nearly identical in properties such as timing and color. Producing such photons is hard because they come from separate sources.
At the University of Stuttgart, the researchers successfully teleported the polarization state of a photon from one quantum dot to a photon produced by a second quantum dot. One dot emits a single photon and the other generates an entangled photon pair. "Entangled" means the two photons share a single quantum state even when physically apart. One photon from the pair travels to the second quantum dot and interacts with its photon. When the two overlap, their superposition transfers the information from the original photon to the far-away partner of the entangled pair.
A key element of this achievement was the use of "quantum frequency converters," devices that adjust small frequency mismatches between photons.
180244361
submission
alternative_right writes:
In the 21st century, every government should understand that ensuring software sovereignty and security is part of its job, not only for themselves but also for businesses, society, and researchers. In the 21st century, software is the invisible infrastructure of our everyday life, like roads and bridges. Everything runs on software, and a significant portion of this is made possible by open source, which is maintained by people selflessly. If this open source breaks down, it’s as if a road or bridge collapses: everything else becomes much more complicated and dangerous.
180239745
submission
alternative_right writes:
A University of Tokyo researcher analyzing new data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected a halo of high-energy gamma rays that closely matches what theories predict should be released when dark matter particles collide and annihilate. The energy levels, intensity patterns, and shape of this glow align strikingly well with long-standing models of weakly interacting massive particles, making it one of the most compelling leads yet in the hunt for the universe’s invisible mass.
