Tuesday 4 June 2019

REPLAB: A low-cost benchmark platform for robotic learning

Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a reproducible, low-cost and compact benchmark platform to evaluate robotic learning approaches, which they called REPLAB. Their recent study, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, was supported by Berkeley DeepDrive, the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Google, NVIDIA and Amazon.

* This article was originally published here

American youths sue for a livable climate

Growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska, Nathan Baring has seen the signs of a warming world all around him. The winters have begun to lose their infamous chill. Thawing permafrost is shifting the ground beneath his feet. And some years, there isn't even enough snow to ski.

* This article was originally published here

Networking with ghosts in the machine... and speaking kettles

Imagine for just a moment that your kettle could speak? What would it say? How would it feel? More importantly, what on earth would you ask it?

* This article was originally published here

Early lives of Alaska sockeye salmon accelerating with climate change

An ample buffet of freshwater food, brought on by climate change, is altering the life history of one of the world's most important salmon species.

* This article was originally published here

Would you eat genetically modified food if you understood the science behind it?

Jonathon McPhetres, a newly minted Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Rochester, admits he's "personally amazed" what we can do with genes, specifically genetically modified food—such as saving papayas from extinction.

* This article was originally published here

Nation's most ambitious project to clean up nuclear weapons waste has stalled

The Energy Department's most environmentally important and technically ambitious project to clean up Cold War nuclear weapons waste has stalled, putting at jeopardy an already long-delayed effort to protect the Columbia River in central Washington.

* This article was originally published here

Stanford Doggo: a highly agile quadruped robot

Researchers at Stanford University have recently created an open-source quadruped robot called Stanford Doggo. Their robot, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv and set to be published by IEEE Explore, exceeds the performance of many state-of-the-art legged robots in vertical jumping agility.

* This article was originally published here

Zebrafish capture a 'window' on the cancer process

Cancer-related inflammation impacts significantly on cancer development and progression. New research has observed in zebrafish, for the first time, that inflammatory cells use weak spots or micro-perforations in the extracellular matrix barrier layer to access skin cancer cells.

* This article was originally published here

Renault ex-boss linked to 11mn euros of suspicious spending: board

An internal audit conducted by carmakers Renault and Nissan identified 11 million euros of questionable expenses at their Dutch subsidiary linked to Carlos Ghosn, the ousted boss of the French-Japanese group, the Renault board said Tuesday.

* This article was originally published here

Floating power plants

Paper, tin cans, glass—the world recycles as much as possible. So why not declare the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) a recycling product as well? Liquid fuels based on carbon will continue to play an important role in the future—despite international efforts to reduce them. So it seems sensible to recover the CO2 exhaust from the environment and use it again.

* This article was originally published here

W3C and WHATWG agreement: Single version of HTML, DOM specifications

Having two separate HTML specifications? What's up with that? Stephen Shankland's account of the two in CNET: "for nearly a decade, two separate groups have been issuing separate documents to define Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, the standard that tells you how to make a web page."

* This article was originally published here

Cheaper versions of the most expensive drugs may be coming, but monopolies will likely remain

In May, the Food and Drug Administration issued much-anticipated guidance that could revolutionize the pricing of some of the most expensive drugs on the market in the U.S. and, possibly, globally.

* This article was originally published here

The war on women coaches

During the past women's college basketball season, two prominent head coaches, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's Sylvia Hatchell and Georgia Tech's MaChelle Joseph, were fired.

* This article was originally published here

Apple iTunes to play last song

Apple on Monday announced the demise of its groundbreaking iTunes platform in favor of three more tailored apps, as it refines its offerings to be a stage for digital music, films, podcasts and more.

* This article was originally published here

Sensor-packed glove learns signatures of the human grasp

Wearing a sensor-packed glove while handling a variety of objects, MIT researchers have compiled a massive dataset that enables an AI system to recognize objects through touch alone. The information could be leveraged to help robots identify and manipulate objects, and may aid in prosthetics design.

* This article was originally published here

ACP issues ethical guidance for responding to physician impairment

The American College of Physicians (ACP) has released a position paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine that examines the professional duties and principles that should guide the response of colleagues and the profession to physician impairment.

* This article was originally published here

Separation anxiety no more: A faster technique to purify elements

The actinides—those chemical elements on the bottom row of the periodic table—are used in applications ranging from medical treatments to space exploration to nuclear energy production. But purifying the target element so it can be used, by separating out contaminants and other elements, can be difficult and time-consuming.

* This article was originally published here

The dangers of being a people-pleaser

(HealthDay)—Being thoughtful and caring are great qualities to have, but if you go out of your way to get people to like you, you could be a people-pleaser, with unfortunate consequences for your own well-being.

* This article was originally published here

Germline gene therapy pioneer, teenage son make case for safe treatment

An internationally known embryologist and his son make the case for using gene-editing tools to prevent inherited disease, in an editorial published today in the journal Nature Medicine.

* This article was originally published here

Beta blockers can block the effects of stress and anger in patients prone to emotion-triggered atrial fibrillation

Individuals who are prone to emotion-triggered atrial fibrillation (AF) may benefit from taking beta blockers. A new study shows that beta blockers can block the effects of psychological stress and anger in individuals prone to AF, reports HeartRhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society and the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society.

* This article was originally published here

Say cheers to lighter summer drinks

(HealthDay)—Want to celebrate longer days and warmer nights with fewer calories? Try these smart ways to cut the calories from favorite cocktails.

* This article was originally published here