News in Brief
- Artificial Intelligence
A new AI training program helps robots own their ignorance
AI systems struggle to know what they don’t know. Now scientists have created a way to help autonomous machines recognize their blind spots.
- Artificial Intelligence
This robot learned not to mess with other people’s stuff
Ownership-respecting robots could soon understand the difference between chucking a Styrofoam cup and someone’s favorite mug.
- Animals
Young emperor penguins brave icy, winter waters in their first year
Young emperor penguins learn survival skills on their own, including how to navigate Antarctica’s icy winter ocean.
- Materials Science
Being messy on the inside keeps metamaterials from folding under stress
Inspiration from disordered arrangements of atoms in crystalline metals may lead to longer-lasting, next-gen materials.
- Animals
Cryptic remains of tiny animals have turned up in an Antarctic lake
Researchers were surprised to find vestiges of what appear to be tiny animals in mud from Antarctica’s ice-covered Lake Mercer.
- Tech
These robots can follow how-to diagrams
Robots capable of reading diagrams could work in more varied environments and be easier to communicate with.
- Astronomy
The first suspected exomoon may remain hidden for another decade
The discoverers of the first evidence for a moon orbiting a planet around a distant star are still trying to confirm the object’s existence.
- Chemistry
Your phone could reveal your radiation exposure after a nuclear disaster
Examining personal electronics may help gauge people’s radiation exposure in the event of a nuclear accident or attack.
- Oceans
Floating seabirds provide a novel way to trace ocean currents
Seabirds idly drifting with ocean currents provide a novel way to track and understand how these flows change with time and location.
- Anthropology
Paint specks in tooth tartar illuminate a medieval woman’s artistry
Tooth tartar unveils an expert female manuscript painter buried at a German monastery.
- Animals
A protein in mosquito eggshells could be the insects’ Achilles’ heel
A newly discovered protein found exclusively in mosquitoes may one day help control their numbers.
- Physics
A weird type of zirconium soaks up neutrons like a sponge
Zirconium-88 captures neutrons with extreme efficiency, and scientists don’t yet know why.
