Tag: researchers

MilliDelta robot surgeon is the size of a one cent coin

Another tiny robot is gearing up to join the ranks of microsurgeons , but this one is small enough to fit in your coin purse. Inspired by pop-up books and origami, the milliDelta bot measures mere millimetres when unfolded (roughly the size of a one cent coin). But, even at that scale, the miniature helper packs flexible joints and bending, piezoelectric actuators that allow it to work with force, precision, and high speed. Its creators (from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) claim it can perform a range of microsurgery and manufacturing tasks in compact spaces. Unlike existing Delta robots, which scientists have been shrinking down for workspace use for years, the new bot is a swift operator. “Currently available Delta robots are only able to operate at a few hertz, ” said Hayley McClintock, a Harvard researcher who helped design the device. “So for our robot to be able to draw circles at frequencies up to 75 Hz is quite impressive.” Scientists developed the new bot using a technique known as pop-up microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), allowing them to create a complex structure from flat pieces of materials. The same approach was used to create the flying RoboBee . Next up for the milliDelta bot, the researchers plan to refine its specs in order to pin down its final design and add power and control electronics. Source: ScienceRobotics

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MilliDelta robot surgeon is the size of a one cent coin

Meteor lights up southern Michigan

Enlarge / That’s no moon! Early last night local time, a meteor rocketed through the skies of Southern Michigan, giving local residents a dramatic (if brief) light show. it also generated an imperceptible thump, as the UG Geological Survey confirmed that there was a coincident magnitude 2.0 earthquake. The American Meteor Society has collected over 350 eyewitness accounts , which ranged from western Pennsylvania out to Illinois and Wisconsin. They were heavily concentrated over southern Michigan, notably around the Detroit area. A number of people have also posted videos of the fireball online; one of the better compilations is below. A compilation of several videos from Syracuse.com. The American Meteor Society estimates that the rock was relatively slow-moving at a sedate 45,000km an hour. Combined with its production of a large fireball, the researchers conclude it was probably a big rock. NASA’s meteorwatch Facebook page largely agrees and suggests that this probably means that pieces of the rock made it to Earth. If you were on the flight path, you might want to check your yard. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Meteor lights up southern Michigan

World’s coolest chip runs at near absolute zero

How do you find out what happens to physics near absolute zero (aka 0 kelvin), the temperature where particle motion virtually stops? Scientists at the University of Basel might have just the device to do it. They’ve developed a nanoelectronics chip that they can successfully cool to a record-setting, bitterly cold 2.8 millikelvin. The trick involved a clever use of magnetic fields to eliminate virtually all sources of heat. The team started by using magnetic cooling (where you ramp down an applied magnetic field) to lower all the chip’s electrical connections down to 150 microkelvin. After that, they integrated another, specially constructed magnetic field system that let the researchers cool a Couloumb blockade thermometer — yes, even a thermometer’s heat is problematic when you’re edging close to absolute zero. It was successful enough that the chip could stay cold for 7 hours, which is plenty of time for tests. This is about more than bragging rights, of course. A chip that can run in such frigid conditions could help understand physics at its very limit. You might see strange behavior, for instance. It could also be helpful in creating ideal conditions for quantum physics experiments. And there’s still some room for improvement, to boot. The scientists are “optimistic” they can refine their method to lower the overall temperature to an even chillier 1 millikelvin. Via: Electronics 360 Source: University of Basel

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World’s coolest chip runs at near absolute zero

Google voice recognition could transcribe doctor visits

Doctors work long hours, and a disturbingly large part of that is documenting patient visits — one study indicates that they spend 6 hours of an 11-hour day making sure their records are up to snuff. But how do you streamline that work without hiring an army of note takers? Google Brain and Stanford think voice recognition is the answer. They recently partnered on a study that used automatic speech recognition (similar to what you’d find in Google Assistant or Google Translate) to transcribe both doctors and patients during a session. The approach can not only distinguish the voices in the room, but also the subjects. It’s broad enough to both account for a sophisticated medical diagnosis and small talk like the weather. Doctors could have all the vital information they need for follow-ups and a better connection to their patients. The system is far from perfect. The best voice recognition system in the study still had an error rate of 18.3 percent. That’s good enough to be practical, according to the researchers, but it’s not flawless. There’s also the matter of making sure that any automated transcripts are truly private and secure. Patients in the study volunteered for recordings and will have their identifying information scrubbed out, but this would need to be highly streamlined (both through consent policies and automation) for it to be effective on a large scale. If voice recognition does find its way into doctors’ offices, though, it could dramatically increase the effectiveness of doctors. They could spend more time attending patients and less time with the overhead necessary to account for each visit. Ideally, this will also lead to doctors working more reasonable hours — they won’t burn out and risk affecting their judgment through fatigue. Via: 9to5Google Source: Google Research Blog , ArXiv.org

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Google voice recognition could transcribe doctor visits

Quark fusion makes ten times as much energy as nuclear fusion

Scientists have overcome huge barriers in the past year to get us even closer to nuclear fusion, and with it a near-limitless supply of clean energy. But, what if there’s something far more powerful out there? According to researchers at Tel Aviv University and the University of Chicago, there is, and it involves the fusion of elementary particles known as quarks — the resulting energy from which would be ten times that of nuclear fusion. Quarks (not to be confused with the alien from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) are tiny particles that make up the neutrons and protons inside atoms. They come in six different types, with scientists referring to them in terms of three pairs: up, down; charm, strange; and top, bottom. To find out more, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have been smashing atoms together at high speeds. Doing so, causes these component parts to split from their parent atoms, and fuse with other particles, creating baryons. Prior research has indicated that energy is produced when quarks bind together. By looking into one-such occurrence (a doubly-charmed baryon), the physicists found that it would take 130 megaelectronvolts (MeV) of energy to force two charm quarks together. On top of that, the fusion ends up releasing even more power, around 12 MeV. Motivated by their findings, they then focussed on the much-heavier bottom quarks. The same binding process, they claim, would theoretically release approximately 138 MeV, which is almost eight times as much as hydrogen fusion (which also powers hydrogen bombs). Naturally, this set off alarm bells, with the researchers hesitating to go public with their findings. “If I thought for a microsecond that this had any military applications, I would not have published it, ” professor Marek Karliner told Live Science . But, further calculations suggested that causing a chain reaction with quarks would be impossible — mainly because they don’t exist long enough to set each other off. Plus, there’s the fact that this type of bottom quark fusion is completely theoretical. Whereas, the researchers didn’t fuse bottom quarks themselves, they claim it is technically achievable at the LHC. Source: Nature

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Quark fusion makes ten times as much energy as nuclear fusion

New CRISPR tool alters RNA for wider gene editing applications

The CRISPR gene editing technique can be used for all sorts of amazing things by targeting your DNA. Scientists are using it in experimental therapies for ALS and Huntington’s disease , ways to let those with celiac disease process gluten proteins and possibly assist in more successful birth rates . Now, according to a paper published in Science , researchers have found a way to target and edit RNA, a different genetic molecule that has implications in many degenerative disorders like ALS. Apparently, edits with this new tool (CRISPR-Cas13) can be safer as they don’t result in permanent changes to your genetic makeup like other DNA-based CRISPR techniques can. This system, called REPAIR, works more efficiently in human cells, as well. RNA is implicated in various diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), myotonic dystrophy and Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), so fixing it could show positive results in treating these types of disorders. “REPAIR presents a promising RNA editing platform with broad applicability for research, therapeutics, and biotechnology, ” wrote the researchers. Via: The Verge Source: Science

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New CRISPR tool alters RNA for wider gene editing applications

Study finds massive volcano range hidden in Antarctica’s ice

A new study claims to have found a huge expanse of volcanoes lurking beneath the ice in Antarctica . Scientists unearthed a total of 91 previously undiscovered volcanoes — some stretching up to 3, 850 metres (12, 600 feet) in height — in the region known as the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS). The area is comparable to the densely concentrated volcanic regions in east Africa and North America, according to researchers from the University of Edinburgh. Due to the ice sheets that cover its terrain, geologists have found it extremely difficult to study Antarctica for signs of volcanic systems. To overcome the obstacles posed by nature, the team of scientists remotely surveyed the underside of the ice using a digital elevation model known as Bedmap 2 DEM. They cross-referenced that info by examining aerial and satellite imagery. The results showed peaks of basalt rock poking up through the ice to form cone-shaped structures. Of those 178 edifices, 91 were outlined as previously undiscovered volcanoes. The study suggests that the density of the volcanoes in the WARS is one volcano per 4, 800 square miles, making it one of the world’s largest volcanic regions. Although, the results do not indicate whether the volcanoes are active, the data could allow future studies to determine just that. Whereas previous research has pointed to seismic activity in Antarctica, it is not thought to have impacted the present ice retreat. That wasn’t the case in Iceland, where studies found an increase in ice flow due to subglacial eruptions. Comparably, west Antarctica contains a thicker sheet of ice, but that may not be enough to prevent the affects of volcanic disturbance on future ice flow, suggest the scientists — especially during warmer periods . On the other hand, seeing as ice tends to slope downwards on a smooth surface, the cone-shaped structures could even act as deterrents against the current pace of glacial motion, claim the researchers. Source: University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences (pdf)

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Study finds massive volcano range hidden in Antarctica’s ice

N. Korean defectors show locations of mass graves using Google Earth

Much of what happens in North Korea remains hidden from the outside world. But commercial satellite imagery and Google Earth mapping software are helping a human-rights organization take inventory of the worst offenses of the North Korean regime and identify sites for future investigation of crimes against humanity. A new report from the South Korea-based Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) —a non-governmental organization that tracks human-rights abuses and crimes against humanity by the world’s most oppressive regimes—details how the organization’s researchers used Google Earth in interviews with defectors from North Korea to identify sites associated with mass killings by the North Korean regime. Google Earth imagery was used to help witnesses to killings and mass burials orient themselves and precisely point out the locations of those events. Entitled “Mapping Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea: Mass Graves, Killing Sites and Documentary Evidence,” the report does not include the actual locations of what the researchers deemed to be sensitive sites out of concern that the North Korean regime would move evidence from those sites. But it does provide location data of other sites with potential documentary evidence of crimes, including police stations and other government facilities that may have records of atrocities. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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N. Korean defectors show locations of mass graves using Google Earth

Atomic ‘photos’ help make gene editing safer

Believe it or not, scientists haven’t had a close-up look at CRISPR gene editing . They’ve understood its general processes, but not the minutiae of what’s going on — and that raises the risk of unintended effects. They’ll have a much better understanding going forward. Cornell and Harvard researchers have produced snapshots of the CRISPR-Cas3 gene editing subtype (not the Cas9 you normally hear about) at near atom-level resolution. They used a mix of cryo-electron microscopy and biochemistry to watch as a riboprotein complex captured DNA, priming the genes so the namesake Cas3 enzyme can start cutting. The team combined hundreds of thousands of particles into 2D averages of CRISPR’s functional states (many of which haven’t been seen before) and turned them into 3D projections you can see at the source link. As for what the researchers learned? Quite a bit, actually. They found that the riboprotein forces a small piece of DNA to unwind, allowing an RNA strand to bind and create a “seed bubble” that serves as a sort of fail-safe — if the targeted DNA matches the RNA, the bubble gets bigger and the rest of the RNA continues binding until it forms a loop structure. The riboprotein then locks down the DNA and lets the enzyme get to work. The whole process is surprisingly precise and accident-proof, so it shouldn’t cut the wrong genes. The Cas3 technique isn’t what you’d call delicate. The team likens it to a “shredder” that eats DNA past the point of no return where Cas9 is more of a surgical tool. The discoveries made here could improve gene editing across the board, however. They could modify CRISPR to improve its accuracy and avoid any inadvertent effects, and methods that have only a limited use right now (like Cas3) could be used for other purposes. Ultimately, this could give scientists the confidence they need to use gene editing to eliminate diseases and harmful bacteria — they can go forward knowing their genetic tweaking should be safe. Via: Reddit Source: Harvard , Cell

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Atomic ‘photos’ help make gene editing safer

Researchers create temperature sensor that runs on almost no power

Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a temperature sensor that runs on tiny amounts of power — just 113 picowatts, around 10 billion times less power than a watt. The sensor was described in a study recently published in Scientific Reports . “We’re building systems that have such low power requirements that they could potentially run for years on just a tiny battery, ” Hui Wang, an author of the study, said in a statement . The team created the device by reducing power in two areas. The first was the current source. To do that, they made use of a phenomenon that many researchers in their field are actually trying to get rid of. Transistors often have a gate with which they can stop the flow of electrons in a circuit, but transistors keep getting tinier and tinier. The smaller they get , the thinner the gate material becomes and electrons start to leak through it — a problem called “gate leakage.” Here, the leaked electrons are what’s powering the sensor. “Many researchers are trying to get rid of leakage current, but we are exploiting it to build an ultra-low power current source, ” said Hui. The researchers also reduced power in the way the sensor converts temperature to a digital readout. The result is a temperature sensor that uses 628 times less power than the current state-of-the-art sensors. The near-zero-power sensor has a temperature range of -4 to 104 degrees fahrenheit and could potentially be used in wearables and both environmental and home monitoring systems. One power tradeoff is that it gives readouts slightly slower than currently used sensors, at around one temperature read per second. But the researchers said that shouldn’t be a problem when giving reads on things like the human body where temperatures don’t change too quickly. They’re now working on optimizing the design and improving its accuracy. [Image: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering] Via: UCSD Source: Scientific Reports

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Researchers create temperature sensor that runs on almost no power