Science X Newsletter Thu, Nov 30

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for November 30, 2023:

Technology news

	Anthrobots: Scientists build tiny biological robots from human tracheal cells Researchers at Tufts University and Harvard University's Wyss Institute have created tiny biological robots that they call Anthrobots from human tracheal cells that can move across a surface and have been found to encourage the growth of neurons across a region of damage in a lab dish.
	Rice husk and recycled newspaper may be the eco-friendly insulation material of the future The building sector is the second largest sector in plastic consumption, and is responsible for more than a third of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Manufacturing processes of construction materials pollute air, land, and water. Accordingly, construction materials made from agro-industrial waste become increasingly attractive due to their lower environmental impact.
	AI image generator Stable Diffusion perpetuates racial and gendered stereotypes, study finds What does a person look like? If you use the popular artificial intelligence image generator Stable Diffusion to conjure answers, too frequently you'll see images of light-skinned men.
	Researchers use 2D material to reshape 3D electronics for AI hardware Multifunctional computer chips have evolved to do more with integrated sensors, processors, memory and other specialized components. However, as chips have expanded, the time required to move information between functional components has also grown.
	Octopus-inspired robot arm can grab and lift a toy shark using suction A team of engineers at Beihang University, working with a colleague from Tsinghua University, both in China, has designed, built and tested a haptically controlled octopus robot arm that is capable of grasping, lifting and carrying objects on land and underwater. In an article published in the journal Science Robotics, the group describes how they built their robot, how it works and how well it performed when tested under a variety of scenarios.
	Sandpaper X-ray technique could change how batteries are monitored Batteries are challenging to observe and analyze. They can't really be opened up because of their volatile nature. One way to monitor batteries is through X-ray technology. However, the equipment is very expensive and those methods struggle to balance resolution, sensitivity and speed.
	Hybrid phase-change memristors lead to new computing possibilities By strategically straining materials that are as thin as a single layer of atoms, University of Rochester scientists have developed a new form of computing memory that is at once fast, dense, and low-power. The researchers outline their new hybrid resistive switches in a study published in Nature Electronics.
	An AI-based approach to microgrids that can restore power more efficiently and reliably in an outage It's a story that's become all too familiar—high winds knock out a power line, and a community can go without power for hours to days, an inconvenience at best and a dangerous situation at worst. UC Santa Cruz Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Yu Zhang and his lab are leveraging tools to improve the efficiency, reliability, and resilience of power systems and have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) -based approach for the smart control of microgrids for power restoration when outages occur.
	Cybersecurity agency warns that water utilities are vulnerable to hackers after Pennsylvania attack Hackers are targeting industrial control systems widely used by water and sewage-treatment utilities, potentially threatening water supplies, the top U.S. cyberdefense agency said after a Pennsylvania water authority was hacked.
	Musk's latest gamble: Tesla Cybertruck set for debut Four years after startling the car world with designs for the Cybertruck, Elon Musk is set Thursday to mark the arrival of Tesla's iconoclastic take on the American pickup.
	Meta says China-based influence efforts ramp up Meta on Thursday warned that deceptive online campaigns based in China were taking aim at 2024 elections in the United States and elsewhere.
	Greener solution powers new method for lithium-ion battery recycling Used lithium-ion batteries from cell phones, laptops and a growing number of electric vehicles are piling up, but options for recycling them remain limited primarily to burning or chemically dissolving shredded batteries. The current state-of-the-art methods can pose environmental challenges and be difficult to make economically at the industrial scale.
	'More than a chatbot': Google touts firm's AI tech Google's position as king of the search engines is under threat like never before, but the firm's global policy chief told AFP this week it still had the edge over its AI competitors.
	Meta faces second EU challenge to 'pay for privacy' European consumer groups lodged Thursday a complaint against Meta's system allowing Facebook and Instagram users to pay to opt out of data tracking, the second challenge this week.
	Artificial intelligence paves way for new medicines A team of researchers from LMU, ETH Zurich, and Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) Basel has used artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an innovative method that predicts the optimal method for synthesizing drug molecules.
	ChatGPT turns 1: AI chatbot's success says as much about humans as technology ChatGPT was launched on Nov. 30, 2022, ushering in what many have called artificial intelligence's breakout year. Within days of its release, ChatGPT went viral. Screenshots of conversations snowballed across social media, and the use of ChatGPT skyrocketed to an extent that seems to have surprised even its maker, OpenAI. By January, ChatGPT was seeing 13 million unique visitors each day, setting a record for the fastest-growing user base of a consumer application.
	AI inspires new approach to adaptive control systems Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are used around the world to conduct difficult environmental, remote, oceanic, defense and rescue missions in often unpredictable and harsh conditions.
	Smartphone use found to differ between urban and rural areas Smartphones have altered human behavior in complex ways but context can also alter smartphone use.
	After chaos, Microsoft wins observer seat at OpenAI Microsoft, the tech titan that has invested billions of dollars in ChatGPT creator OpenAI, has been given a seat on the startup's board.
	Research explores experimental satellite for internet intelligent remote sensing In a research letter published on July 11, 2023, in Geo-spatial Information Science, a research group led by Deren Li and Mi Wang from Wuhan University unveiled the LuoJia3-01, an experimental satellite that integrates state-of-the-art technologies to provide unparalleled geospatial information services. This development is particularly noteworthy in an era dominated by transformative technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, and AI.
	Deep learning-enabled system surpasses location constraints for human activity recognition In a new study published on 14 October 2023, in the journal Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, researchers from University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), have unveiled a novel approach to Human Activity Recognition (HAR) that transcends traditional limitations.
	H₂-ready power plants: Study shows challenges and solutions for the conversion of gas-fired power plants Hydrogen (H2) plays an important role in the renewable energy system to secure electricity generation. New and existing power plants must therefore be made ready for H2 operation. However, the conversion and new construction of power plants that can be operated with 100% hydrogen poses challenges. In addition, H2 readiness is not yet clearly defined in regulatory terms. These are the findings of scientists at the Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI).
	AI can write a wedding toast or summarize a paper, but what happens if it's asked to build a bomb? During the past year, large language models (LLMs) have become incredibly adept at generating synthesizing information and producing humanlike outputs. LLMs are likened to digital librarians, as they have been trained on vast datasets sourced directly from the internet and can therefore generate or summarize text on nearly any topic. As a result, these LLMs have become ubiquitous in such fields as copywriting, software engineering, and entertainment.
	AI in society: Perspectives from the field Experts working in artificial intelligence, from technological to public policy roles, discuss this turning point in AI and what it means for the future.
	Using 3D printing to produce lightweight insulating building elements In the main hall of the research and robotics Arch Tec Lab on Hönggerberg campus, several robotic arms hang from the roof, while half-finished beige-colored curved structures reminiscent of sand sculptures are dotted around the floor. On one side of the room, mysterious parts protrude from wooden crates.
	Researchers tackle a century-old teletraffic challenge to enhance medical and public service efficiency Efficiently meeting the growing demand for public services in metropolitan areas has long been a persistent challenge. A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a novel performance evaluation method, which marks a major breakthrough in tackling a century-old problem of evaluating blocking probabilities in queueing systems with overflow, providing ways to allocate limited resources better.
	Unsafe lead levels in school drinking water: Study identifies building risk factors University of Massachusetts Amherst civil and environmental engineers have determined the factors that may help identify the schools and daycare centers at greatest risk for elevated lead levels in drinking water. The most telling characteristic for schools in Massachusetts is building age, with facilities built in the 1960s and 1970s—nearly a third of the facilities tested—at the greatest risk for having dangerously high water lead levels.
	World record optical fiber transmission capacity doubles to 22.9 petabits per second Researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology and University of L'Aquila, demonstrated a record-breaking data rate of 22.9 petabits per second using only a single optical fiber, which was more than double the previous world record of 10.66 petabits per second.
	Study tests firefighter turnout gear with and without PFAS Transitioning away from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which offer water- and oil-repelling properties on the outer shells of firefighter turnout gear, could bring potential performance tradeoffs, according to a new study from North Carolina State University.
	Musk regrets controversial post but won't bow to advertiser 'blackmail' Elon Musk apologized Wednesday for endorsing a social media post widely seen as anti-Semitic, but accused advertisers who are turning away from his social media platform X of "blackmail" and said anyone who does so can "go fuck yourself."
	Five social media chiefs to testify in US Senate Social media CEOs including Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Instagram and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew will face a grilling in the US Senate early next year over online child sexual exploitation.
	Tech giants on board to bust online scams: UK govt Eleven global tech giants have pledged to do more to tackle the scourge of online scammers, the UK government said on Thursday, billing the promise as a world first.
	Is Amazon following Jeff Bezos to Miami? Not exactly Amazon is searching for office space in Miami—but founder Jeff Bezos' new hometown will occupy only a small portion of the company's massive corporate footprint.
	What is a 'just' transition to net zero—and why is Australia struggling to get there? Australia's net-zero transition is struggling. Despite the government's efforts, announced last week, to revive flagging investment in renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions from existing industry are still rising. Yet under the Paris Agreement, Australia must adopt even more ambitious targets for 2035.
	Autoworkers strike cut Ford sales by 100,000 vehicles and cost company $1.7 billion in profits A six-week United Auto Workers strike at Ford cut sales by about 100,000 vehicles and cost the company $1.7 billion in lost profits this year, the automaker said Thursday.
	A concrete step forward: Australia's ambitious plan to cut cement and lime emissions It's tough for the cement and lime business to make its important products without generating high emissions. So, the industry is investing in research and innovative pathways to reduce its hard-to-abate emissions.
	How Zurich has to change its roads to have more e-bikes than cars What would the streets look like if a city took half its traffic space and gave it to cycling and e-biking? Would city dwellers use their bikes more often? Might the concept of an "E-Bike City" even be a way to help reduce transport-related CO2 emissions?
	Researchers propose new method for large-scale urban building function mapping using web-based geospatial data In a study published in Geo-spatial Information Science, a research group led by Yuyu Zhou from The University of Hong Kong developed an integrated framework that achieves 94% accuracy in mapping building functions across 50 U.S. cities using multi-source web-based geospatial data, offering potential for worldwide application.

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