#scinews

[edgescience]

A brand new paper is out! Dilophosaurus gets a new facelift. Jurassic Park is wrong yet again, but news sites continue to miss out on certain details. Not here folks, not wit me.

[breezingby]

Total Lunar Eclipse, July 2018

The Total Lunar Eclipse on 27 - 28 July 2018 seen from different locations. On 27 July 2018, the Sun, Earth, our Moon and Mars were into a rare alignment. Mars and the Sun were directly on opposite sides of the sky from our point of view, so the Red Planet will appear bigger and brighter than usual. The Sun, Earth, and Moon were perfectly aligned, so viewers on Earth’s night side enjoyed a total lunar eclipse. Credit: NASA

[newsotu]

“Artificial Intelligence Put to the Test in Minecraft“

Minecraft provides the perfect environment for researchers to test the analytic and interpersonal skills of the artificial intelligence (AI) they create. In the competition hosted by Microsoft, Queen Mary University of London, and crowdAI, AI agents are being challenged to complete tasks collaboratively with other agents. The AI must recognize and carry out a variety of tasks according to the Minecraft environment they are placed in; objectives include fending off skeletons, navigating through mazes, and constructing towers.

Although AI technology is still only in it’s beginning phases, organizers placed emphasis on adaptable and co-operative AI in hopes of one day seeing the results translate into human collaboration. ‘Theory of mind’ is the psychological term used to describe the human ability to read into the intentions of others and respond accordingly. AI researcher Katja Hofmann at Microsoft Research Cambridge, in England, explains how implementing human players into the Minecraft environment is the next step in achieving this property in AI: “Then the algorithms could learn to collaborate with humans and learn what humans want.” 

Image credit: Pixabay

Read more about this fascinating research at: https://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/artificial-intelligence/in-the-quest-for-general-intelligence-ais-are-chasing-chickens-in-minecraft

View the challenge at: https://www.crowdai.org/challenges/marlo-2018 Like our content? Be sure to visit our website NewsoftheUniverse.comwhere you can read more about important headlines in the science community and sign up for our daily email newsletter.

[inconvenientplastic]

Toxic metals from plastic left on the beach are leaching into the ocean's ecosystems: B.C. study

Researchers say even tiny plastic particles less than five millimetres in size can ferry traces of metals like zinc, copper and cadmium into the food chain.

“The study said those toxins, absorbed by the plastic, get into the intertidal ecosystem in three ways:

Leaching from the plastic directly into the water.

Being eaten by animals at the bottom of the food chain.

Sitting as a pollution "point source," or a spot from which pollutants are leaked.”

[newsotu]

“Farming Enters a Digital Era with PlantCopters“

Transforming the mass monitoring of crops, relatively inexpensive smart tag solutions are set to deploy in three countries beginning in 2019. These sensors report plant conditions including data on plant growth, temperature, humidity, and more. Muhammad Mustafa Hussain, a professor of electrical engineering at KAUST, and his team are behind the research and development of this sensor solution. Titled “PlantCopter”, this sensor brings the Internet of Things to farming through the use of biodegradable materials and a Bluetooth connection. “My overarching objective is to collect big data and infuse it with AI so that drones can make real-time decisions like spreading fertilizer and pesticides as needed,” Hussain explains. “My vision is if productivity goes up by even one percent, I think that would feed more people.” Photo: KAUST Read more about this fascinating discovery at: https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/energy/environment/plant-wearables-and-airdropped-sensors-could-sow-big-data-seedsRead the study at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41528-018-0039-8 Like our content? Be sure to visit our website NewsoftheUniverse.comwhere you can read more about important headlines in the science community and sign up for our daily email newsletter.

[newsotu]

“Comprehending Consciousness: Study Turns to Neuroscience for Explanation“

The electrical activity of individual neurons may provide scientists the answers for the origin and nature of consciousness. A team of researchers was able to utilize the medical opportunity presented by epileptic patients to isolate the brain activity that occurs upon changes in perception. These individuals received a surgical implantation of electrodes in the brain with the intent of identifying the cause of seizures. One method used to differentiate physical stimulus from brain perception was through the use of ‘binocular rivalry’ – a phenomenon where the brain is unable to combine the images presented to the left and right eyes. Instead, the brain alternates between the two images irregularly. Patients were shown an image of a house to the right eye while the left eye was shown a face. In the analysis of the neural activity compared against reported changes in perception, the study highlights the individual cells in the human brain responsible for conscious experience. Dr. Hagar Gelbard-Sagiv, study lead, explains, “Computers and robots interact with the world without being conscious. But something miraculous happens inside our brains to make us conscious and experience the world from a subjective perspective.” Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash Read more about this fascinating discovery at: http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/neuroscience/consciousness-origin-nature-06106.html Read the study at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03749-0 Like our content? Be sure to visit our website NewsoftheUniverse.comwhere you can read more about important headlines in the science community and sign up for our daily email newsletter.

[inconvenientplastic]

Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 16 times bigger than previously estimated, study finds

A new study suggests that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area spanning 1.6 million square kilometres, contains more than 79,000 tonnes of floating plastic — 16 times more than previous estimates.

"It's more akin to a smog of microplastics... With 5.25 trillion particles of plastics and 92 per cent of microplastics, smaller than a grain of rice … it's pretty much everywhere as smog."

We need “less single-use plastic as well as a focus on cleaning up beaches and shores, before it makes its ways into our oceans.”

[inconvenientplastic]

Plastic pollution causes deadly flesh-eating diseases in corals

Garbage like disposable diapers, plastic bags and snack wrappers is getting into the ocean and snagging on some coral reefs, leading to deadly infections that literally eat the corals alive, a new study suggests.

“A four-year survey of 125,000 corals in 150 reefs in the Asia-Pacific region found that corals in contact with plastic debris had an 89 per cent chance of having three nasty diseases:

Skeletal eroding band disease.

White syndrome.

Black band disease.

As their names imply, those diseases are kind of like flesh-eating disease and typically deadly.”

“The plastic may stress the corals by blocking light and oxygen from reaching them or cut into the coral's flesh or rub against it, creating a wound that bacteria can get in.

It may also create a comfortable environment for bacteria and bring them in contact with the corals, Kelly said. "The bacteria kind of hitch a ride on the plastic."”