Computers

Egg cells are by far the largest cells produced by most organisms. In humans, they are several times larger than a typical body cell and about 10,000 times larger than sperm cells. There's a reason why egg cells, or oocytes, are so big: They need to accumulate enough nutrients to support a growing embryo after fertilization, plus mitochondria to power all of that growth. … [Read more...] about Study reveals how egg cells get so big: Oocyte growth relies on physical phenomena that drive smaller cells to dump their contents into a larger cell

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a digital self-test that trains users to assess news items, images and videos presented on social media. The self-test has also been evaluated in a scientific study, which confirmed the researchers' hypothesis that the tool genuinely improved the students' ability to apply critical thinking to digital sources. The new tool and … [Read more...] about New tool makes students better at detecting fake imagery and videos

Researchers at Charité -- Universitätsmedizin Berlin and TU Berlin as well as the University of Oslo have developed a new tissue-section analysis system for diagnosing breast cancer based on artificial intelligence (AI). Two further developments make this system unique: For the first time, morphological, molecular and histological data are integrated in a single analysis. … [Read more...] about Making the role of AI in medicine explainable: Analysis system for the diagnosis of breast cancer

For decades, there has been a trend in microelectronics towards ever smaller and more compact transistors. 2D materials such as graphene are seen as a beacon of hope here: they are the thinnest material layers that can possibly exist, consisting of only one or a few atomic layers. Nevertheless, they can conduct electrical currents -- conventional silicon technology, on the … [Read more...] about Microchips of the future: Suitable insulators are still missing

Virtual reality avatar-based coaching shows promise to increase access to and extend the reach of nutrition education programs to children at risk for obesity, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, published by Elsevier. Researchers introduced 15 adult-child dyads to a virtual avatar-based coaching program that incorporated age-specific … [Read more...] about Virtual avatar coaching with community context for adult-child dyads

Smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, have proven adept at monitoring certain health care issues at home. For example, researchers at the University of Washington have shown that these devices can detect cardiac arrests or monitor babies breathing. But what about tracking something even smaller: the minute motion of individual heartbeats in a person sitting in … [Read more...] about First AI system for contactless monitoring of heart rhythm using smart speakers

Scientists have taken a major step forward in harnessing machine learning to accelerate the design for better batteries: Instead of using it just to speed up scientific analysis by looking for patterns in data, as researchers generally do, they combined it with knowledge gained from experiments and equations guided by physics to discover and explain a process that shortens the … [Read more...] about In a leap for battery research, machine learning gets scientific smarts

The perils of machine learning -- using computers to identify and analyze data patterns, such as in facial recognition software -- have made headlines lately. Yet the technology also holds promise to help enforce federal regulations, including those related to the environment, in a fair, transparent way, according to a new study by Stanford researchers. The analysis, published … [Read more...] about Assessing regulatory fairness through machine learning

In a perfect world, what you see is what you get. If this were the case, the job of artificial intelligence systems would be refreshingly straightforward. Take collision avoidance systems in self-driving cars. If visual input to on-board cameras could be trusted entirely, an AI system could directly map that input to an appropriate action -- steer right, steer left, or continue … [Read more...] about Algorithm helps artificial intelligence systems dodge ‘adversarial’ inputs

The public doesn't need to know how Artificial Intelligence works to trust it. They just need to know that someone with the necessary skillset is examining AI and has the authority to mete out sanctions if it causes or is likely to cause harm. Dr Bran Knowles, a senior lecturer in data science at Lancaster University, says: "I'm certain that the public are incapable of … [Read more...] about Someone to watch over AI and keep it honest – and it’s not the public!