Moravec‘s Paradox

Insects inspire tiny robots that can carry out tasks in hard-to-reach spaces and inhospitable environments. University of Pittsburgh Engineers Create Insect-Inspired Robots That Can Monitor Hard-to-Reach Spots. These ancient creatures can squeeze through the tiniest cracks, fit snugly into tight spaces and survive in harsh environments: There aren’t many spaces…

It may sound like nothing more than a thrilling science fiction trope, but scientists who study artificial intelligence warn that AI singularity — a point when the technology irreversibly surpasses the capabilities of the human mind — is a real possibility, and some say it will happen within a few…

Fire ants form a protrusion from an ant raft. Credit: Vernerey Researcher Group at CU Boulder Noah rode out his flood in an ark. Winnie-the-Pooh had an upside-down umbrella. Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), meanwhile, form floating rafts made up of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of individual insects. A…

Show notes On the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine is joined by Audioshake Co-Founder and CEO Jessica Powell. Audioshake is a new company that’s using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to “demix” songs, essentially taking a finished track and deconstructing it into high-quality vocal and instrumental stems that…

For the athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, travel entailed … robots. Everywhere. These machines prepared and served noodles, rice and burgers, and roamed hallways to take the temperatures of passersby. They even passed the Olympic flame underwater. Yet even if you’re not an Olympian, your travels these…

20th Television The band is fully back together as John DiMaggio is officially set to return as the crass robot Bender for the “Futurama” reboot on Hulu. DiMaggio has closed a deal to reprise his iconic role along with other minor characters in the series – ensuring the entire original…

Researchers have demonstrated bio-integration of organic electrochemical neurons with cells of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) to induce lobe closure upon input stimuli. Their results may have implications for the future development of brain-machine interfaces and soft robotics. The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). Image credit: Naokivin1978. “Neuromorphic bioinspired electronic devices…

Researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai have created an artificial intelligence tool to help identify hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardiac amyloidosis.   Their findings, outlined in a study published in JAMA Cardiology, could make it easier to detect and treat heart disease.   "These two heart conditions are challenging…

Brains contain maps of the bodies they inhabit, with neurons dedicated to the perception or control of particular parts—and research suggests there may be quite a bit of wiggle room in that representation. In 2016 scientists set up an experiment that made subjects fleetingly feel like they had a sixth…

NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. This information is shared with…