Hoping to gain insights into what’s needed for creating artificial intelligence, scientists from the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex are embarking on a project to produce a computer simulation of a honeybee brain. The team said they will build models of the systems in the brain that govern a honeybee’s vision and sense of smell. […]
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the GPS navigation system of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, can be commandeered by an outside source. The team, from the University of Texas at Austin, says their GPS guidance hack could influence the planned federal mandate to allow thousands of civilian drones into U.S. […]
The annoying guy at parties who keeps changing the music may be facing redundancy, thanks to a new robot DJ docking station that chooses music, reacts to crowd feedback and dances appallingly. Developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, Shimi the robot is being demonstrated today at Google’s I/O conference in San Francisco and […]
MIT scientists have discovered that the brain processes objects based on their physical size, with a specific region of the brain reserved for recognizing large objects and another reserved for small objects. The findings could have major implications in robotics and artificial intelligence. The findings appear in the journal Neuron. Surprisingly, the research is the […]
A paralyzed woman has been able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. Previously, thought control with neural implants had beendemonstrated using monkeys, but this new trial involved the most complex brain-computer functions achieved to date with humans. A report on the […]
University of Massachusetts Amherst computer scientist Hava Siegelmann has received funding to develop the first ever “Super-Turing” computer. Based on analog recurrent neural networks, Siegelmann says the device will usher in a level of intelligence not seen before in artificial computation. Mathematician and alpha-geek Alan Turing(pictured) set out the basis for the digital computers we […]
Powered by a novel, super-efficient jet engine, an unmanned aircraft that will fly at Mach 1.4 is nearing commercialization, say the University of Colorado Boulder designers behind the ultra-cheap drone. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which is currently in a prototype state, is expected to fly farther and faster – using less fuel – than […]
Ever watched a kids’ movie where the animated human characters are realistic but just not quite right and maybe a bit creepy? Then you’ve probably been a visitor to what’s called the “uncanny valley.” The uncanny valley effect was poorly understood, but new MRI brain scans help explain why we feel repulsed when confronted with […]
The first ever demonstration of simultaneous information processing and storage using phase-change materials points the way to computers more closely resembling biological systems, say University of Exeter researchers. The techniques used could revolutionize computing by making computers faster and more energy-efficient, as well as making them more “brain-like.” Today’s computers handle processing and memory separately, […]
An Emory University experiment originally designed to see how peer pressure affects teenagers has also been found to accurately predict the success or failure of pop songs. “We have scientifically demonstrated that you can, to some extent, use neuroimaging in a group of people to predict cultural popularity,” boasted Emory’s Gregory Berns. His findings appear […]
