Technology and Science Highlights of the Week #16 July 2024
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Australian authorities have announced their intention to build a secure cloud, TS Cloud, using Amazon Web Services (AWS). According to The Register, it will be created with the participation of the Australian Signals Directorate, formerly the Signals Directorate, which is responsible for cybersecurity and signals intelligence.
Top Secret Cloud (TS Cloud) will be built for the country's defense and intelligence community to securely store and process the most sensitive information. TS Cloud is expected to enable Australia to securely, quickly and at scale, share and analyze data across authorities, and leverage advanced technologies including AI and machine learning. In addition, it will simplify interaction with US intelligence agencies.
With its help, scientists are preparing to conquer space.
Scientists from the University of Manchester have developed a robot that can jump to very high heights - more than 120 meters.
Standard robots, like Atlas and Spot from Boston Dynamics, typically walk on wheels or have two to four legs. These machines handle flat surfaces well but struggle with obstacles such as rocks or steep trails. In such cases, a new device will come in handy.
The robot's jumping ability is ensured by its legs - they are made in the shape of a prism and have highly stretchable springs, which ensure maximum conversion of elastic potential energy into kinetic energy, allowing the device to jump to record heights. The technology comes from the natural world, where many animals use power amplification to perform complex actions.
A combined team of roboticists from Stanford University and the Toyota Research Institute has found that adding audio data to visual data when training robots helps to improve their learning skills. The team has posted their research on the arXiv preprint server.
The researchers noted that virtually all training done with AI-based robots involves exposing them to a large amount of visual information, while ignoring associated audio. They wondered if adding microphones to robots and allowing them to collect data regarding how something is supposed to sound as it is being done might help them learn a task better.
Scientists have created a unique code that can cover almost all known physics.
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For the first time, a team of Caltech astrophysicists has been able to simulate the journey of cosmic gas from the early Universe to the moment it is pulled into the disk of material feeding a supermassive black hole. New computer modeling is revolutionizing ideas about such disks.
The largest utility companies in the United States are warning that the country is facing a surge in demand for electricity not seen in decades. Failure to quickly increase electricity production could jeopardize the United States economy.
After more than a decade of mostly flat growth, electricity demand could surge by 2030. The reason will be the hype around artificial intelligence, the expansion of chip production and the electrification of the vehicle fleet.
Neurological disorders such as trauma, stroke, epilepsy, and various neurodegenerative diseases often result in the loss of neurons, causing significant disruption to brain function. Current treatments for these diseases are imperfect, primarily due to the difficulty of restoring lost neurons.
Direct neural reprogramming, a complex procedure that involves changing the function of one cell type to another, holds promise. Scientists are already able to transform glial cells into full-fledged neurons in cell culture and in living organisms. However, the processes involved in this reprogramming are complex and still not fully understood.
Geneticists from Ludwig Maximilian University (Germany) investigated the molecular mechanisms involved in the transformation of glial cells into neurons. The results were published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Among the enormous rock walls of an Indonesian island, archaeologists have discovered the oldest known example of art that tells a story.
Using a new dating technique, the research team concluded that the pigment was carefully applied to the rock wall at least 51,200 years ago. So, this drawing is now considered the oldest example of a narrative work of art. It also holds the new record for the oldest known piece of figurative cave art. Typically, plot compositions began to spread throughout the world approximately 14-11 thousand years ago. At least that's what was thought before.