Sunday 26 May 2019

MobiKa: A low-cost mobile robot that can assist people in a variety of settings

Researchers at Fraunhofer IPA, in Stuttgart, Germany, have recently developed MobiKa, a low-cost, mobile robot capable of two-modal (voice and text) interactions with humans. Their robot, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could be particularly useful for assisting elderly people.

* This article was originally published here

Finding the cause of capacity loss in a metal-oxide battery material

Because of their high energy-storage density, materials such as metal oxides, sulfides, and fluorides are promising electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and other technologies. However, their capacity fades very rapidly. Now, scientists studying an electrode made of an inexpensive and nontoxic iron-oxide material called magnetite have proposed a scenario—described in the May 20 online issue of Nature Communications—that explains why.

* This article was originally published here

Drinking red wine for heart health? read this before you toast

For years, studies have shown a relationship between drinking a moderate amount of red wine and good heart health, but experts say it's important to understand what that means before you prescribe yourself a glass or two a day.

* This article was originally published here

Report: FTC's political wrangling delays Facebook settlement

Facebook may have to wait longer before resolving a U.S. government investigation into the company's mishandling of personal information.

* This article was originally published here

Fake Facebook accounts: the never-ending battle against bots

The staggering figure of more than three billion fake accounts blocked by Facebook over a six-month period highlights the challenges faced by social networks in curbing automated accounts, or bots, and other nefarious efforts to manipulate the platforms.

* This article was originally published here

An approach to enhance machine learning explanations

Researchers at IBM Research U.K., the U.S. Military Academy and Cardiff University have recently proposed a technique they call Local Interpretable Model Agnostic Explanations (LIME) for attaining a better understanding of the conclusions reached by machine learning algorithms. Their paper, published on SPIE digital library, could inform the development of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that provide exhaustive explanations of how they reached a particular outcome or conclusion.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers propose new federal rule of evidence for more accurate verdicts in court

While many juries use commonsense when determining an innocent or guilty verdict, research has shown that commonsense can be misleading and inaccurate. In a new study, researchers propose a new federal rule of evidence that ensures a jury is educated on theories of false memory in order to produce more just verdicts—a rule that would especially be of aid in testimonies from children.

* This article was originally published here

Poor glycemic control linked to sarcopenia in T2DM

(HealthDay)—For patients with type 2 diabetes, poor glycemic control is associated with sarcopenia, according to a study published online May 9 in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation.

* This article was originally published here

Soft, social robot brings coziness to home robotics

A few years ago, when social robots began appearing in stores and homes, Guy Hoffman wondered why they all looked so much alike.

* This article was originally published here

Hospitals fall short in teaching fall prevention to departing patients

Falls are a leading cause of hospitalizations and emergency room visits among older adults, but until now, little was known about the relationship between falls and hospital readmissions.

* This article was originally published here

Overwatch League commissioner leaving to work on Fortnite

Overwatch League Commissioner Nate Nanzer is leaving the competitive video game circuit to oversee esports competition for Fortnite publisher Epic Games.

* This article was originally published here

Study analyzes mortality risks among pro athletes

Professional football players appear to have a somewhat elevated risk of death, including higher risk of succumbing to cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases, compared with professional baseball players of similar age, according to new research.

* This article was originally published here

Engineers create a simple test that can measure stress hormones in sweat, blood, urine or saliva

Stress is often called "the silent killer" because of its stealthy and mysterious effects on everything from heart disease to mental health.

* This article was originally published here

NASA's Mars 2020 mission drops in on Death Valley

On a test flight in Death Valley, California, an Airbus helicopter carried an engineering model of the Lander Vision System (LVS) that will help guide NASA's next Mars mission to a safe touchdown on the Red Planet. During the flight - one in a series—the helicopter (which is not part of the mission and was used just for testing) and its two-person crew flew a pre-planned sequence of maneuvers while LVS collected and analyzed imagery of the barren, mountainous terrain below.

* This article was originally published here

Rare iron oxide could be combined with 2-D materials for electronic, spintronic devices

Rice University researchers have simplified the synthesis of a unique, nearly two-dimensional form of iron oxide with strong magnetic properties that is easy to stack atop other 2-D materials.

* This article was originally published here