How do social conventions change? Robotic engineers and marketing scientists joined forces to study this phenomenon, combining online experiments and statistical analysis into a mathematical model that shows how a committed minority can influence the majority to overturn long-standing practices.…
Immersive virtual reality disrupts the child’s default coordination strategy, scientists show, something that should be taken into account when developing virtual reality rehabilitation protocols for children. Read More
Researchers are developing artificial intelligence that could assess climate change tipping points. The deep learning algorithm could act as an early warning system against runaway climate change. Read More
Researchers have found that learning — a universal feature of intelligence in living beings — can be mimicked in synthetic matter, a discovery that in turn could inspire new algorithms for artificial intelligence (AI). Read More
Researchers have designed a 4D-printed soft robot that self-assembles when heated and can take on challenging tasks like rolling uphill and navigating a bumpy and unpredictable landscape. Read More
The sea slug has taught neuroscientists the most basic intelligence features that any creature in the animal kingdom needs to survive. Now, researchers have mimicked these strategies in a quantum material, a step toward figuring out how to build artificial…
A team studied whether hanging out with conversational agents, such as Alexa or Siri, could affect the way children communicate with their fellow humans. Read More
Building a base on the moon was once something out of science fiction, but now scientists are starting to consider it more seriously. Researchers are investigating methods for mining lunar resources to build such a base, using swarms of autonomous…
Researchers have developed electrically-driven soft valves to control hydraulic soft actuators. These valves could be used in assistive and therapeutic devices, bio-inspired soft robots, soft grippers, surgical robots, and more. Read More