19 Nov Sophisticated AI software helped NASA dream up a spider-like interplanetary lander

Using a new type of AI design process, engineers at software company Autodesk and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory came up with a new interplanetary lander concept that could explore distant moons like Europa and Enceladus. Its slim design weighs less than most of the landers that NASA has already sent to other planets and moons.

Autodesk announced its new innovative lander design today at the company’s conference in Las Vegas — revealing a spacecraft that looks like a spider woven from metal. The company says the idea to create the vehicle was sparked when Autodesk approached NASA to validate a lander prototype it had been working on. After looking at Autodesk’s work, JPL and the company decided to form a design team — comprised of five engineers from Autodesk and five from JPL — to come up with a new way to design landers.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.theverge.com

19 Nov World’s first English AI news anchor goes on air in China

Chinese news readers may have some new competition – artificially intelligent robot anchors that can mimic human facial expressions and mannerisms while reading out reports. The AI anchor, developed by state news agency Xinhua and tech firm Sogou Inc, was on display at the World Internet Conference in the eastern Chinese town of Wuzhen, drawing in curious passers-by.

The anchor, modelled on real-life Chinese news reader Qiu Hao and sporting a black suit and red tie, is part of a major push by China to advance its prowess in AI technology, from surveillance equipment to self-driving cars.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.youtube.com

19 Nov Parasitic wasp inspires advancements in surgery

Reseachers from Wageningen University & Research are inspired by the ovipositor of the parasitic wasp for the development of a steerable surgical needle.

Flexible, ultra-thin and steerable needles would help surgeons perform operations even better. Researchers at Wageningen University & Research are therefore studying the ovipositor with which the parasitic wasp lays its eggs. Based on their findings, colleagues at Delft University of Technology have developed the first prototype of this needle which is the thinnest needle in the world. Solutions found in nature are often the source of human inventions such as self-cleaning paint and underwater robots.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: dialogue.wur.eu

11 Nov NASA 60th anniversary: All about the space agency’s past, present and future

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.cnet.com

11 Nov Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster has sailed beyond Mars

The electric car, which was launched on the Falcon Heavy rocket in February, is reportedly 179 million miles away from Earth.

Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster has made its way past Mars’ orbit, according to a tweet from SpaceX on November 2, 2018. The Roadster, along with a dummy driver named "Starman" in the driver’s seat, was launched into space on the Falcon Heavy rocket in February. The website WhereIsRoadster.com calculated that the electric car is now about 179 million miles away from Earth and is moving at a speed of roughly 35,000 mph. It’s set to swing back into its planned 557-day orbit around the sun.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.businessinsider.com

11 Nov Rare Blue Asteroid Reveals Itself During Fly-By

Blue asteroids are rare, and blue comets are almost unheard of. An international team led by Teddy Kareta, a doctoral student at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, investigated Phaethon, a bizarre asteroid that sometimes behaves like a comet, and found it even more enigmatic than previously thought.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: uanews.arizona.edu

05 Nov New material, manufacturing process use sun’s heat for cheaper renewable electricity – News – Purdue University

Solar power accounts for less than 2 percent of U.S. electricity but could make up more than that if the cost of electricity generation and energy storage for use on cloudy days and at nighttime were cheaper.

A Purdue University-led team developed a new material and manufacturing process that would make one way to use solar power – as heat energy – more efficient in generating electricity.

The innovation is an important step for putting solar heat-to-electricity generation in direct cost competition with fossil fuels, which generate more than 60 percent of electricity in the U.S.

“Storing solar energy as heat can already be cheaper than storing energy via batteries, so the next step is reducing the cost of generating electricity from the sun’s heat with the added benefit of zero greenhouse gas emissions,” said Kenneth Sandhage, Purdue’s Reilly Professor of Materials Engineering.

The research, which was done at Purdue in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, published in the journal Nature.

A YouTube video is available at https://youtu.be/PMC3EE19ouw.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.purdue.edu

05 Nov NASA’s Kepler space telescope ends its planet-hunting mission

Astronomers are building instruments that can characterize the many alien worlds the Kepler spacecraft revealed—and look for signs of life.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.nationalgeographic.com