Author: saideek

The new system can capture and track flowing blood cells in a beating heart. (Dr. Tzung Hsiai)

UCLA bioengineers and colleagues have created a new imaging system that advances dynamic imaging microscopy with artificial intelligence. The new system can reveal the details of biological processes in tiny tissue samples at a resolution of two thousandths of a millimeter and in slow motion at 200 frames per second. “This new system allows us to see biological events live in what is essentially five dimensions — the three dimensions of space, plus time and the molecular level dynamics as highlighted by color spectra,” said Dr. Tzung Hsiai, UCLA’s Maud Cady Guthman Professor of Cardiology. “For doctors and scientists, this could reveal the fine details of what’s happening in microscopic spaces and over millisecond-length time scales in a way that has never been done before. This advance can go a long way in helping find new insights to understand and treat diseases.” More->>

Materials engineer Nzambi Matee heads a recent start-up called Gjenge Makers, which creates low-cost lightweight building materials from recycled plastic and sand. Beginning with pavers, the company has introduced a product that is stronger and more flexible than concrete, heightening its durability and diminishing its maintenance costs. More->>

“Icon, an Austin, Texas-based developer of construction technologies, received funding to research and develop a space-based construction system that could support future exploration of the moon. It has engaged two architecture firms as partners for the project: Denmark-based BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and New York City-based SEArch+.” — Construction Dive  More->>

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, many architects, designers, and students are turning to 3D-printing to rapidly produce much needed equipment, like protective gear for healthcare workers and respirator valves for sick patients. In their own effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, Belgian manufacturing company Materialise recently released free design files for a hands-free door opener that makes you use your wrist (ideally covered by a sleeve) instead of your bare hands to touch door handles, which are a hotspot for germs. Even MayoClinic has printed the door openers to be used in their facilities. More->>

Installation view of refik anadol ‘quantum memories, 2020’ on display in NGV triennial 2020, © refik anadol, by tom ross

The video artwork series is an expression of more than 200 million nature-related images from the internet. These images are processed using quantum computing software developed by the google AI quantum research team together with a supercomputer that has been programmed with machine-learning algorithms. The resulting real-time video can be considered both an alternate dimension of the natural world and a radical visualization of digitized memories of nature. More->>

Utilizing a unique VR set-up, researchers uncover a certain amount of trust to encourage, but not harm, pedestrians. When at a crosswalk, humans can easily read a driver’s slightest nod. These gestures give us the confidence to step out into the road full of two-ton machines. With an automated vehicle, however, that human to human communication is unreliable: the driver may not be in control or even be paying attention, leaving the pedestrian unsure if they’ll be safe while crossing. To inform future solutions to this, a team led by Michigan researchers observed how we act as pedestrians in a virtual reality city full of autonomous vehicles. More->>

Two Princeton researchers, architect Stefana Parascho and engineer Sigrid Adriaenssens, dreamed of using robots to simplify construction, even when building complex forms. “We want to use robots to build beautiful architecture more sustainably,” said Adriaenssens, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of the Form Finding Lab. So the professors partnered with architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) to create a striking and unique installation for the SOM exhibition “Anatomy of Structure” in London last March. They used two industrial robots provided by U.K.-based Global Robots to build a breathtaking vault, 7 feet tall, 12 feet across and 21 feet long, constructed of 338 transparent glass bricks from Poesia Glass Studio. More->>

Perth, Australia-based robotics company FBR – formerly known as Fastbrick Robotics – has built its first two-storey house using its Hadrian X block-laying robot, which has been in development since 2015. It was the first time the robotic block-laying approach incorporated steel reinforced concrete columns and a concrete floor slab placed atop the structure’s first story (Global Construstion Review). More->>

George Washington University (GW) researchers discovered apparent racial bias in pricing algorithms used by ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. GW’s Aylin Caliskan and Akshat Pandey analyzed transport and census data in Chicago and found that the firms charge higher fares if a pick-up point or destination is in a neighborhood with a greater ethnic minority population than for those with predominantly white residents. The researchers compared trip data from ride-hailing apps to information from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Although rider ethnicity is excluded from the trip data, fare prices per mile were higher overall if the pick-up or drop-off location was in a neighborhood with fewer white residents, a lower median house price, or lower average educational level. Os Keyes at the University of Washington in Seattle said, “This should cause us to further question studies of ‘fairness’ and ‘bias’ in algorithms which promise to end algorithmic racism by simply not mentioning race.” More->>

University of Michigan (U-M) researchers have developed a model for a practical technique that robots can use to visually search for or target items in complex environments in a more humanlike manner. The Semantic Linking Maps (SLiM) model teaches robots to seek items in close proximity if they are already in sight of a “landmark object.” SLiM links certain landmark objects in the robot’s memory to other related objects, along with data about the two objects’ typical spatial relationships. The researchers employed SLiM to factor in features of both target and landmark objects, in order to give robots a stronger understanding of how things can be arranged in an environment. Said U-M’s Zhan Zeng, “Being able to efficiently search for objects in an environment is crucial for service robots to autonomously perform tasks. We provide a practical method that enables robot to actively search for target objects in a complex environment.” More->>