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Equipping self-driving cars with external displays which use coloured lights to communicate their next manoeuvre could help keep cyclists safe on the roads of the future, researchers say. With autonomous vehicles becoming more common, reducing active human involvement in driving in the process, researchers from the University of Glasgow have been working to investigate new ways to help self-driving cars speak the language of cyclists.

More than 100 years ago, scientists at The University of Manchester changed the world when they discovered the nucleus in atoms, marking the birth of nuclear physics. Fast forward to today, and history repeats itself, this time in quantum computing.

Pet parrots given the choice to video-call each other or watch pre-recorded videos of other birds will flock to the opportunity for live chats, new research shows. The study, led by animal-computer interaction specialists at the University of Glasgow, gave tablet devices to nine parrots and their owners to explore the potential of the video chats to expand the birds' social lives.

As self-driving cars become more common on our roads, a key question for future road safety is how to balance passengers' desire to relax during their trip while still remaining aware of road hazards and be ready to retake control. Researchers from the University of Glasgow have been testing the potential of augmented reality technology to allow drivers to enjoy the benefits of being driven by an autonomous vehicle while enabling them to quickly take the wheel if required.

A free smartphone app, Drink Less, can help people who would benefit most from reducing their alcohol consumption to do so successfully, according to a large randomised controlled trial led by UCL researchers. The study, published in eClinicalMedicine funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) , found that people randomly recommended to use the Drink Less app reduced their drinking by 39 units a week at six months - two more units a week on average than a control group who were referred to standard NHS advice.

A UCL-led research team has used artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to infer the influence and properties of dark energy more precisely from a map of dark and visible matter in the Universe covering the last seven billion years. The study, carried out by the Dark Energy Survey collaboration, doubled the precision at which key characteristics of the Universe, including the overall density of dark energy, could be inferred from the map.

Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have opened the way for the creation of a huge range of new healthcare tools, but to ensure that these tools do not exacerbate pre-existing health inequities, researchers urge the use of more representative data in their development. Researchers from Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) , University College London and the Centre for Ethnic Health Research , supported by Health Data Research UK , have for the first time studied the full detail of ethnicity data in the NHS.

A suite of filters which can be applied to medical images to help healthcare professionals with analysis and diagnosis has been developed by an international team of researchers. Operating in a similar way to those used on smart phones to enhance photography, the filters highlight different textures to help clinicians identify lesions or blood vessels in 3D medical images such as breast scans.

Researchers have developed a robotic sensor that incorporates artificial intelligence techniques to read braille at speeds roughly double that of most human readers. The research team, from the University of Cambridge, used machine learning algorithms to teach a robotic sensor to quickly slide over lines of braille text.

To understand and prevent these attacks, researchers had to get into the mind of the hacker, who builds a complex attack by combining smaller tactical steps. Computer science researchers have developed a new way to identify security weaknesses that leave people vulnerable to account takeover attacks, where a hacker gains unauthorized access to online accounts.

Study shows that the way the brain learns is different from the way that artificial intelligence systems learn Researchers from the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit and Oxford University's Department of Computer Science have set out a new principle to explain how the brain adjusts connections between neurons during learning.

Sophisticated new analysis of the physical processes which create the sounds of speech could help empower people with speech impairments and create new applications for voice recognition technologies, researchers say. Sophisticated new analysis of the physical processes which create the sounds of speech could help empower people with speech impairments and create new applications for voice recognition technologies, researchers say.

Being amazed by powerful graphics is not enough for a person to feel fully engaged in a VR world - even more important is a strong emotional response. Published on Monday 11 December 2023 Last updated on Monday 11 December 2023 Being wowed by powerful graphics is not enough for a person to feel fully immersed in a virtual-reality (VR) world - a strong emotional response to the simulated environment is essential too, according to a new study from the University of Bath.

Researchers have developed an adaptable algorithm that could improve road safety by predicting when drivers are able to safely interact with in-vehicle systems or receive messages, such as traffic alerts, incoming calls or driving directions.

A new machine learning tool from Imperial could help researchers track animal behaviour and pave the way for more AI use in the biological sciences. Biologists often study large numbers of animals to collect data on collective and individual behaviour. New machine learning tools promise to help scientists process the huge amount of data this work generates more quickly while lessening workload.

Alongside colleagues from four other universities, Dr Eva Krumhuber (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) writes in The Conversation that images of white faces generated by the StyleGAN2 algorithm look more "human" than actual people's faces. Does ChatGPT ever give you the eerie sense you're interacting with another human being?  Artificial intelligence (AI) has reached an astounding level of realism, to the point that some tools can even fool people into thinking they are interacting with another human.

A form of brain-inspired computing that exploits the intrinsic physical properties of a material to dramatically reduce energy use is now a step closer to reality, thanks to a new study led by UCL and Imperial College London researchers. Such an approach, known as physical reservoir computing, has until now been limited due to its lack of reconfigurability.

HotGestures give users 'superhuman' ability to open and control tools in virtual reality Researchers have developed a virtual reality application where a range of 3D modelling tools can be opened and controlled using just the movement of a user's hand. We need new ways of interacting with technology, and we think this is a step in that direction Per Ola Kristensson The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used machine learning to develop 'HotGestures' - analogous to the hot keys used in many desktop applications.

Two studies by computer scientists at the University of Bath make a case for using deepfakes in training videos. Published on Thursday 5 October 2023 Last updated on Thursday 5 October 2023 Watching a training video featuring a deepfake version of yourself, as opposed to a clip featuring somebody else, makes learning faster, easier and more fun, according to new research led by the REVEAL research centre at the University of Bath.

Researchers at UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that has the potential to not only identify sight-threatening eye diseases but also predict general health, including heart attacks, stroke, and Parkinson's disease. RETFound , one of the first AI foundation models in healthcare, and the first in ophthalmology, was developed using millions of eye scans from the NHS.