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A robotic 'evolution machine' capable of exploring the generational development of chemical mixtures over long periods of time could help cast new light on the origins of life, scientists say. A team of chemists from the University of Glasgow developed the robot, which uses a machine-learning algorithm to make decisions about which chemicals from a selection of 18 to combine in a reactor, and how to set conditions under which the reaction occurs.

Graphene can be used for ultra-high density hard disk drives (HDD), with up to a tenfold jump compared to current technologies, researchers at the Cambridge Graphene Centre have shown. Considering that in 2020, around 1 billion terabytes of fresh HDD storage was produced, these results indicate a route for mass application of graphene in cutting-edge technologies Andrea Ferrari The study was carried out in collaboration with teams at the University of Exeter, India, Switzerland, Singapore, and the US.

Researchers from the University of Bristol have demonstrated how a new special type of camera can build a pictorial map of where it has been and use this map to know where it currently is, something that will be incredibly useful in the development of smart sensors, driverless cars and robotics. Knowing where you are on a map is one of the most useful pieces of information when navigating journeys.

Scientists have long questioned why the bursts of hot gas from the Sun do not cool down as fast as expected, and now a UCL-led team of researchers have used a supercomputer to find out why. The team will now compare their simulations with 'real' data from the European Space Agency's flagship Solar Orbiter mission, with the hope that it will confirm their predictions and provide a conclusive answer.

Experts in virtual reality locomotion have developed a new resource that analyses all the different possibilities of locomotion currently available. Moving around in a virtual reality world can be very different to walking or employing a vehicle in the real world and new approaches and techniques are continually being developed to meet the challenges of different applications.

You can't physically crash a planet into another planet in a lab to see what happens or look quite far enough back in time to see how the universe might have formed. So what do you do? At Durham we use supercomputer technology to simulate the universe as we seek to unravel its mysteries. How do galaxies form? What are dark matter and dark energy? And what will be the ultimate fate of the universe? COSMA supercomputer The COSMA supercomputer - with the memory of about 25,000 high-powered laptops - allows researchers to answer these big cosmological questions.

Training the artificial intelligence models that underpin web search engines, power smart assistants and enable driverless cars, consumes megawatts of energy and generates worrying carbon dioxide emissions. But new ways of training these models are proven to be greener. The development and usage of AI is playing an increasing role in the tragedy that is climate change, and this problem will only worsen as this technology continues to proliferate through society Nic Lane Artificial intelligence models are used increasingly widely in today's world.

Research into disaster planning addresses issue of considering how to restore distribution networks alongside providing immediate aid Last updated on Thursday 6 May 2021 A University of Bath School of Management academic has developed an algorithm to help charities and aid organisations improve the way they help victims of storms, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Scientists have found a way to equip everyday objects like smartphones and laptops with a bat-like sense of their surroundings. At the heart of the technique is a sophisticated machine-learning algorithm which uses reflected echoes to generate images, similar to the way bats navigate and hunt using echolocation.

Scientists from the University's Quantum Engineering Technology Labs (QETLabs) have developed an algorithm that provides valuable insights into the physics underlying quantum systems - paving the way for significant advances in quantum computation and sensing, and potentially turning a new page in scientific investigation.

Researchers at CAMERA are investigating VR technology to help improve balance and prevent falls. Last updated on Wednesday 28 April 2021 Researchers at the University of Bath investigating how virtual reality (VR) can help improve balance believe this technology could be a valuable tool in the prevention of falls.

Systematic review finds that machine learning models for detecting and diagnosing COVID-19 from medical images have major flaws and biases, making them unsuitable for use in patients. However, researchers have suggested ways to remedy the problem.

Researchers have developed a way to coax microscopic particles and droplets into precise patterns by harnessing the power of sound in air. The implications for printing, especially in the fields of medicine and electronics, are far-reaching. The scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Bath have shown that it's possible to create precise, pre-determined patterns on surfaces from aerosol droplets or particles, using computer-controlled ultrasound.

The speed at which we produce facial expressions plays an important role in our ability to recognise emotions in others, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. A team in the University's School of Psychology carried out research which showed that people tend to produce happy and angry expressions more rapidly, while sad expressions are produced more slowly.

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in predicting the behaviour of neurons in large networks operating at the mysterious edge of chaos. New research from the University of Sussex and Kyoto University outlines a new method capable of analysing the masses of data generated by thousands of individual neurons.

Researchers have found a way to use light and a single electron to communicate with a cloud of quantum bits and sense their behaviour, making it possible to detect a single quantum bit in a dense cloud. We don't have a way of 'talking' to the cloud and the cloud doesn't have a way of talking to us. But what we can talk to is an electron: we can communicate with it sort of like a dog that herds sheep Mete Atatüre The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, were able to inject a 'needle' of highly fragile quantum information in a 'haystack' of 100,000 nuclei.

Cybercriminals are preying on emotions of fear to spread dangerous viruses and spyware across Twitter, new research has revealed. Scientists from Cardiff University have shown, for the first time, that tweets containing malicious links are more likely to contain negative emotions, and that it is the content of the tweet that increases the likelihood of it being liked and shared, as opposed to the number of followers of the poster.

Being prepared for a pandemic, like COVID-19, depends on the ability to predict the course of the pandemic and the human behaviour that drives spread in the event of an outbreak. Cell phone metadata that is routinely collected by telecommunications providers can reveal changes of behavior in people who are diagnosed with a flu-like illness, while also protecting their anonymity, a new study has found.

Official weather forecasts are being produced faster and more efficiently, thanks to revolutionary technology designed by scientists at the University of Bath. Last updated on Friday 5 February 2021 Official weather forecasts are being produced faster and more efficiently, thanks to revolutionary technology designed by scientists at the University of Bath.

A new smartphone app developed by researchers at UCL and Birkbeck, University of London, is enabling doctors to remotely monitor their patients' progression of Parkinson's symptoms, as reported in a new clinical trial. The findings, published in npj Parkinson's Disease , show that the app can provide clinicians with a more complete picture of a person's condition than they can get from a typically brief medical check-up.