Humans in the loop help robots find their way: Computer scientists’ interactive program aids motion planning for environments with obstacles
Just like us, robots can’t see through walls. Sometimes they need a little help to get where they’re going. Engineers at Rice University have developed a method that allows humans to help robots “see” their environments and carry out tasks. The strategy called Bayesian Learning IN the Dark — BLIND, for short — is a […]
Lichens are in danger of losing the evolutionary race with climate change: The algae part of many common lichens can’t adapt to temperature change as fast as the Earth is warming
Algae are more than just the green scum that shows up on aquarium walls. The tiny plants, when teamed up with a fungus, can form a composite structure called lichen. Lichens grow everywhere, from tundras in the Arctic to the bark of the tree in your yard, and they do everything from creating oxygen to […]
Scientists observe a new type of topological defect in chiral magnets
“Topological defects” are formed when the symmetry of a magnetic material is disrupted. Domain walls (DWs) are a type of topological defect that separates regions of different magnetic orientations. A widely studied phenomenon, the manipulation of these defects has potential applications in high-performance memory storage devices, energy processing devices, and quantum computing. Recently, the possibility […]