ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Separating gamma-ray bursts: Students make critical breakthrough
• Reduction in commercial flights due to COVID-19 leading to less accurate weather forecasts
• Researchers gives robots intelligent sensing abilities to carry out complex tasks
• Designing better asteroid explorers
• Transparent, reflective objects now within grasp of robots
• Design of insect-inspired fans offers wide-ranging applications
• Power of DNA to store information gets an upgrade

Separating gamma-ray bursts: Students make critical breakthrough Posted: 17 Jul 2020 09:01 AM PDT By applying a machine-learning algorithm, scientists have developed a method to classify all gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), rapid highly energetic explosions in distant galaxies, without needing to find an afterglow - by which GRBs are presently categorized. This breakthrough, initiated by first-year B.Sc. students, may prove key in finally discovering the origins of these mysterious bursts.

Reduction in commercial flights due to COVID-19 leading to less accurate weather forecasts Posted: 17 Jul 2020 07:10 AM PDT Weather forecasts have become less accurate during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the reduction in commercial flights, according to new research. A new study finds the world lost 50 to 75 percent of its aircraft weather observations between March and May of this year, when many flights were grounded due to the pandemic.

Researchers gives robots intelligent sensing abilities to carry out complex tasks Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:31 AM PDT The novel system developed by computer scientists and materials engineers combines an artificial brain system with human-like electronic skin, and vision sensors, to make robots smarter.

Designing better asteroid explorers Posted: 14 Jul 2020 07:12 AM PDT Recent NASA missions to asteroids have used robotic explorers to gather data about the early evolution of our Solar System, planet formation, and how life may have originated on Earth. To design successful robotic explorers, researchers must understand how these explorers impact the surface of asteroids during their touchdown. Researchers conducted lab experiments to determine what happens when explorers and other objects touch down on complex, granular surfaces in low gravity environments.

Transparent, reflective objects now within grasp of robots Posted: 14 Jul 2020 05:28 AM PDT Kitchen robots are a popular vision of the future, but if a robot of today tries to grasp a kitchen staple such as a clear measuring cup or a shiny knife, it likely won't be able to. Transparent and reflective objects are the things of robot nightmares. Roboticists at Carnegie Mellon University, however, report success with a new technique they've developed for teaching robots to pick up these troublesome objects.

Design of insect-inspired fans offers wide-ranging applications Posted: 13 Jul 2020 12:49 PM PDT A highly sophisticated folding mechanism employed by a group of insects for at least 280 million years is set to become available for a wide range of applications, thanks to a design method developed and tested through multidisciplinary research by engineers and palaeobiologists.

Power of DNA to store information gets an upgrade Posted: 13 Jul 2020 12:49 PM PDT A team of interdisciplinary researchers has discovered a new technique to store in DNA information - in this case 'The Wizard of Oz,' translated into Esperanto - with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. The technique harnesses the information-storage capacity of intertwined strands of DNA to encode and retrieve information in a way that is both durable and compact.

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