ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Showing robots how to drive a car...in just a few easy lessons
• Researchers identify features that could make someone a virus super-spreader
• Newborn jets in distant galaxies
• New effective and safe antifungal isolated from sea squirt microbiome
• Very hungry and angry, caterpillars head-butt to get what they want
• A pressure sensor at your fingertips
• The secret social lives of giant poisonous rats
• Can animals use iridescent colours to communicate?
• Scientists defy nature to make insta-bling at room temperature
• Novel magnetic spray transforms objects into millirobots for biomedical applications
• Curved origami provides new range of stiffness-to-flexibility in robots
• Deep learning helps robots grasp and move objects with ease
• Versatile building blocks make structures with surprising mechanical properties
• New test reveals AI still lacks common sense

Showing robots how to drive a car...in just a few easy lessons Posted: 19 Nov 2020 12:39 PM PST Researchers have designed a system that lets robots autonomously learn complicated tasks from a very small number of demonstrations -- even imperfect ones. While current state-of-art methods need at least 100 demonstrations to nail a specific task, this new method allows robots to learn from only a handful of demonstrations.

Researchers identify features that could make someone a virus super-spreader Posted: 19 Nov 2020 12:39 PM PST Researchers used computer-generated models to numerically simulate sneezes in different types of people and determine associations between people's physiological features and how far their sneeze droplets travel and linger in the air. They found that people's features, like a stopped-up nose or a full set of teeth, could increase their potential to spread viruses by affecting how far droplets travel when they sneeze.

Newborn jets in distant galaxies Posted: 19 Nov 2020 11:18 AM PST Comparing data from VLA sky surveys made some two decades apart revealed that the black hole-powered 'engines' at the cores of some distant galaxies have launched new, superfast jets of material during the interval between the surveys.

New effective and safe antifungal isolated from sea squirt microbiome Posted: 19 Nov 2020 11:17 AM PST By combing the ocean for antimicrobials, scientists have discovered a new antifungal compound that efficiently targets multi-drug-resistant strains of deadly fungi without toxic side effects in mice.

Very hungry and angry, caterpillars head-butt to get what they want Posted: 19 Nov 2020 11:17 AM PST When food is scarce, monarch butterfly caterpillars go from docile to domineering. The results look something like a combination of boxing and 'bumper' cars. The less food, the more likely caterpillars were to try to head-butt each other out of the way to get their fill, lunging and knocking aside other caterpillars to ensure their own survival. And, they are most aggressive right before the final stages of their metamorphosis.

A pressure sensor at your fingertips Posted: 19 Nov 2020 11:17 AM PST Researchers have developed an ultrathin pressure sensor that can be attached directly to the skin. It can measure how fingers interact with objects to produce useful data for medical and technological applications. The sensor has minimal effect on the users' sensitivity and ability to grip objects, and it is resistant to disruption from rubbing. The team also hopes their sensor can be used for the novel task of digitally archiving the skills of craft workers.

The secret social lives of giant poisonous rats Posted: 19 Nov 2020 10:54 AM PST The African crested rat is the only mammal known to sequester plant toxins for chemical defense. A new study confirmed that the rabbit-sized rodent licks poison from the bark of Acokanthera schimperi, known as the poison arrow tree, into specialized fur. The researchers also discovered an unexpected social life -- the rats appear to be monogamous and may even form small family units with their offspring.

Can animals use iridescent colours to communicate? Posted: 19 Nov 2020 07:30 AM PST A new paper sheds light on the colorful world of animal communication, highlighting the challenges of studying accurately how iridescent colors work in nature.

Scientists defy nature to make insta-bling at room temperature Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:18 AM PST An international team of scientists has defied nature to make diamonds in minutes in a laboratory at room temperature - a process that normally requires billions of years, huge amounts of pressure and super-hot temperatures.

Novel magnetic spray transforms objects into millirobots for biomedical applications Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:18 AM PST An easy way to make millirobots by coating objects with a glue-like magnetic spray has been developed. Driven by the magnetic field, the coated objects can crawl, walk, or roll on different surfaces. As the magnetic coating is biocompatible and can be disintegrated into powders when needed, this technology demonstrates the potential for biomedical applications, including catheter navigation and drug delivery.

Curved origami provides new range of stiffness-to-flexibility in robots Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:18 AM PST Curved origami structures provide tunable flexibility to robots.

Deep learning helps robots grasp and move objects with ease Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:18 AM PST Researchers have created new artificial intelligence software that gives robots the speed and skill to grasp and smoothly move objects, making it feasible for them to soon assist humans in warehouse environments.

Versatile building blocks make structures with surprising mechanical properties Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:18 AM PST Researchers have created tiny building blocks that exhibit unique mechanical properties, such as the ability to produce a twisting motion when squeezed. These subunits could potentially be assembled by robots into a nearly limitless variety of objects with built-in functionality, including vehicles, large industrial parts, or specialized robots that can be repeatedly reassembled in different forms.

New test reveals AI still lacks common sense Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:17 AM PST Natural language processing (NLP) has taken great strides recently -- but how much does AI understand of what it reads? Less than we thought, it seems. Despite advances, AI still doesn't have the common sense needed to generate plausible sentences.

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