Wednesday 19 June 2019

Teaching AI agents navigation subroutines by feeding them videos

Researchers at UC Berkeley and Facebook AI Research have recently proposed a new approach that can enhance the navigation skills of machine learning models. Their method, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, allows models to acquire visuo-motor navigation subroutines by processing a series of videos.

* This article was originally published here

New approaches cut inappropriate antibiotic use by over 30%

A UC Davis study of nine emergency departments and urgent care centers in California and Colorado found educating physicians and patients about safe antibiotic use can cut overuse by one-third.

* This article was originally published here

Early Celts in Burgundy appropriated Mediterranean products and feasting practices

Early Celts in eastern France imported Mediterranean pottery, as well as olive oil and wine, and may have appropriated Mediterranean feasting practices, according to a study published June 19, 2019 in PLOS ONE, by Maxime Rageot from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the University of Tübingen, and colleagues.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers use facial quirks to unmask 'deepfakes'

After watching hours of video footage of former President Barack Obama delivering his weekly address, Shruti Agarwal began to notice a few quirks about the way Obama speaks.

* This article was originally published here

Human migration in Oceania recreated through paper mulberry genetics

The migration and interaction routes of prehistoric humans throughout the islands of Oceania can be retraced using genetic differences between paper mulberry plants, a tree native to Asia cultivated for fibers to make paper and introduced into the Pacific in prehistoric times to make barkcloth. Daniela Seelenfreund of the University of Chile and Andrea Seelenfreund of the Academia de Humanismo Cristiano University, Chile report on prehistoric human movements based on the genetic analysis of this plant in a new paper published June 19 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

* This article was originally published here

Melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled in recent years

A newly comprehensive study shows that melting of Himalayan glaciers caused by rising temperatures has accelerated dramatically since the start of the 21st century. The analysis, spanning 40 years of satellite observations across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, indicates that glaciers have been losing the equivalent of more than a vertical foot and half of ice each year since 2000—double the amount of melting that took place from 1975 to 2000. The study is the latest and perhaps most convincing indication that climate change is eating the Himalayas' glaciers, potentially threatening water supplies for hundreds of millions of people downstream across much of Asia.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers develop new method to evaluate artificial heart valves

Researchers at Concordia have devised a technique to detect obstructions in a type of mechanical heart valve they believe will contribute to safer follow-up methods for cardiologists and their patients.

* This article was originally published here

Toward artificial intelligence that learns to write code

Learning to code involves recognizing how to structure a program, and how to fill in every last detail correctly. No wonder it can be so frustrating.

* This article was originally published here

Mobile crisis service reduces youth ER visits for behavioral health needs, says study

Children and youth with acute behavioral health needs who are seen through Connecticut's Mobile Crisis Intervention Service—a community-based program that provides mental health interventions and services to patients 18 years and younger—have a lower risk of experiencing a follow-up episode and are less likely to show up in an emergency room if and when another episode occurs.

* This article was originally published here

New laser therapy seeks to halt the progression of age-related vision loss

There are 200 million people in the world living with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and in approximately a fifth of these cases, the disease progresses to an advanced stage, leading to visual impairment. Advanced AMD is divided into wet and dry forms. While wet AMD can be treated with medical injections, approximately four fifths of advanced AMD cases are of the dry form, for which there is currently no medical treatment.

* This article was originally published here

Facebook's currency Libra faces financial, privacy pushback

Facebook is getting a taste of the regulatory pushback it will face as it creates a new digital currency with corporate partners.

* This article was originally published here

'Self-healing' polymer brings perovskite solar tech closer to market

A protective layer of epoxy resin helps prevent the leakage of pollutants from perovskite solar cells (PSCs), according to scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). Adding a "self-healing" polymer to the top of a PSC can radically reduce how much lead it discharges into the environment. This gives a strong boost to prospects for commercializing the technology.

* This article was originally published here

Teaching artificial intelligence to connect senses like vision and touch

In Canadian author Margaret Atwood's book The Blind Assassin, she says that "touch comes before sight, before speech. It's the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth."

* This article was originally published here

Get your fax right: Bungling officials spark Japan nuclear scare

Bungling Japanese officials sparked a nuclear scare after a violent, late-night earthquake by ticking the wrong box on a fax form—inadvertently alerting authorities to a potential accident.

* This article was originally published here

New evidence shows rapid response in the West Greenland landscape to Arctic climate shifts

New evidence shows that Arctic ecosystems undergo rapid, strong and pervasive environmental changes in response to climate shifts, even those of moderate magnitude, according to an international research team led by the University of Maine.

* This article was originally published here

Guns are often obtained just days before a crime, study finds

Guns recovered from crimes are often a decade old, but knowing when a gun was manufactured doesn't reveal how many times it may have changed hands.

* This article was originally published here

Pup fostering gives genetic boost to wild Mexican wolves

It's a carefully planned mission that involves coordination across state lines—from Mexican gray wolf dens hidden deep in the woods of New Mexico and Arizona to breeding facilities at zoos and special conservation centers around the U.S.

* This article was originally published here

Record-low fertility rates linked to decline in stable manufacturing jobs

As the Great Recession wiped out nearly 9 million jobs and 19 trillion dollars in wealth from U.S. households, American families experienced another steep decline—they had fewer children.

* This article was originally published here

Students restore motion to five-year-old boy's arms

His arms paralyzed by a rare virus three years ago, Max Ng has struggled to push, pull and poke his way through the world with the gleeful ease that most 5 year olds enjoy.

* This article was originally published here

Adding bevacizumab improves overall survival in NSCLC

(HealthDay)—The addition of bevacizumab to carboplatin/pemetrexed is associated with improved overall survival among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

* This article was originally published here