The oceans are inundated with plastic. Despite the numerous flashy proposed solutions, there unfortunately still isn’t any surefire way to clean it all up. One of the most buzzed about ideas—underwater vacuuming—has recently come up against intense scrutiny for its potential collateral damage to marine ecosystems and wildlife. Meanwhile, even the more delicate alternatives often […]
This Jurassic-era ‘sea murderer’ was among the first of its kind
With its 19 feet-long torpedo-shaped body and long teeth the newly-described Lorrainosaurus was a fearsome mega predator. The fossilized remains of a 170-million-year-old marine reptile is the oldest-known pliosaur and dates back to the Jurassic era. The discovery is described in a study published October 16 in the journal Scientific Reports. [Related: Millions of years […]
Giving drones inflatable suits could help them survive crash landings
When entering into disaster scenarios, robots still have a major downside—their inability to recover when they inevitably crash into things. Scientists, however, have taken a page out of biology’s playbook, as they often do, to create a drone that can bounce back when met with various obstacles. Think of a bird landing on a tree […]
BenevolentBio’s artificial intelligence could discover a better treatment for ALS
What if the drug that could effectively treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the paralyzing neurological disease that skyrocketed into the public consciousness thanks to the ice bucket challenge, already exists? That’s the question confronting Jackie Hunter, CEO of BenevolentBio. Hunter runs the biomedical arm of the artificial intelligence firm BenevolentAI, applying machine learning to vast databases of medical […]