Monday 17 June 2019

New energy-efficient algorithm keeps UAV swarms helping longer

A new energy-efficient data routing algorithm developed by an international team could keep unmanned aerial vehicle swarms flying—and helping—longer, report an international team of researchers this month in the journal Chaos.

* This article was originally published here

Meteors help Martian clouds form

How did the Red Planet get all of its clouds? CU Boulder researchers may have discovered the secret: just add meteors.

* This article was originally published here

Coat the ravens evermore? To protect tortoises, officials test spraying oil into birds' nests

The sun was rising over the Mojave Desert as crews prepared to demonstrate a devastating new weapon in the war among man, bird and reptile.

* This article was originally published here

Ethics of AI: how should we treat rational, sentient robots – if they existed?

Imagine a world where humans co-existed with beings who, like us, had minds, thoughts, feelings, self-conscious awareness and the capacity to perform purposeful actions—but, unlike us, these beings had artificial mechanical bodies that could be switched on and off.

* This article was originally published here

Drones for early detection of forest fires

The UC3M's researchers coordinating the scientific part of the project, Fernando García y Abdulla al-Kaff, from the Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, have developed the complete automatic flight system, as well as the interface with which the emergency service can access information about what is occurring in real time.

* This article was originally published here

Hypertension drug may hold promise for Alzheimer's disease

Seeking new treatments to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, researchers found the blood pressure drug nilvadipine increased blood flow to the brain's memory and learning center among people with Alzheimer's disease without affecting other parts of the brain, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

* This article was originally published here

Balancing data protection and research needs in the age of the GDPR

Scientific journals and funding bodies often require researchers to deposit individual genetic data from studies in research repositories in order to increase data sharing with the aim of enabling the reproducibility of new findings, as well as facilitating new discoveries. However, the introduction of new regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can complicate this, according to the results of a study to be presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today.

* This article was originally published here

SMOS joins forces with top weather forecasting system

As of 11 June 2019, measurements from ESA's SMOS mission are being fully integrated into ECMWF's forecasting system, allowing for a more accurate description of water content in soil.

* This article was originally published here

Holistic view of planning energy self-sufficient communities

Sustainable communities supplied by local renewable energy production are beginning to be established in the U.S. By using energy-efficient buildings and distributing means of energy generation, such as solar panels, throughout buildings in these districts, the communities manage to produce enough energy for their local needs—achieving a yearly net zero energy (NZE) balance.

* This article was originally published here