‘Green Brain’ project to create an autonomous flying robot with a honey bee brain - News releases - News Scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex are embarking on an ambitious project to produce the first accurate computer models of a honey bee brain in a bid to advance our understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and how animals think. Honey Bee The team will build models of the systems in the brain that govern a honey bee's vision and sense of smell. If successful, this project will meet one of the major challenges of modern science: building a robot brain that can perform complex tasks as well as the brain of an animal. It is anticipated that the artificial brain could eventually be used in applications such as search and rescue missions, or even mechanical pollination of crops. Dr James Marshall, leading the £1 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project in Sheffield, said: "The development of an artificial brain is one of the greatest challenges in Artificial Intelligence. Additional information Faculty of Engineering Contact
Vintage Decorating LA — Where to Buy Cheap Vintage Home Decor Every once in a while, you stumble across a product in the clearance aisle, are gifted an odd item from your great-aunt, or decide to do something crazy and move a few things around in your home. And, then, the home gods smile down at you, because for whatever reason you bought or used or rearranged what you did, it's changed your life ever since. So, you know that sometimes the smallest additions can make the biggest impact — especially when it comes to your teensy-weensy space. And, when you don't have to spend more than $100 to make those changes? Begin Slideshow Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory The Green Brain Project | Understanding the Honey Bee
UK Scientists Developing Autonomous Flying Honey Bee Robots! Honey Bee Photo via Shutterstock Scientists from the UK Universities of Sheffield and Sussex have been collaborating on an ambitious project to produce the first accurate computer models of a honey bee brain. The project is designed to help us advance our understanding of Artificial Intelligence, and how animals think. The UK team will build models of the systems in the brain that govern a honey bee’s vision and sense of smell – and then they will use the information to create the first flying robot able to sense and act as autonomously as a bee. In the past, most flying robots follow pre-designated instructions, but the UK team aims to make sure that their robot brain will be able to perform complex tasks such as finding the source of particular odors or gases in the same way that a bee can identify particular flowers. The team have been using hardware donated by NVIDIA Corporation. + University of Sheffield via TG Daily Images: eleZeta and Eggybird
Bound for Glory: 10 Great Memoirs by Musicians We recently learned that Carrie Brownstein — of Portlandia, but more importantly, Sleater-Kinney/Wild Flag fame — has signed a deal with Riverhead Books and is working on a memoir. We’re psyched, of course, and ready for a hilarious take on the ’90s riot grrrl scene and its transition into alt rock and indie punk. But the news also got us thinking about some of our favorite existing music memoirs, written by everyone from Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh to folk superhuman Woody Guthrie (but we’re leaving out Just Kids, because we’ve talked about it so much here that we assume you’ve already read it). We can only hope Brownstein’s turns out to be as good as some of these, but knowing her, it probably will. Rat Girl, Kristin Hersh Life , Keith Richards In his much-acclaimed recent memoir, Keith Richards talks about the late nights, the drug binges, the fights with Jagger — all the sexy stuff. Decoded , Jay-Z Beneath the Underdog , Charles Mingus I Need More , Iggy Pop
Robotic Bees to Pollinate Monsanto Crops by Russ McSpadden / Earth First! Newswire Traducción español aquí. Pollinators participate in the sexual-reproduction of plants. But never worry, those real life pollinators—the birds and the bees, as they say—may soon be irrelevant to the food needs of civilization. The Harvard Microrobotics Lab has been working on its Micro Air Vehicles Project since early 2009. Of course, published reports from the lab also describe potential military uses—surveillance and mapping—but the dime-sized cyber-bees have yet to be outfitted with neurotoxin tipped stingers. If you think this bee news is strange, be sure to check out this recent article from the newswire: Anarchist Beekeepers Claim Responsibility for U.S. [The text of this work is free to share and distribute under the following Creative Commons License CC-BY-ND 3.0] Like this: Like Loading... Check out these related Newswire posts:
Virtual bees help to unravel complex causes of colony decline Scientists have created an ingenious computer model that simulates a honey bee colony over the course of several years. The BEEHAVE model, published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, was created to investigate the losses of honeybee colonies that have been reported in recent years and to identify the best course of action for improving honeybee health. A team of scientists, led by Professor Juliet Osborne from the Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter (and previously at Rothamsted Research), developed BEEHAVE, which simulates the life of a colony including the queen's egg laying, brood care by nurse bees and foragers collecting nectar and pollen in a realistic landscape. Professor Osborne said: "It is a real challenge to understand which factors are most important in affecting bee colony growth and survival. The first results of the model show that colonies infested with a common parasitic mite (varroa) can be much more vulnerable to food shortages.
Autonomous flying robot has a honey bee brain UK scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex have kicked off an ambitious project to produce the first accurate computer model of a honey bee brain. According to Dr. James Marshall, the model will be used to advance the current (limited) understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how animals think. The team will build models of the systems in the brain that govern a honey bee's vision and sense of smell. If successful, this project will meet one of the major challenges of modern science: building a robot brain that can perform complex tasks as well as the brain of an animal. Tasks the robot will be expected to perform? "The development of an artificial brain is one of the greatest challenges in Artificial Intelligence," said Marshall. "Using Nvidia's massively parallel GPU accelerators for brain models is an important goal of the project as they allow us to build faster models than ever before.