Emerging Tech
Rescue Robots Get a Speed Upgrade for Rough Terrain
A new planning algorithm helps robots figure out how to balance with hands and feet.
Digital Government
IG: State Office of the Science and Tech Adviser Needs Stable Leadership and a Formal Strategy
The 10-year-old office has done good work, the inspector general found, but suffers from staff turnover and a lack of strategic vision.
Ideas
Lesson from a Robot Swarm: Change Group Behavior by Talking One-on-One Rather than Getting on a Soapbox
Persuading people one-on-one might be the best route to getting them to recognize better alternatives.
Emerging Tech
California Lawmakers Call for NOAA-Led Research Testbeds to Study and Stop Wildfires
The legislation would commit $15 million to such a pursuit in fiscal 2022.
Emerging Tech
Fish Fins Are Teaching Us the Secret to Flexible Robots and New Shape-Changing Materials
Materials based on a segmented structure could be used in underwater propulsion and improve the agility and speed of fish-inspired submarines.
Ideas
An AI Expert Explains Why It’s Hard to Give Computers Something You Take for Granted: Common Sense
Common sense includes an intuitive understanding of basic physics – something computers lack.
Emerging Tech
Oak Ridge-Made Software Platform Digitally Twins All U.S. Buildings
Those involved aim to help improve nationwide decision-making about energy efficiency.
Ideas
Female Scientists Set Back by the Pandemic May Never Make Up Lost Time
The reason is the inequitable structure of rewards in science.
Podcasts
Critical Update: How Federal Agencies Can Help Avert Quantum Catastrophe
The White House is working on plans to roll out new cryptographic systems that will require epic levels of funding from Congress and coordination, both within the government and in partnership with industry.
Digital Government
National Labs Move to Support Researchers Seeking Name Changes on Past Work
As part of broader inclusivity campaigns, the labs aim to relieve some burdens faced by transgender authors or others whose names have changed over their professions.
Artificial Intelligence
NSF Adds 11 New AI Research Institutes to Its Collaborative, Nationwide Network
Top thinkers across multiple sectors are set to jointly engage with the evolving technology.
Emerging Tech
Algorithm Could Improve How Self-Driving Cars Take on Narrow Streets
This kind of exchange requires drivers—human or machine—to make decisions based on largely unwritten rules of the road, researchers said.
Ideas
Military Robots Dig into New Underground Environments
Only a few organic creatures specifically designed for that environment are able to do it well.
Emerging Tech
Democrats Again Propose New Tech-Focused Agency and Big Boosts in R&D Funding
Lawmakers want the “aspirational vision” to help steer future negotiations.
Artificial Intelligence
Researchers Create Drone Swarms That Can Detect Gas Leaks, Other Threats
A new algorithm called “Sniffy Bug” shows how tiny drones will do dangerous work even in areas where they can’t use GPS.
Digital Government
Report: DOD Budget Request Shows IT Increases, Shift to Information Warfare Focus
“The future character of warfare will be defined more by information than by hardware,” according to an analysis by Govini.
Artificial Intelligence
National Lab Researchers Boost Chip Design Processes With Artificial Intelligence
The experiments could hold the potential to help ease future semiconductor shortages.
Emerging Tech
White House, NIH Directors Weigh in on Proposed Health and Human Services Research Arm
The proposed $6.5 billion Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health will need a very specific work culture and an inspiring first leader to be successful, key officials said.
Ideas
The First Mobile Phone Call Was 75 Years Ago – What It Takes for Technologies to Go from Breakthrough to Big Time
Technology development really occurs on a timescale of decades.
Ideas