AI Can Help With The COVID-19 Crisis – But The Right Human Input Is Key
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to help us tackle the pressing issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not the technology itself, though, that will make the difference but rather the knowledge and creativity of the humans who use it. Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis will likely expose some of the key shortfalls of …
Coronavirus: “Flattening The Curve” — Deadly Misconceptions Debunked
A major public message by health authorities in the midst of the COVID-19 can probably be summarized through one concept — we must do our best to flatten the curve. While the graphic has been considerably successful in spreading the important message in this pandemic, there are some misconceptions about this “curve” that may lead …
Machine Learning Pushes Quantum Computing Forward
Researchers have created a machine learning framework to precisely locate atom-sized quantum bits in silicon. It’s a crucial step for building a large-scale silicon quantum computer, the researchers report. Here, Muhammad Usman and Lloyd Hollenberg of the University of Melbourne explain their research and what it means for the future of quantum computers: Quantum computers are expected to offer …
Machine Learning Technique Sharpens Prediction Of Material’s Mechanical Properties
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Brown University have developed new approaches that significantly improve the accuracy of an important material testing technique by harnessing the power of machine learning. Nano-indentation – the process of poking a sample of a material with a sharp needle-like tip to …
From Virus-Slaying Air Purifiers To Delivery Robots, How University Inventions Are Fighting COVID-19
With the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) sweeping across continents and affecting many millions, health authorities, policy-makers and scientists, innovators around the world are racing to invent ways to contain the further spread of the virus. It is our unwavering belief that universities are – and should always be – contributing to this collective fight against this …
Artificial Intelligence Deployed Against Coronavirus
Lunar New Year lanterns lit up the eerily empty streets in Wuhan, China as the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak escalated and swept through at least 36 countries and territories. In the wake of the pandemic, Chinese authorities took emergency steps to limit the virus’s spread and shut down transit going in and out of Wuhan. Amid the rising global …
How China Is Using Artificial Intelligence And Big Data In Fighting Coronavirus
Compared to the 2002 SARS outbreak about two decades ago and the on-going COVID-19 outbreak today, China is equipped with more powerful technologies that are aiding them in suppressing the spread — Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data analytics. How do they help exactly? Eyes are watching According to Al Jazeera, the Chinese surveillance system …
Social Media, Nature, And Life Satisfaction: Positive Connection Between Nature Experiences And Happiness
The economic and ecological impacts of nature on humans have long been established with prevalent environmental issues such as climate change and over-exploitation of natural resources being the first to cross one’s mind. On the other hand, much less attention has been paid to the cultural and social values nature brings to humans. Even though natural …
This Is What An AI Said When Asked To Predict The Year Ahead
“What’s past is prologue.” So says the famed quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, alleging that we can look to what has already happened as an indication of what will happen next. This idea could be interpreted as being rather bleak; are we doomed to repeat the errors of the past until we correct them? We …
AI Just Discovered A New Antibiotic To Kill The World’s Nastiest Bacteria
Penicillin, one of the greatest discoveries in the history of medicine, was a product of chance. After returning from summer vacation in September 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming found a colony of bacteria he’d left in his London lab had sprouted a fungus. Curiously, wherever the bacteria contacted the fungus, their cell walls broke down and …