Scientists have dreamed of easily patching up heart tissue in the wake of heart attacks, but there are always gotchas: for example, it’s no mean feat to replicate the complex structures of real tissue. However, there may be a solution in sight. Researchers have produced a 3D-printed cell patch that can heal scarred heart tissue. The team used laser-based bioprinting to fit stem cells (based on adult … Read More → "A 3D-printed patch could help you recover from a heart attack"

At New York University, Jared Alan Frank has turned to augmented reality (AR) to develop a robot control interface that runs on a conventional smartphone or tablet. The system uses the device’s camera to capture details from a scene and overlay virtual objects, as other AR applications do. But in this case, you can simply tap and … Read More → "Controlling robot swarms with augmented reality"

The battle between humans and rats has been raging for thousands of years, and while we might have strength, size and smarts on our side, rats have their own secret weapon: the ability to breed like crazy. Now, the City of New York – a notorious rat hotspot – is working with biotech company SenesTech to disarm that tactic, with a birth control substance called ContraPest that renders both males and females … Read More → "Rat birth control could curb New York’s pest problem"

First, there were snakes on a plane. Then, we had sharks in tornadoes. Now, there is a darker and more prevalent combination of pests and unlikely places they exist: cockroaches in your PS4.

I heard about the PS4’s roach problem at an independent console repair shop on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. XCubicle is a clean and well-kept business … Read More → "Console repairmen explain why cockroaches love PS4s"

Smartphone apps could eventually predict arguments among couples and help nip them in the bud before they blow up. For the first time outside the lab, artificial intelligence has helped researchers begin looking for patterns in couples’ language and physiological signs that could help predict conflicts in relationships.

Most of conflict-monitoring experiments with real-life couples have … Read More → "Algorithm aims to predict bickering among couples"

This robotic ray, developed at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, is propelled by soft flapping wings made of dielectric elastomers, which bend when electricity is applied to them. Dielectric elastomers respond very quickly with relatively large motions, but they require very high voltages (on the order of 10 kilovolts) … Read More → "Robot ray swims using high-voltage artificial muscles"

There’s been a fair amount of controversy over Tesla’s Autopilot feature, so if you’ve got your doubts about the capabilities of assisted driving technology when it comes to preventing accidents, it’s worth taking a look at this.

New dashcam footage from the Netherlands shows the safety features in Tesla Autopilot detect a potential highway collision between the two cars travelling ahead of the driver, just moments before a violent impact takes place.
via Science Alert</ … Read More → "Tesla’s autopilot predicts a crash freakishly early"

There have been many, many discoveries that promise longer battery life, but one of the latest is rare in taking its inspiration from one of the most common structures in nature: the leaf vein. Scientists have crafted a porous material that mimics the highly optimized flow of nutrients in plant leaves. The team used an evaporation-based process to arrange zinc oxide nanoparticles into networks with pores of various sizes that behave … Read More → "Leaf veins may lead to longer battery life"

Google Creative Lab has introduced AutoDraw, a free web based drawing tool that uses machine learning to quickly analyze crude sketches/doodles and suggest possible matches through a clickable thumbnail menu of completed images drawn by professional artists.
via Laughing Squid

</ … Read More → "Google AutoDraw, a web based tool that quickly turns crude sketches into finished illustrations"

We are impressed by five prisoners in the US who built two personal computers from parts, hid them behind a plywood board in the ceiling of a closet, and then connected those computers to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s (ODRC) network to engage in cybershenanigans.

Compliments are less forthcoming from the State of Ohio’s Office of the Inspector General, which published its 50-page report [PDF] … Read More → "Prisoners built two PCs from parts, hid them in ceiling, connected to the state’s network and did cybershenanigans"