Extending the field of magnetic manipulation to conductive, non-magnetic objects opens the door for a wide array of applications previously limited to hard or soft magnetic materials. Of particular interest is the recycling of space debris through the use of oscillating magnetic fields, which represent a cache of raw materials in an environment particularly suited to the low forces generated from inductive magnetic manipulation. Building upon previous work that demonstrated 3D open-loop position control by leveraging the opposing dipole moment created from induced eddy currents, this work demonstrates closed-loop position control of a semi-buoyant aluminum sphere in lab tests, and the efficacy of varying methods for force inversion is explored. The closed-loop methods represent a critical first step towards wider applications for 3-DOF position control of induced magnetic dipoles.

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) is a powerful tool for untargeted, highly multiplexed molecular mapping of tissue in biomedical research. IMS offers a means of mapping the spatial distributions of molecular species in biological tissue with unparalleled chemical specificity and sensitivity. However, most IMS platforms are not able to achieve microscopy-level spatial resolution and lack cellular morphological contrast, necessitating subsequent histochemical staining, microscopic imaging and advanced image registration steps to enable molecular distributions to be linked to specific tissue features and cell types. Here, we present a virtual histological staining approach that enhances spatial resolution and digitally introduces cellular morphological contrast into mass spectrometry images of label-free human tissue using a diffusion model. Blind testing on human kidney tissue demonstrated that the virtually stained images of label-free samples closely match their histochemically stained counterparts (with Periodic Acid-Schiff staining), showing high concordance in identifying key renal pathology structures despite utilizing IMS data with 10-fold larger pixel size. Additionally, our approach employs an optimized noise sampling technique during the diffusion model's inference process to reduce variance in the generated images, yielding reliable and repeatable virtual staining. We believe this virtual staining method will significantly expand the applicability of IMS in life sciences and open new avenues for mass spectrometry-based biomedical research.

Soft pneumatic actuators are used to steer soft growing "vine" robots while being flexible enough to undergo the tip eversion required for growth. In this study, we compared the performance of three types of pneumatic actuators in terms of their ability to perform eversion, quasi-static bending, dynamic motion, and force output: the pouch motor, the cylindrical pneumatic artificial muscle (cPAM), and the fabric pneumatic artificial muscle (fPAM). The pouch motor is advantageous for prototyping due to its simple manufacturing process. The cPAM exhibits superior bending behavior and produces the highest forces, while the fPAM actuates fastest and everts at the lowest pressure. We evaluated a range of dimensions for each actuator type. Larger actuators can produce more significant deformations and forces, but smaller actuators inflate faster and can evert at a lower pressure. Because vine robots are lightweight, the effect of gravity on the functionality of different actuators is minimal. We developed a new analytical model that predicts the pressure-to-bending behavior of vine robot actuators. Using the actuator results, we designed and demonstrated a 4.8 m long vine robot equipped with highly maneuverable 60x60 mm cPAMs in a three-dimensional obstacle course. The vine robot was able to move around sharp turns, travel through a passage smaller than its diameter, and lift itself against gravity.

However, I really do have to establish my credentials, biases, and agenda for readers -- and sometimes people do ask. Okay, my full name is "Gregory Vaughn Goebel", and I live in Loveland, Colorado. I was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1953, and raised there. I did a hitch in the US Army from 1972 to 1975; went back to Spokane to get an electronics tech degree from Spokane Community College; then got an electronics engineering degree from Oregon State University. From 1981 into 2000, I worked for Hewlett-Packard in Oregon and Colorado, mostly as a factory contact.

In addition, over half of executives said that they believe human-machine collaboration is important to achieve their strategic priorities. Most advisors are not worried about AI replacing them. "You're never going to completely eliminate the human element in financial services," said Charles Weeks, founder and president of Barrister Wealth Management in Philadelphia. "There is always nuance in everything." Advisors don't think that technology will offer a solution for every problem.

Uber delivered its first cargo shipment driven by a self-driven truck last week, the Verge reported Tuesday. The 18-wheeler Volvo truck traveled 120 miles from an Anheuser-Busch facility in Loveland, Colorado to Colorado Springs, maintaining an average speed of 55 miles. The vehicle was equipped with 2 cameras, 2 front-facing radar sensors, a GPS sensor and light detection and ranging sensors to guide it along the way. "There were people in Colorado Springs this weekend drinking a Budweiser that was delivered by a self-driving truck," said James Sembrot, senior director of logistics strategy at Anheuser-Busch. A human driver drove the truck in city limits but monitored it without intervention for 100 miles of the journey.

A father who created a moving video game which re-enacts the last years of his five-year-old son's life before he died of a terminal brain cancer has launched the game on the iPhone. Ryan Green, 34, of Loveland, Colorado designed That Dragon, Cancer which gives players the opportunity to'relive memories, share heartache and discover the overwhelming hope that can be found in the face of death'. The game was a huge hit on the PC and Mac when it launched earlier this year and now users can play it on their iPhone for 4.99. Joel was diagnosed with an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (AT/RT) at age one, but surprised doctors by outliving his bleak prognosis by more than three years. In the years following his diagnosis there was a brain surgery, six weeks of radiation, intense chemotherapy, several tumor recurrences and a relocation to San Francisco to pursue a medical trial, which wasn't able to help Joel.

RoadNarrows has entered the “desktop-size” 5 degree of freedom robot arm, Hekateros, in the Small-Scale Manipulator Challenge, at the 2011 AAAI conference. Hekateros is utilizing a variety of sensors and software to successfully perceive and manipulate the chess gam