The Download: training robots for unfamiliar environments, and all-new bird flu

What's new: It's tricky to get robots to do things in environments they've never seen before. Typically, researchers need to train them on new data for every new place they encounter, which can become very time-consuming and expensive. Now, researchers have developed a series of AI models that teach robots to complete basic tasks in new surroundings without further training or fine-tuning. What they achieved: The five AI models, called robot utility models, (RUMs), allow machines to complete five separate tasks: opening doors and drawers, and picking up tissues, bags and cylindrical objects in unfamiliar environments with a 90% success rate. The big picture: The team hope their findings will make it quicker and easier to teach robots new skills while helping them function within previously-unseen domains.