Daily Mail - Science & tech

Scientists have created a robot that may be able to help the elderly perform tasks amid a shortage of nurses in the UK. Named Baxter, it has two arms and 3D printed'fingers', allowing it to step in when a person is struggling with things such as getting dressed. Artificial intelligence allows the robot to detect when assistance is needed and learn about the owners difficulties over time. When it's ready for use in healthcare settings, it could help free up the time of staff so they can do other work. There are around 40,000 nurse vacancies in NHS England, which is expected to double after Brexit, according to figures.

German scientists are developing a smartwatch to correct bad posture. Engineers at TU Kaiserslautern and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence are building a prototype of their vision, which would alert wearers to slouching. Using sensors worn under clothes and inside shoes, it would monitor angular velocity, which is the rate of change of angular position of a rotating body. It would then process this data against motion parameters, such as how much the spine moves and at what angle, then issue an alert if the posture was insufficiently upright. Using sensors worn under clothes and inside shoes, it would monitor angular velocity.

Microsoft's listening program continues to grow in scope after a new report reveals that contractors harvested unintentional audio from Xbox users through Cortana and the Kinect. Motherboard reports that Xbox users were recorded by Microsoft as part of a program to analyze users' voice-commands for accuracy and that those recordings were assessed by human contractors. While the program was designed to only scrape audio uttered after a wake-word, contractors hired by Microsoft report that some recordings were taken accidentally without provocation. The practice, reports Motherboard, has been ongoing for several years since the early days of Xbox One and predates Xbox's integration with its voice assistant, Cortana. Xbox users were being recorded by Microsoft in a listening program that scraped audio from Cortana and its augmented reality hardware, Kinect.

The consequences of fabricated news stories may have lingering effects on your perception. According to a new study, voters may develop false memories after reading a fake news report. And, they're more likely to do so if the narrative lines up with their own beliefs. Researchers presented over 3,000 eligible voters in Ireland with legitimate and made-up stories ahead of the 2018 referendum on legalizing abortion. In subsequent questioning – and after being told that some of the reports were fake – nearly half of participants reported a memory for at least one of the fabricated events, and many tended to be steadfast in these beliefs.

Cutting-edge robots are on display at the 2019 World Robot Conference in Beijing, running from August 20 to 25, are expected to attract nearly 200 guests from 22 countries. The conference features a series of exhibition areas for new robotic technologies and products - including medical, multi-legged, and smart logistics - as well as four contests with an anticipated 4,500 professional participants. Over 700 robots specialising with more than 21 industrial applications will be exhibited between now and the close of the conference. Among those exhibiting will be HRG Robotics, whose, president Wang Meng, said: 'We will be showcasing a string of successful companies which have got off the ground through the help of HRG, alongside our representative products at WRC 2019, as we aim to form new partnerships with companies around the world.' Also on display will be SmartBird, created by German firm Festo, whose design was inspired by the herring gull and whose flight mimics that of the bird.

The fountain of eternal youth could come in technological form thanks to $100 million investment in a life sciences company. Juvenescence is working with drug developers and AI experts to create treatments and technologies to treat age-related diseases and to increase human longevity. The firm, set up by London City of London entrepreneur Michael Spencer, announced a total investment of $10 million from its founders. A further $10 million each will come from four cornerstone investors, including Grok Ventures, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Mr Spencer's private investment company. This brings the total to $165 Million that Juvenescence has raised in 18 months.

It is often said that old dogs cannot learn new tricks. But even very old people can keep up with people in their twenties, if they just practise enough. Pensioners can struggle to multi-task, whether picking up the telephone and writing down a message, or remembering a shopping list, because older brains process information more slowly. But in a brain-training game which uses multi-tasking, they did just as well as younger people after practising. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tracked almost 200,000 people on the brain-training game.

A newly-developed pair of smart robotic shorts puts a literal bounce in the wearer's step. In an article published in the journal of Science, researchers from Harvard demonstrate what they call the'hip exosuit' -- a type of smart bionic shorts that boosts the wearer's ability to run and walk. Scientists say that unlike other exoskeletons which focus on increasing strength, the hip exosuit -- which already has a working prototype -- is designed for endurance. Using cables that line the inside of the shorts' legs, the device is able to boost the wearer's movement using the help of an algorithm that discerns their gait. A motor pack in the back then pulls the cables in sync with the wearer's motions and helps propel them forward as they move.

Facial recognition software could be used to detect hail storms - and their severity. That's according to scientists at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, who've tested the software's effectiveness on meteorological data. Specifically, they found that a deep learning model called a convolutional neural network can spot the early signs as they happen - better than current methods. The promising results, published in the American Meteorological Society's Monthly Weather Review, could be a game-changer for providing accurate weather warnings. AI: The promising results, published in the American Meteorological Society's Monthly Weather Review, could be a game-changer for providing accurate weather warning Whether or not a storm produces hail hinges on myriad meteorological factors.

If our eyes could see high-energy radiation called gamma rays the moon would appear brighter than the sun, experts have revealed. NASA's Fermi telescope has been studying our neighbour in space for the past decade, examining bursts of particles caused by the impact of cosmic rays. These fast moving particles, which originate outside our solar system, impact on the surface of the moon regularly as our natural satellite has no magnetic shield. Now, the space agency has release images and animated footage of the gamma rays that are produced when these cosmic rays hit the moon. If our eyes could see high-energy radiation called gamma rays the moon would appear brighter than the sun, experts have revealed.