Machine learning's ability to perform intellectually demanding tasks across various fields, materials science included, has caused it to receive considerable attention. Many believe that it could be used to unlock major time and cost savings in the development of new materials. The growing demand for the use of machine learning to derive fast-to-evaluate surrogate models of material properties has prompted scientists at the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan, to demonstrate that it could be the key driver of the "next frontier" of materials science in recently published research. To learn, machines rely on processing data using both supervised and unsupervised learning. With no data, however, there is nothing to learn from.

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is a fire-fighting robot. "Fires have an unfortunate habit of happening in places that aren't necessarily easy to reach," putting firefighters in lethal danger, said Evan Ackerman at IEEE Spectrum. That's led Japanese researchers to design a "snake-like robot" with the body of a fire hose. "Like other snake robots, this one has the potential to be able to wiggle its way into windows or other gaps in a structure, with the benefit of carrying and directing water as it goes."

Japanese researchers have developed an astonishing robot with a snake-like body that is capable of fighting fires. The'dragon robot' is capable of wriggling into hard-to-reach gaps between structures and windows several floors up. It therefore can extinguish blazes traditional firefighters might not be able to reach. Researchers from Tohoku University and National Institute of Technology, Hachinohe College presented the robot at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation last month in Brisbane, Australia. The machine, called the DragonFireFighter, has the ability to lift itself off the ground and fly using high pressure jets of water.

Japanese researchers created a system that could detect and assess colorectal polyps in less than a second. Japanese researchers demonstrated an artificial intelligence capable of identifying and analyzing polyps found during a colonoscopy in less than a second. The computer-assisted diagnostic system was revealed during the United European Gastroenterology Week, running through Wednesday in Barcelona, Spain. The endoscopic system uses a magnified view of a colorectal polyp to study its features and compare it with 30,000 endocytoscopic images used for machine learning. Researchers said they were able to predict the pathology of the polyp in less than a second, with 86% accuracy, based on a study assessing more than 300 polyps. "The most remarkable breakthrough with this system is that artificial intelligence enables real-time optical biopsy of colorectal polyps during colonoscopy, regardless of the endoscopists' skill," said Dr. Yuichi Mori, a researcher from Showa University in Yokohama, Japan and study lead, in a statement.

This robot is willing to offer a hand, or even two. Japanese researchers have unveiled a set of robotic arms that straps on a user's back to help them with physical limitations when carrying out complex tasks. Called MetaLimbs, the mechanical set of arms is powered by the motion of the wearer's feet and knees via bending sensors that are mapped on the wearer's limbs. Japanese researchers have unveiled a set of robotic arms that straps on a user's back to help them with physical limitations when carrying out complex tasks When the wearer curls their toes, the robotic hand will close – allowing them to easily grab an object off of the table or move something from one spot to the next. The team has also added sensors that allow the user to feel haptic sensation on their feet.

Robots are hailed for their intelligence and work efficiency, but excessive heating from prolonged hours of work often affects their performance. To address the heating problem faced by humanoid robots, Japanese researchers have devised an out-of-the-box solution. Using the analogy of sweating that happens in the human body as a result of continuous activity that cools the heated muscles, researchers at the University of Tokyo's JSK Lab presented a novel method at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems held in South Korea. Their cooling solution addresses the heating problem of a musculoskeletal humanoid robot called Kengoro, which stands at 1.7 meters (5.6 feet) tall and weighs 56 kilograms (123.5 pounds). The Japanese researchers' cooling solution involves tinkering to make the robot "sweat" water straight out of its frame.

Humans and robots have one thing in common – when they work hard, they overheat. Now, Japanese researchers have designed a robot that'sweats' in order to stay cool, allowing it do push-ups for 11 minutes straight without burning out its motors. Kengoro's skeletal structure is designed to let water seep through porous layers in its frame, which eventually evaporates to cool its 180 motors. Japanese researchers have designed a robot that'sweats' in order to cool down, allowing it do push-ups for 11 minutes straight without burning out its motors. Kengoro's skeleton, or metal frame, is made of aluminum and each'bone' was printed using a laser that sintered the powered metal The bones were designed with a porous layers that retain water.