Climate change, clean energy and sustainability, building low emissions technologies and developing ethical artificial intelligence are some of the challenges being tackled by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, and the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) under a multi-million-dollar partnership. The recently established partnership between the two leading science organisations is aiming to accelerate joint research and initiatives in areas of mutual priority between Australia and the United States. CSIRO Chief Executive Larry Marshall said the two leading science organisations have already enabled a number of opportunities across the two countries in only a year, launching this month an AUD$100 million Global Centers initiative, partnering in the areas of responsible and ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) and developing sustainable materials for global challenges. "As national science agencies, CSIRO and the NSF are working together to build international bridges for national benefit, strengthening our science and innovation to improve lives around the world," Dr Marshall said. "As the world races towards new applications for technologies like AI, it will take global collaboration to champion responsible and ethical applications that embrace the full potential of technological advances and drive healthy competitive advantages.

The White House on Wednesday announced $1 billion funding for a new initiative to advance U.S. artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics research. The initiative will fund 12 new, multi-disciplinary research institutes focused on AI and quantum information science (QIS) over five years in collaboration with the National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy, as well as the private sector and academia. "We are proud to announce that over $1 billion in funding will be geared towards that research, a defining achievement as we continue to shape and prepare this great [n]ation for excellence in the industries of the future," advisor to the president Ivanka Trump said in a statement. Ivanka Trump listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a conference call with banks on efforts to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration in February committed to doubling funding to a total of $2.2 billion for non-defense AI and quantum research by fiscal year 2022.

A new director, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, takes the helm of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) during a pivotal time for the future of scientific research in the United States. This month marks the 75th anniversary of the seminal report “Science—The Endless Frontier” by Vannevar Bush, director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, submitted in 1945. The treatise laid the groundwork for the NSF and many other investments that have kept the United States at the forefront of scientific advancement and economic innovation. Today, American science and the United States face similar challenges that center around national security, economic strength, and social justice. To renovate the NSF in ways that address current issues, Dr. Panchanathan should use his position to build on the time-tested partnership between science and the U.S. government. To this end, I offer the following advice for improving the NSF in the coming years. In his new role, the director should position himself as the nation's leading public advocate for science. Although American society relies on scientific research and investment more than ever before, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed in the American populace a vast and dangerous ignorance about science. Because the NSF supports all science and engineering disciplines, the director is uniquely positioned to be America's spokesperson for the promise of science—and government investment in science—to solve vexing problems and grow the economy. The NSF director can also speak about the nature of scientific research and how both successes and failures create new knowledge and innovations worthy of taxpayer investments. To use this bully pulpit for effectively communicating with policy-makers and the public, the director should rely on the agency's communications resources. Current events have refocused attention on the fact that all fields of scientific research in the United States have been far too White and male for far too long. The director should address the need for greater diversity in the scientific workforce. Drawing on a diverse talent pool can provide a key strategic advantage for the United States because scientists from diverse backgrounds ask different questions and in serving as role models, increase public support for science. The new director should seize this moment in our social consciousness to make science more inclusive by building on existing programs (such as the NSF ADVANCE and INCLUDES initiatives). He should also follow the recommendations of the National Science Board Vision 2030 report, which encourages institutional change and the adoption of proven science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy and practices that boost diversity and inclusion. Such remodeling should prioritize inclusiveness and innovation in the way the NSF reviews and awards grants. The NSF's merit-based review system is the world's gold standard, but even gold needs occasional polishing. Streamlining the current grant application process will benefit applicants from all backgrounds by reducing structural barriers to entry that often hinder minority scientists and minority-serving institutions. Innovations that result from NSF investments must serve the public good. Building on successful programs such as the NSF Innovation Corps, the new director should seek ways to help faculty and students move scientific discoveries into the marketplace efficiently for the public good. For example, providing researchers with relatively modest supplemental awards to support market analysis or other aspects of technology transfer could help science faculty advance NSF-funded research with potential applications in both the public and private sectors. And the director should guide the NSF to focus on emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics, and cognitive neuroscience—all of which are crucial to America's national security and economic competitiveness. These suggestions are starting points. Dr. Panchanathan should take advice not only from longtime scientists and university leaders like myself, but also from NSF career staff and the many university faculty members who rotate through NSF. Fortunately for all scientists and citizens, Dr. Panchanathan has a world-class track record of leadership on diversity, reform, and advancing emerging fields of science. For instance, at Arizona State University, Dr. Panchanathan developed assistive devices for the visually impaired, and demonstrably sharpened the university's focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. At this crucial juncture for America's scientific enterprise, NSF's future is in extremely capable hands.

With technology increasingly enhancing human abilities, a day will come when Olympics become the Paralympics, envisions scientist Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan, from the US National Science Board by President Barack Obama. "You will find the so-called Paralympics could one day be for people who are high achievers and Olympics are for losers. If I had legs that were bionic, I would run faster. There will be a day when Olympics will become Paralympics and Paralympics will become Olympics," Panchanathan said at a keynote address at a conference here on Friday. "When you are talking of moving people from disability to ability, you can liken it to moving people from ability to super-ability. We all want to be super-able," he explained.

The fundamental assumption being, any hypothesis found to approximate well over a sufficiently large Surface Electromyogram (SEMG) signals are physiological set of training examples will also approximate well over signals processed to assess the intensity of activity and the other unobserved examples (Mitchell 1997), belonging to fatigue state of the muscles, non-invasively (Kumar, Pah, the same distribution as the training data. But if this basic and Bradley 2003; Georgakis, Stergioulas, and Giakas 2003; assumption is violated as in the case of SEMG data over Koumantakis et al. 2001; Gerdle, Larsson, and Karlsson multiple subjects, direct application of traditional data mining 2000). However researches observed significant difference and machine learning methods would not work. Figure 1 between the data collected from different subjects shows a typical distribution of SEMG data for three different though they performed the same activity under similar experimental subjects, collected over a fatiguing exercise at varying speed conditions (Contessa, Adam, and Luca 2009; representing the four physiological phases corresponding to Gerdle, Larsson, and Karlsson 2000). Because of their four classes (l) low intensity of activity and low fatigue, (2) highly subject specific nature the SEMG based fatigue assessment high intensity of activity and moderate fatigue, (3) low intensity requires subject specific calibration and are hence of activity and moderate fatigue and (4) high intensity confined to clinical environments related to training and rehabilitation. of activity and high fatigue.