From breaking down toxins to changing the inner workings of the human mind, mushrooms are capable of some seriously impressive features. But now, researchers have taken a fungi's amazing abilities to a new level as they teach a mushroom to crawl in a robot body. Scientists from Cornwell University in New York have created a new type of'biohybrid robot' which puts the humble mushroom in the driver's seat. Natural electrical signals in the mushroom that are triggered by light are able to control the hybrid device's insect-style legs. The researchers say that robots of the future could make use of these fungal brains to respond to navigate more unpredictable environments.

Pratt Miller demonstrated its LAAD disinfecting robot at Gerald R Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, MI, in July 2020. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be felt for years to come, regardless of the presence and availability of a vaccine. Physical measures adopted by humans, such as social distancing or wearing masks, are likely to be utilized for years to come, along with technological developments deployed in both public and private spaces that are focused on enforcing social distancing, enabling more efficient cleaning and disinfecting of spaces, and driving more automation and intelligence to reduce humans' direct physical interaction with each other. Some companies and individuals feel the best way to avoid COVID-19 or other viruses is to simply avoid all unnecessary human contact. As such, many companies have introduced or fast-tracked the use of automation to lessen their reliance on human workers, as well as to enhance their responsiveness to customer queries.

As the subway roared into Tokyo's Tsukishima Station a gust of wind tossed up a stray face mask, sending it sailing above the platform. Hisashi Taniguchi watched the piece of fabric fluttering about. He immediately pictured in his mind a microscopic view in which the wind dispersed -- in the air he was breathing -- countless viral particles that had been trapped between the mask's filters. There needs to be an efficient system to disinfect these public spaces, he thought. This was back in March, when the spread of COVID-19 was just starting to pick up speed in the capital.

An artificial intelligence algorithm has discovered 50 new potential planets that were missed by humans. It analysed data from telescope missions such as Nasa's Kepler and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which looks for signs of distant planets. As well as being trained to recognise real planets, the algorithm could also detect false positives. Once that was done, researchers from Warwick's Departments of Physics and Computer Science, ran the algorithm against unconfirmed potential planets from Kepler data, finding the new worlds. Previous machine learning tools have ranked planets' likelihood of being planets, but have never been able to determine the probability that they are exoplanets, the scientists said.

It might be known as the Red Planet, but according to observations from NASA - Mars'glows green' at night due to chemical reactions in its upper atmosphere. The eerie phenomenon was captured by NASA's'MAVEN' orbiter but astronauts are unlikely to see it as it is only visible as ultraviolet light - naked to the human eye. The discovery could help create a more detailed picture of Martian weather - which will help the first crewed missions to Mars expected to leave sometime in the 2030s. The first crewed mission to Mars will need better forecasts than are currently available to avoid wild winds and storms that can last weeks, the authors explained. Each evening the upper atmosphere softly flickers in ultraviolet light as the sun sets and temperatures fall to minus -79.6 degrees Fahrenheit and below.

A new robot developed by MIT in the US is being used to kill coronavirus in a 4,000-square-foot warehouse using ultraviolet light (UV) light. The autonomous machine uses a specific type of short-wavelength UV, known as UVC, to kill microorganisms and disrupt their DNA in a process known as'ultraviolet germicidal irradiation'. UVC is emitted from the bot's four vertical beams as it nips around warehouse aisles, killing 90 per cent of coronavirus particles in 30 minutes. Because UVC light is harmful to humans, the robot has to do its work alone and is sent to do its sanitising shift when human workers have clocked off. The robot can map an entire industrial facility – in this case the Great Boston Food Bank (GBFB), a US non-profit that provides hunger relief.

One of the consequences of people being told to stay home to slow the spread of coronavirus is loneliness. And a collection of 13 robotics experts from around the world have a suggestion for how to solve that: a robot pal. The innovation is just one of many mentioned in an open letter by the global contingent of robotics experts who suggest that the coronavirus pandemic should serve as a catalyst for the increased use and development of robots. "Now the impact of COVID-19 may drive further research in robotics to address risks of infectious diseases," says the statement, published March 25 in Science Robotics magazine. The statement aims to inspire more funding to develop these varieties of robots, many of which it became clear were needed during the 2015 Ebola crisis.

How do you fix a satellite's instrument that's floating 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface? That's a question that NASA had to answer when it ran into problems with the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a satellite tasked with studying the Sun and the effects of solar activity on Earth. This is important for all sorts of reasons -- not least because solar storms can knock out GPS satellites, shut down electrical grids, and scramble communications. Unfortunately, one of the SDO's three instruments, responsible for measuring ultraviolet light, stopped working due to a fault. This data is essential to satellite operators.

The technology has evolved from basic designs to a wide range of highly-customizable objects. Still, there's a big issue: Once objects are printed, they're final. If you need a change, you'll need a reprint. But imagine if that weren't the case -- if, for example, you could change the color of your smartphone case or earrings on demand. Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have gotten closer to making that a reality.

NASA's sun-observing spacecraft has captured colorful images of the moment the earth blocked its view of the sun. In a short animation posted on Tuesday, the Solar Dynamics Observatory's (SDO) view of a purple-colored sun is interrupted as Earth completely covers its surface. The sun isn't actually purple, but it looks that color because the images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. This kind of ultraviolet light is a type that's usually invisible to the human eye, so NASA noted that it's been colorized in purple. Stunning footage from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captures when the earth completely covers its view of the sun.