I think, therefore I, robot

I think, therefore I, robot

  9:49:00 PM    Science Lover

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Human researchers have developed their mechanical counterparts: ‘robo-scientists’ that can think independently,

Two separate teams of researchers, reporting on Thursday in the journal Science, said that they had created machines that could reason, formulate theories and discover scientific knowledge on their own, marking a major advance in the field of artificial intelligence.

Such “robo-scientists” could be put to work unravelling complex biological systems, designing new drugs, modelling the world’s climate or understanding the cosmos.

For the moment, though, they are performing more humble tasks...

Meet Adam: The first robot scientist to make an independent discovery

A robot developed by UK scientists, which can think up scientific theories and test them with almost no human help, has ushered in a new era in artificial intelligence.

In tests, the machine – named Adam – was able to identify previously unknown genetic processes in baker’s yeast.

It produced hypotheses about how certain genes should work and devised tests to prove its ideas were right.

Professor Ross King of Aberystwyth University, Wales – who helped create Adam – said: “This is the first time we believe such a system has discovered novel scientific knowledge. We are very excited about it.”

The robot takes up 15 square metres of space at the university and is equipped with an arm and a range of devices, including an automated freezer and an incubator.

“It is not the management and analysis of complex data that is the big deal about Adam. What’s amazing is the ability of the machine to reason with those data and make proposals about how a living thing works,” said Stephen Oliver, who co-authored the study on the project.

A second robot, called Eve, will work alongside it to help find new medicines for diseases such as malaria.

Professor Douglas Kell, whose biotech group BBSRC funded the research, said: “Computers play a fundamental role in the scientific process, which is becoming increasingly automated, for instance, in drug design and DNA sequencing.”

“Ultimately, we hope to have teams of human and robot scientists working together in labs,” King said.

Although Adam’s discoveries were simple, experts believe future models may one day rival Albert Einstein for genius.

King said: “I wouldn’t rule out the possibility, but it probably wouldn’t be in my lifetime.”


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Robot fish to detect pollution in waters

Robot fish to detect pollution in waters

  1:12:00 AM    Science Lover

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The robotic fish, equipped with sensors that detect hazardous elements, can operate underwater for over eight hours at a time

Scientists in the UK have developed new robotic fish to detect water pollution in rivers, lakes and seas.

The robots – costing around $29,000 each – are being built by Professor Huosheng Hu and his robotics team at the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex.

The life-like creatures, which will mimic the undulating movement of real fish, will be equipped with tiny chemical sensors to find the source of potentially hazardous pollutants in the water, such as leaks from vessels in the port or underwater pipelines.

The fish will then transmit their data through Wi-Fi technology when they dock to charge their batteries, which last around eight hours.

Rory Doyle, senior research scientist at technology consultancy BMT Group, has described the project as a “world first”.

“In using robotic fish, we are building on a design created by hundreds of millions of years’ worth of evolution which is incredibly energy efficient. This efficiency is something we need to ensure that our pollution detection sensors can navigate in the underwater environment for hours on end,” he said.

“We will produce a system that allows the fish to search underwater, meaning that we will be able to analyse not only chemicals on the surface of the water, but also those that are dissolved in the water,” he added.

Doyle and Hu hope to release five of the bots into the water by the end of next year.

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