Humans expect that AI is benevolent and trustworthy. A new study reveals that at the same time humans are unwilling to cooperate and compromise with machines. They even exploit them.
Wine grape growers in California and elsewhere face increasing labor costs and severe labor shortages, making it difficult to manage and harvest a vineyard while maintaining profitability. Growers are increasingly turning to machines for pruning, canopy management and harvesting, but how well these practices are executed can substantially affect yield and quality. A new review by researchers at the University of California, Davis provides guidelines for growers to make the best use of machines.
A major upgrade to the world s largest outdoor earthquake simulator reached a milestone mid-April when the facility s floor all 300,000 lbs of it was put back into place. When completed this fall, the simulator will have the ability to reproduce multi-dimensional earthquake motions with unprecedented accuracy to make structures and their residents safer during strong shakes. Researchers lay out the details of the upgrade in a paper published in January 2021 in Frontiers in Built Environment.
Credit: UPV/EHU
The consumption of raw materials has increased notably in industry in general, and in the construction industry in particular, amidst growing concerns over sustainability issues. Concrete and mortar are the most commonly used materials in construction, and many studies are currently under way to try and reduce the harmful effects of their manufacture. Concrete and mortar are made by mixing water, sand, cement and aggregates. The main problem is the amount of cement used to produce this type of material; cement manufacturing uses a huge amount of energy and natural resources, which implies a high level of CO2 emissions. Diverse studies are under way aimed at reducing the quantity of cement required. We are working to replace cement and aggregates (sand or gravel) with non-natural materials, in order to reduce the use of natural resources and optimise the mechanical and thermal properties of the materials produced, explains Roque Borinaga Treviño, a researcher at th
A new device that fits over a person s ears and enables non-invasive measurement of real-time changes in blood alcohol levels through the skin is presented in a proof-of-principle study in Scientific Reports.