Harvard University experts created the fish-inspired bots to work without any external control, mimicking the collective behaviours groups of fish demonstrate.
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IMAGE: These fish-inspired robots can synchronize their movements without any outside control. Based on the simple production and detection of LED light, the robotic collective exhibits complex self-organized behaviors, including aggregation,. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Self-organizing Systems Research Group
Schools of fish exhibit complex, synchronized behaviors that help them find food, migrate and evade predators. No one fish or team of fish coordinates these movements nor do fish communicate with each other about what to do next. Rather, these collective behaviors emerge from so-called implicit coordination individual fish making decisions based on what they see their neighbors doing.
Natural changes in UV influence the spread of COVID-19, shows study
Natural variations in ultraviolet radiation influence the spread of COVID-19, but the influence is modest compared to preventive measures such as physical distancing, mask wearing, and quarantine, according to new research from Harvard University.
Understanding the potential seasonality of COVID-19 transmission could help inform our response to the pandemic in the coming months. These findings suggest that the incidence of COVID-19 may have a seasonal pattern, spreading faster in the winter when it s darker than in the summer.
Jonathan Proctor, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Data Science Initiative and Center for the Environment, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Lawrence S. Bacow
Just as I was sitting down to write this column before the Thanksgiving break, amidst grim reports of a rapidly spreading virus, welcome news about the work of a recent graduate crossed my desk. TIME had named Upsolve a nonprofit co-founded by Rohan Pavuluri, Harvard College Class of 2018 one of the “best inventions of 2020.” The aim of the free service, one of three apps acknowledged in this year’s finance category, is to reduce complexity and remove barriers to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The technology and the team behind it have made basic civil legal aid more accessible to low-income families. In the process, they have helped relieve more than $285 million in debt, giving people across the country an opportunity to reset their lives financially.
Laboratory experiments on particles for solar geoengineering demonstrate limits of models
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Injecting light-reflecting aerosols into the stratosphere known as solar geoengineering could be used in conjunction with emissions reduction to lower the risks of a climate change and cool the planet. But deliberately introducing particles into the atmosphere may also carry significant risks, and those dangers may increase depending on what aerosols are used. Sulfate aerosols, for example, could contribute to ozone damage and stratospheric heating.
In 2016, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) used computer models to find that calcium carbonate (CaCO