universityofglasgow
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'Robot chemist' could use AI to speed up medical breakthroughs
Scientists can only do so much to discover new chemical reactions on their own. Short of happy accidents, it can take years to find new drugs that might save lives. They might have a better way at the University of Glasgow, though: let robots do the hard work. A research team at the school has developed a "robot chemist" (below) that uses machine learning to accelerate discoveries of chemical reactions and molecules. The bot uses machine learning to predict the outcomes of chemical reactions based on what it gleans from direct experience with just a fraction of those interactions. In a test with 1,000 possible reactions from 18 chemicals, the machine only needed to explore 100 of them to predict study-worthy reactions in the entire lot with about 80 percent accuracy.
Twisted light could make wireless data faster than fiber
As fast as fiber optic lines have become, they're still hamstrung by one key limitation: you still need to transmit that data over wires, which limits where you can transmit and the affordability of the fastest connections. Scientists may have a way to eliminate those cables while offering even faster speeds, though. They've discovered a way to 'twist' photons in a way that not only crams more data into each transmission, but survives interference from turbulent air. If you pass light through a special hologram, you can give photons an optical angular momentum that lets them carry more than just 1s and 0s -- and so long as the light's phase and intensity are right, you can reliably beam that data over long distances.
Artificial evolution is now possible in chemicals, but life remains elusive
We're still a very long way from creating an evolving lifeform from scratch in a lab. However, the University of Glasgow has managed to foster artificial evolution in chemicals. Their technique uses a 3D printing robot to both create oil droplets and choose the next generation based on desirable properties, like stability. No, the chemicals aren't evolving on their own, but the process works much like natural selection -- after 20 generations, the droplets were noticeably more stable. In the long run, the scientists hope to use this discovery both to study the beginnings of life and maybe, just maybe, create it.
University of Glasgow makes 3D models with single-pixel sensors, skips the cameras (video)
Most approaches to capturing 3D models of real-world objects involve multiple cameras that are rarely cheap, and are sometimes tricky to calibrate. The University of Glasgow has developed a method that ditches those cameras altogether. Its system has four single-pixel sensors stitching together a 3D image based on the reflected intensity of light patterns cast by a projector. Reducing the pixel count lowers the cost per sensor to just a few dollars, and extends the sensitivity as far as terahertz wavelengths. Real-world products are still a long way off, but the university sees its invention as useful for cancer detection and other noble pursuits. Us? We'd probably just waste it on creating uncanny facsimiles of ourselves.
University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies
Breaking Bad in 3D? If recent work by a team of University of Glasgow scientists persists, that could soon be a hard reality -- just without the glasses. Taking what's typically been the province of sanitized laboratories and moving it outside, the group's devised an efficient method that makes use of commercial-grade three-dimensional printers to create "reactionware vessels": custom-designed, polymer gels that house and aide in chemical reactions. The technique, already viable on a larger, albeit slower scale, is not quite ready for primetime, but with future refinements could eventually trickle down into small businesses, or third-world countries where it'd be used for rapid medical treatment. And, in a hypothetical scenario that'll likely provoke scrutiny from the FDA and DEA, consumers might one day be able to save a trip to the drugstore and simply print from home -- a decidedly different spin on designer drugs -- using apps. Of course, this is all just speculation of potential future applications. We trust that humanity and enterprise will put this medication replication to noble use -- until it hits the club, that is.
Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects using an iPad, raw brainpower (video)
Okay, so maybe the whole brainpower thing is a distant second to the iPad itself, but still -- being a rocket scientist probably doesn't hurt when manipulating microscopic objects via a multitouch display. That's the kind of setup that students and boffins alike have going at England's University of Bristol, where iTweezers are being used to control a tiny rod about 300 nanometers wide, amongst other things. Essentially, the iPad is able to display what's under a microscope via a wireless display transfer, and then, touch points are converted into laser movements that are used to handle objects that are far smaller than those visible particles clogging up your left ear right now. All told, a user can select up to 11 different objects, and in theory, the iPad could enable scientists to do this remotely. Hey, we're all about new and improved ways to telework. Vid's below, kiddos.
Researchers create ultra-fast '1,000 core' processor, Intel also toys with the idea
We've already seen field programmable gate arrays (or FPGAs) used to create energy efficient supercomputers, but a team of researchers at the University of Glasgow led by Dr. Wim Vanderbauwhede now say that they have "effectively" created a 1,000 core processor based on the technology. To do that, the researchers divvied up the millions of transistors in the FPGA into 1,000 mini-circuits that are each able to process their own instructions -- which, while still a proof of concept, has already proven to be about twenty times faster than "modern computers" in some early tests. Interestingly, Intel has also been musing about the idea of a 1,000 core processor recently, with Timothy Mattson of the company's Microprocessor Technology Laboratory saying that such a processor is "feasible." He's referring to Intel's Single-chip Cloud Computer (or SCC, pictured here), which currently packs a whopping 48 cores, but could "theoretically" scale up to 1,000 cores. He does note, however, that there are a number of other complicating factors that could limit the number of cores that are actually useful -- namely, Amdahl's law (see below) -- but he says that Intel is "looking very hard at a range of applications that may indeed require that many cores." [Thanks, Andrew]
Keio University developing 'olfactory printer,' AromaRama due for a resurgence
We're not entirely sure why people keep trying to bring back Smell-O-Vision, although Keio University's success in printing scents using a modified printer gives us hope that this sort of thing might someday be somewhat feasible -- and useful. It works by using an off-the-shelf Canon printer that's been given a "scent jet," Kenichi Okada told New Scientist. "We are using the ink-jet printer's ability to eject tiny pulses of material to achieve precise control." The scent dissipates quickly, after one or two human breaths. And while specific scents can be printed, there is as of yet no way to build a general purpose device. According to the University of Glasgow's Stephen Brewster: "We don't yet know how to synthesize all the scents we want. There is no red-green-blue for smell -- there are thousands of components needed." That's OK with us. In our experience, it's usually better that people keep their smells to themselves.
