Quadruped Robot with Magnetized Feet can Climb on Metal Buildings and Structures

Quadruped robot with magnetized feet can climb on metal buildings and structures
MARVEL description. (A) MARVEL clinging to a steel storage tank. (B) MARVEL electronic architecture. (C) Mechanical and electronic components of MARVEL. Credit: Science Robotics (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.add1017

A trio of researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, working with a colleague at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has designed and built a working quadruped robot with magnetized feet that can climb on the walls and ceilings of metal buildings and structures.

In their paper published in in the journal Science Robotics, Seungwoo Hong, Yong Um, Hae-Won Park and Jaejun Park describe their robot and how well it worked when tested under real world conditions.

As the technology used to build robots improves, engineers find more ways...

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Astronomers find that Two Exoplanets may be Mostly Water

Artistic representation of the planetary system of the star Kepler-138. We see Kepler-138 d in the foreground, and closer to the star, Kepler-138 c. These two planets are probably composed mainly of water. The small planet Kepler-138 b is seen transiting in front of the star. A fourth planet, Kepler-138 e, is further away and not visible in the image.
Artistic representation of the planetary system of the star Kepler-138. We see Kepler-138 d in the foreground, and closer to the star, Kepler-138 c. These two planets are probably composed mainly of water. The small planet Kepler-138 b is seen transiting in front of the star. A fourth planet, Kepler-138 e, is further away and not visible in the image.
CREDIT: STSCI.

A team led by UdeM astronomers has found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are “water worlds,” planets where water makes up a large fraction of the volume. These worlds, located in a planetary system 218 light-years away in the constellation Lyra, are unlike any planets found in our solar system.

The team, led by PhD student Caroline Piaulet of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) ...

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Blood-based Metabolic Signature Outperforms Standard Method for Predicting Diet, Disease Risk

Food blood vial collage
Getty Images

The study found that machine learning techniques improved diet prediction by 10-20%. When it comes to studying food and diet, it’s difficult to know what people are eating — let alone their risk of disease caused by what they eat.

Doctors and researchers usually ask people to fill out a long-from food frequency questionnaire that estimates caloric intake, food groups and nutrients. That relies on a person’s memory and may not provide the most accurate picture.

However, a research team led by a Michigan Medicine cardiologist have found a method using molecular profiling and machine learning to develop blood-based dietary signatures that more accurately predict both diet and the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes...

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Producing ‘Green’ Energy – literally – from Living Plant ‘Bio-Solar Cells’

Leaves of a succulent plant. Two pieces of metal marked “anode” and “cathode” are inserted into one leaf and connected to electrical wires.
The ice plant succulent shown here can become a living solar cell and power a circuit using photosynthesis.
Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c15123

Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they’re not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a “green,” biological solar cell. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have, for the first time, used a succulent plant to create a living “bio-solar cell” that runs on photosynthesis.

In all living cells, from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals, electrons are shuttled around as part of natural, biochemical proces...

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