https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst have published work in the journal Science calling into question the conclusions of a widely reported study—published in Science in 2023—finding the social platform's algorithms successfully filtered out untrustworthy news surrounding the 2020 election and were not major drivers of misinformation. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-team-debunks-facebook-news-algorithm.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news646565823 Augmented reality (AR) takes digital images and superimposes them onto real-world views. But AR is more than a new way to play video games; it could transform surgery and self-driving cars. To make the technology easier to integrate into common personal devices, researchers report in ACS Photonics how to combine two optical technologies into a single, high-resolution AR display. In an eyeglasses prototype, the researchers enhanced image quality with a computer algorithm that removed distortions. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-augmented-reality-displays-eyeglasses.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:29:02 EDT news646482541 A new algorithm tested on NASA's Perseverance Rover on Mars may lead to better forecasting of hurricanes, wildfires, and other extreme weather events that impact millions globally. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-algorithm-mars-rover-scientists-earth.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 20 Sep 2024 11:40:38 EDT news646051225 In an exciting development for quantum computing, researchers from the University of Chicago's Department of Computer Science, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, and Argonne National Laboratory have introduced a classical algorithm that simulates Gaussian boson sampling (GBS) experiments. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-classical-algorithm-quantum-future.html Quantum Physics Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:33:40 EDT news645280416 Recent research from the University of Bath shows discrimination against women worsens if Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used by lenders for loans, but that ethical lenders could choose to tweak the AI algorithms to address this bias and still improve their profits as well as their brand reputation. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ai-mitigate-bias-women-loan.html Economics & Business Fri, 30 Aug 2024 14:00:03 EDT news644245201 The public could have days or months of warning about a major earthquake through identification of prior low-level tectonic unrest over large areas, according to research by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist who analyzed two major quakes in Alaska and California. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-geophysicist-method-months-major-earthquakes.html Earth Sciences Fri, 30 Aug 2024 09:22:04 EDT news644228521 A study by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) is employing new methods in coral reef research. Under the leadership of fish ecologist Dr. Julian Lilkendey, an international research team utilized innovative AI technologies to analyze the movements of reef fish in the Red Sea with high precision. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ai-peers-deep-high-resolution.html Ecology Biotechnology Thu, 29 Aug 2024 14:03:04 EDT news644158982 For humans throughout history, the sky has evoked thoughts of a vast emptiness, of a great vacant dome punctuated during the day by the sun, and at night by numerous tiny spots of light (and periodically by the moon). As we have ventured into space, both physically, with spacecraft, and optically, with a range of telescopic technologies, we now know that there is quite a lot of stuff up there. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-algorithms-autonomous-spacecraft-safety.html Space Exploration Wed, 28 Aug 2024 16:47:04 EDT news644082421 Number theoretic transform (NTT) is widely recognized as the most efficient method for computing polynomial multiplication with high dimension and integral coefficients, due to its quasilinear complexity. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-generalized-theoretic.html Mathematics Wed, 28 Aug 2024 11:59:14 EDT news644065147 Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for researchers, but with a significant limitation: the inability to explain how it came to its decisions, a problem known as the "AI black box." https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ai-black-team-key-chemistry.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 28 Aug 2024 11:00:01 EDT news644053141 Micro- and nanoplastics are in our food, water and the air we breathe. They are showing up in our bodies, from testicles to brain matter. Now, University of British Columbia researchers have developed a low-cost, portable tool to accurately measure plastic released from everyday sources like disposable cups and water bottles. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-microplastic-tool-minutes.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 27 Aug 2024 11:02:03 EDT news643975321 Nylon, Teflon, Kevlar. These are just a few familiar polymers—large-molecule chemical compounds—that have changed the world. From Teflon-coated frying pans to 3D printing, polymers are vital to creating the systems that make the world function better. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ai-polymers-future.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Tue, 20 Aug 2024 10:05:05 EDT news643367102 Recent rioting, and unrest in the UK has led to calls for the Online Safety Act to be revisited. Mayor Sadiq Khan has called it "not fit for purpose" and Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas Symonds suggested that the government could change the law, which was passed under the previous government and includes a raft of measures relevant to the recent riots, including powers to fine social media companies. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-online-safety-riots-uk-reopened.html Social Sciences Political science Wed, 14 Aug 2024 13:00:04 EDT news642859202 Forest restoration can benefit humans, boost biodiversity and help tackle climate change simultaneously, new research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-forest-boost-people-nature-climate.html Ecology Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:00:01 EDT news642671761 Atoms are complex quantum systems consisting of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. When multiple atoms come together to form a molecule, the electrons of the constituent atoms interact in a complicated manner, making the computer simulation of molecules one of the hardest problems in modern science. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-faster-coupling-ai-fundamental-physics.html General Physics Tue, 06 Aug 2024 09:57:29 EDT news642157041 Computer-generated holography (CGH) provides an approach to digitally modulate a given wavefront. This technology, partly inherited from optical holography and partly advanced by the progress of computing technology, has become an emerging focus of academia and industry. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-optimization-inverse-problem-generated-holography.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 05 Aug 2024 11:45:09 EDT news642077090 Thanks to algorithms, social media platforms can generate content that feels like it's made just for you. And while you may acknowledge that technology is what delivers the content, you may sometimes feel that a higher power is involved. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-qa-algorithmic-conspirituality-youre-meant.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:31:18 EDT news641136675 Biological treatment methods such as anaerobic digestion, composting, and insect farming are essential for managing organic waste, converting it into valuable resources like biogas and organic fertilizers. However, these processes often face challenges due to their inherent complexity and instability, which can affect efficiency and product quality. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-trash-treasure-machine-recycling.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 24 Jul 2024 12:37:38 EDT news641043456 Job applicants can be suspicious of the hiring process if a company uses artificial intelligence to pre-screen candidates and facilitate hiring decisions, a Northeastern University expert says, but their perception improves when they learn that an algorithm is "blind" to such characteristics as gender, race or age. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ai-powered-hiring-fair-gender.html Economics & Business Wed, 17 Jul 2024 12:17:50 EDT news640437467 A collaborative team of researchers led by Ben Weinstein of the University of Florida, Oregon, US, used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S., and published their findings July 16 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. These maps provide information about individual tree species and conditions, which can greatly aid conservation efforts and other ecological projects. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-scientists-machine-diversity-tree-species.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 16 Jul 2024 14:00:02 EDT news640337281 Plants are known to respond to seasonal changes by budding, leafing, and flowering. As climate change stands to shift, these so-called phenological stages in the life cycle of plants—with access to data about phenological changes from many different locations and in different plants—can be used to draw conclusions about the actual effects of climate change. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-app-consequences-climate.html Ecology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:13:03 EDT news639749581 The advent of quantum computers promises to revolutionize computing by solving complex problems exponentially more rapidly than classical computers. However, today's quantum computers face challenges such as maintaining stability and transporting quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-genetic-algorithm-enables-precise-phononic.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 03 Jul 2024 08:00:01 EDT news639150334 A research team has developed an improved DeepLabv3+ algorithm for accurately detecting and localizing safflower filament picking points. By utilizing the lightweight ShuffleNetV2 network and incorporating convolutional block attention, the method achieved high accuracy with a mean pixel accuracy of 95.84% and mean intersection over union of 96.87%. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-advanced-deeplabv3-algorithm-safflower-filament.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Mon, 01 Jul 2024 13:02:08 EDT news639057724 A team of physicists, geologists and signal theorists from the University of Granada, Spain, has developed a machine-learning-based algorithm designed to predict when Mount St. Helens will erupt. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-machine-algorithm-highly-accurate-mount.html Earth Sciences Mon, 01 Jul 2024 11:01:49 EDT news639050506 For hundreds of years, the clarity and magnification of microscopes were ultimately limited by the physical properties of their optical lenses. Microscope makers pushed those boundaries by making increasingly complicated and expensive stacks of lens elements. Still, scientists had to decide between high resolution and a small field of view on the one hand or low resolution and a large field of view on the other. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-microscopy-technique-route-crisp-images.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:28:22 EDT news638800097 Coastal dunes are complex and rich areas at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. They are extremely rich in biodiversity and play a crucial role in both environmental and human well-being, such as protecting inland settlements from marine floods. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-dunes-decoded-comprehensive-precise-coastal.html Environment Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:05:25 EDT news638708721 Finding bats is hard. They are small, fast and they primarily fly at night. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-math-roosts-easier.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Wed, 26 Jun 2024 13:20:01 EDT news638624108 By rapidly analyzing large amounts of data and making accurate predictions, artificial intelligence (AI) tools could help to answer many long-standing research questions. For instance, they could help to identify new materials to fabricate electronics or the patterns in brain activity associated with specific human behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-merging-ai-human-efforts-tackle.html Mathematics Mon, 24 Jun 2024 08:50:02 EDT news638437425 Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed software that can simulate the growth of field crops. To do this, they fed thousands of photos from field experiments into a learning algorithm. This enabled the algorithm to learn how to visualize the future development of cultivated plants based on a single initial image. Using the images created during this process, parameters such as leaf area or yield can be estimated accurately. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-field-crops-software-simulate.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:24:04 EDT news637860241 New Curtin University research could change how space missions are conducted and lead to improvements in industries as diverse as environmental management, agriculture, disaster management and infrastructure inspection. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-approach-space-missions-heights.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:12:03 EDT news637506721