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Motion capture is guiding the next generation of extraterrestrial robots

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“How do we build robots that can optimally explore space?” is the core question behind Dr Frances Zhu’s research at the University of Hawai’i. One part of the answer is, “with motion capture”.

“It is my hope that my research contributes to the way extraterrestrial robots move and make decisions on other planets,” explains Zhu (main picture), an assistant researcher and deputy director at the University’s Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology.

That research is in its early stages, but NASA has seen the value in it and awarded Zhu an EPSCoR grant by the name “Autonomous Rover Operations for Planetary Surface Exploration using Machine Learning Algorithms”. [Read more…] about Motion capture is guiding the next generation of extraterrestrial robots

12 million jobs will be lost to automation across Europe by 2040, says Forrester

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Forrester forecasts that 34 percent of European jobs are at risk and 12 million jobs will be lost to automation across five European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK – by 2040.

While the pandemic continues to pressure European businesses to invest more heavily and rapidly in automation, it’s not the only factor contributing to the forecasted job loss.

According to Forrester’s Future of Jobs Forecast, 2020 to 2040 (Europe-5), workers with little bargaining power are most at risk of displacement, especially in countries where many are subject to casual employment contracts, including zero-hour contracts in the UK, which require no guaranteed working hours, or part-time jobs with low wages, such as “mini-jobs” in Germany. [Read more…] about 12 million jobs will be lost to automation across Europe by 2040, says Forrester

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  • Enterprise metaverse: Employees are ready, can organisations deliver?
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    Enterprise metaverse: Employees are ready, can organisations deliver?Just as businesses are starting to find their groove with hybrid working, the workplace has begun to evolve again with the emergence of the metaverse. New research from Lenovo reveals that close to half of employees (44 percent) are willing to work in the metaverse and believe that it can…
    Tags: percent, work, organisations, productivity, features, digital, economy

Bringing more flexibility to hybrid work

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By Blake McConnell

Amid a worldwide surge in Covid-19 cases, many businesses are postponing their return-to-workplace plans once again. As we kick off 2022, for many, a hybrid workplace may be the best solution.

Organisations have embraced digital transformation to enable employee productivity from anywhere.

Employees have thrived under flexible work arrangements. Today, we’re proud to announce updates to our Workplace Service Delivery solution that enable further flexibility and safety to support the future of hybrid work. [Read more…] about Bringing more flexibility to hybrid work

Enterprise metaverse: Employees are ready, can organisations deliver?

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Just as businesses are starting to find their groove with hybrid working, the workplace has begun to evolve again with the emergence of the metaverse.

New research from Lenovo reveals that close to half of employees (44 percent) are willing to work in the metaverse and believe that it can deliver benefits like productivity to the workplace.

The metaverse is primarily defined as a shared digital space with digital representations of people, places, and objects. [Read more…] about Enterprise metaverse: Employees are ready, can organisations deliver?

Related Posts

  • 12 million jobs will be lost to automation across Europe by 2040, says Forrester
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    12 million jobs will be lost to automation across Europe by 2040, says ForresterForrester forecasts that 34 percent of European jobs are at risk and 12 million jobs will be lost to automation across five European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK – by 2040. While the pandemic continues to pressure European businesses to invest more heavily and rapidly in…
    Tags: percent, productivity, organisations, work, features, economy, digital

Emissive and HTC Vive to create digital version of the original Notre Dame

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Tech companies Emissive and HTC Vive to re-create historic French site for virtual reality experiences

The construction of Notre-Dame de Paris began in the year 1163 and took over a century to be completed – with the exterior becoming globally recognised and admired.

Over time, its purpose changed back and forth, and it bore witness and host to key moments in history such as Napoleon Bonaparte crowning himself Emperor, was the setting of Victor Hugo’s classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and is a Unesco World Heritage site.

The centuries of history and exquisite design made an impression across the world, and in 2019 when a fire destroyed significant parts of the interior and exterior, the loss was felt far beyond the borders of France. [Read more…] about Emissive and HTC Vive to create digital version of the original Notre Dame

Microbes turn back the clock as research discovers their potential to reverse aging in the brain

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As our population ages one of the key global challenges is to develop strategies to maintain healthy brain function.

This ground-breaking  research opens up a potentially new therapeutic avenues  in the form of microbial-based interventions to slow down brain aging and associated cognitive problems.

The work was carried out by researchers in the Brain-Gut-Microbiota lab in APC led by Prof John F. Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation, University College Cork as well as a Principal Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland  an SFI Research Centre,  based in in University College Cork and Teagasc Moorepark. [Read more…] about Microbes turn back the clock as research discovers their potential to reverse aging in the brain

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  • Tick tock in the brain: Chinese scientists provide molecular insights into primate hippocampal aging
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    Tick tock in the brain: Chinese scientists provide molecular insights into primate hippocampal agingDeep inside our brain is a region called the hippocampus. It plays a crucial role in learning and memory, and its progressive deterioration with age is functionally linked to a variety of human neurodegenerative diseases. But what drives it down the path of aging? The hippocampus is a complex structure…
    Tags: aging, brain, therapeutic, function, study, news, health
  • Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe not
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    Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe notIt's generally accepted health advice that adults of all ages should sit less, move more, and engage in regular exercise to feel better and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. However, when it comes to the brain and cognition, a new study of older adults from Colorado State University suggests…
    Tags: study, cognitive, health, brain, news

Motivation depends on how the brain processes fatigue

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How do we decide whether or not an activity which requires work is ‘worth the effort’? Researchers at the University of Birmingham & University of Oxford have shown that the willingness to work is not static, and depends upon the fluctuating rhythms of fatigue.

Fatigue – the feeling of exhaustion from doing effortful tasks – is something we all experience daily. It makes us lose motivation and want to take a break. Although scientists understand the mechanisms the brain uses to decide whether a given task is worth the effort, the influence of fatigue on this process is not yet well understood.

The research team conducted a study to investigate the impact of fatigue on a person’s decision to exert effort. They found that people were less likely to work and exert effort – even for a reward – if they were fatigued. The results are published in Nature Communications. [Read more…] about Motivation depends on how the brain processes fatigue

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  • 'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study reveals
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    'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study revealsFrom the thrill of hearing an ice cream truck approaching to the spikes of pleasure while sipping a fine wine, the neurological messenger known as dopamine has been popularly described as the brain's "feel good" chemical related to reward and pleasure. A ubiquitous neurotransmitter that carries signals between brain cells,…
    Tags: researchers, study, news, brain
  • Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiology
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    Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiologyTo understand our brains, scientists need to know their components. This theme underlies a growing effort in neuroscience to define the different building blocks of the brain – its cells. With the mouse's 80 million neurons and our 86 billion, sorting through those delicate, microscopic building blocks is no small…
    Tags: brain, researchers, study, activity, team, news
  • Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe not
    35
    Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe notIt's generally accepted health advice that adults of all ages should sit less, move more, and engage in regular exercise to feel better and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. However, when it comes to the brain and cognition, a new study of older adults from Colorado State University suggests…
    Tags: activity, study, people, researchers, brain, news
  • Touch-and-know: Brain activity during tactile stimuli reveals hand preferences in people
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    Touch-and-know: Brain activity during tactile stimuli reveals hand preferences in peopleHave you ever wondered whether the brains of right-handed people work differently from those of left-handers? Is it possible to distinguish between them by observing their brain activity in response to stimuli or tasks? These are important questions from the perspectives of both basic sciences and application-based fields such as…
    Tags: brain, study, people, activity, work, team
  • Brain activity foreshadows changes in stock prices
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    Brain activity foreshadows changes in stock pricesSociety for Neuroscience Activity in the brains' risk circuits can forecast changes in stock prices Forecasting changes in stock prices may be possible with the help of brain activity in regions associated with how people feel before making investment choices. Scientists could accurately forecast market price changes based on the…
    Tags: activity, brain, news

Calling all couch potatoes: This finger wrap can let you power electronics while you sleep

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A new wearable device turns the touch of a finger into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a thin, flexible strip that can be worn on a fingertip and generate small amounts of electricity when a person’s finger sweats or presses on it.

What’s special about this sweat-fueled device is that it generates power even while the wearer is asleep or sitting still. This is potentially a big deal for the field of wearables because researchers have now figured out how to harness the energy that can be extracted from human sweat even when a person is not moving.

This type of device is the first of its kind, said co-first author Lu Yin, a nanoengineering Ph.D. student at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. “Unlike other sweat-powered wearables, this one requires no exercise, no physical input from the wearer in order to be useful. This work is a step forward to making wearables more practical, convenient and accessible for the everyday person.” [Read more…] about Calling all couch potatoes: This finger wrap can let you power electronics while you sleep

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  • Researchers harvest energy from radio waves to power wearable devices
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    Researchers harvest energy from radio waves to power wearable devicesFrom microwave ovens to Wi-Fi connections, the radio waves that permeate the environment are not just signals of energy consumed but are also sources of energy themselves. An international team of researchers, led by Huanyu "Larry" Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in the Penn State Department of Engineering Science…
    Tags: energy, power, researchers, news, technology
  • Small generator captures heat given off by skin to power wearable devices
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    Small generator captures heat given off by skin to power wearable devicesScientists in China have developed a small, flexible device that can convert heat emitted from human skin to electrical power. In their research, presented April 29 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the team showed that the device could power an LED light in real time when worn on…
    Tags: power, device, energy, generate, small, researchers, news
  • Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 million
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    Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 millionA startup company called Tau, which specializes in materials science and automotive electrification, says it has delivered a prototype wire that enables electric motors to double their power output without changing their size.  The technology could mean that electric vehicles and machines of all kinds can keep going for longer…
    Tags: power, energy, technology, news
  • Smart devices to schedule electricity use may prevent blackouts
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    Smart devices to schedule electricity use may prevent blackoutsPower plants generate electricity and send it into power lines that distribute energy to nodes, or sites, where it can be used. But if the electricity load is more than the system's capacity, transmission can fail, leading to a cascade of failures throughout the electric grid. This domino effect was…
    Tags: power, energy, news, technology
  • New wearable device turns the human body into a battery
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    New wearable device turns the human body into a batteryResearchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new, low-cost wearable device that transforms the human body into a biological battery. The device, described today in the journal Science Advances, is stretchy enough that you can wear it like a ring, a bracelet or any other accessory that touches…
    Tags: device, power, energy, work, generate

Rude behavior at work not an epidemic, new study shows

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Rude behavior at work has come to be expected, like donuts in the breakroom. Two decades of research on employee relationships shows that 98 percent of employees experience rude behavior at work, but now a new study suggests a large majority of workplace relationships are not characterized by rudeness.

Isolated incidents of rude behavior at work, although somewhat common, do not point to widespread incivility between employees and their colleagues, according to a new UCF study.

“Because prior research suggests workplace mistreatment is harmful and widespread, it is often called an epidemic, but our findings show that rude behavior is less like the flu and more like cholera,” says Shannon Taylor, an associate professor of management and co-author of the report. [Read more…] about Rude behavior at work not an epidemic, new study shows

The job you want versus the job you get

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When it comes to career aspirations for teenagers, a University of Houston psychology researcher believes it’s best to shoot for the moon, so you can at least land in the stars. The truth is the moon may sometimes be unreachable.

In the Journal of Career Assessment, Kevin Hoff, assistant professor of psychology, reports the existence of important discrepancies between young people’s dream jobs and employment realities.

“Almost 50% of adolescents aspired to investigative or artistic careers, which together account for only 8% of the U.S. labor market,” reports Hoff, whose research examined the career aspirations of 3,367 adolescents (age 13-18 years) from 42 U.S. states. Investigative jobs include those in the field of science and research. [Read more…] about The job you want versus the job you get