Australian scientists develop a drought-tolerant beer grain they hope will be a saving grace for some Australian farmers.

On Monday, May 7, 2012, the White House honored fourteen individuals as Champions of Change for their efforts to advance access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for people with disabilities.

The University of Texas at Austin is hosting Bridging Transportation Researchers (BTR) Online Conference  on August 11-12, 2020. TRB is pleased to cosponsor this event. This zero-carbon, zero-cost conference will host multiple Zoom-based tracks to virtually and globally unite transportation engineers, planners, and policymakers to discuss a wide range of transportation research topics and results, including: Multi-modal transportation network and systems Travel demand forecasting, including connecte...

Given all we know about facial recognition tech, it is literally jaw-dropping that anyone could make this claim… especially without being vetted independently.

A group of Harrisburg University professors and a PhD student have developed an automated computer facial recognition software capable of predicting whether someone is likely to be a criminal.

The software is able to predict if someone is a criminal with 80% accuracy and with no racial bias. The prediction is calculated solely based on a picture of their face.

There's a whole lot of "what even the fuck" in CBS 21's reprint of a press release, but let's start with the claim about "no racial bias." That's a lot to swallow when the underlying research hasn't been released yet. Let's see what the National Institute of Standards and Technology has to say on the subject. This is the result of the NIST's examination of 189 facial recognition AI programs -- all far more established than whatever it is Harrisburg researchers have cooked up.

Asian and African American people were up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white men, depending on the particular algorithm and type of search. Native Americans had the highest false-positive rate of all ethnicities, according to the study, which found that systems varied widely in their accuracy.

The faces of African American women were falsely identified more often in the kinds of searches used by police investigators where an image is compared to thousands or millions of others in hopes of identifying a suspect.

Why is this acceptable? The report inadvertently supplies the answer:

Middle-aged white men generally benefited from the highest accuracy rates.

Yep. And guess who's making laws or running police departments or marketing AI to cops or telling people on Twitter not to break the law or etc. etc. etc.

To craft a terrible pun, the researchers' claim of "no racial bias" is absurd on its face. Per se stupid af to use legal terminology.

Moving on from that, there's the 80% accuracy, which is apparently good enough since it will only threaten the life and liberty of 20% of the people it's inflicted on. I guess if it's the FBI's gold standard, it's good enough for everyone.

Maybe this is just bad reporting. Maybe something got copy-pasted wrong from the spammed press release. Let's go to the source… one that somehow still doesn't include a link to any underlying research documents.

What does any of this mean? Are we ready to embrace a bit of pre-crime eugenics? Or is this just the most hamfisted phrasing Harrisburg researchers could come up with?

A group of Harrisburg University professors and a Ph.D. student have developed automated computer facial recognition software capable of predicting whether someone is likely going to be a criminal.

The most charitable interpretation of this statement is that the wrong-20%-of-the-time AI is going to be applied to the super-sketchy "predictive policing" field. Predictive policing -- a theory that says it's ok to treat people like criminals if they live and work in an area where criminals live -- is its own biased mess, relying on garbage data generated by biased policing to turn racist policing into an AI-blessed "work smarter not harder" LEO equivalent.

The question about "likely" is answered in the next paragraph, somewhat assuring readers the AI won't be applied to ultrasound images.

With 80 percent accuracy and with no racial bias, the software can predict if someone is a criminal based solely on a picture of their face. The software is intended to help law enforcement prevent crime.

There's a big difference between "going to be" and "is," and researchers using actual science should know better than to use both phrases to describe their AI efforts. One means scanning someone's face to determine whether they might eventually engage in criminal acts. The other means matching faces to images of known criminals. They are far from interchangeable terms.

If you think the above quotes are, at best, disjointed, brace yourself for this jargon-fest which clarifies nothing and suggests the AI itself wrote the pullquote:

“We already know machine learning techniques can outperform humans on a variety of tasks related to facial recognition and emotion detection,” Sadeghian said. “This research indicates just how powerful these tools are by showing they can extract minute features in an image that are highly predictive of criminality.”

"Minute features in an image that are highly predictive of criminality." And what, pray tell, are those "minute features?" Skin tone? "I AM A CRIMINAL IN THE MAKING" forehead tattoos? Bullshit on top of bullshit? Come on. This is word salad, but a salad pretending to be a law enforcement tool with actual utility. Nothing about this suggests Harrisburg has come up with anything better than the shitty "tools" already being inflicted on us by law enforcement's early adopters.

I wish we could dig deeper into this but we'll all have to wait until this excitable group of clueless researchers decide to publish their findings. According to this site, the research is being sealed inside a "research book," which means it will take a lot of money to actually prove this isn't any better than anything that's been offered before. This could be the next Clearview, but we won't know if it is until the research is published. If we're lucky, it will be before Harrisburg patents this awful product and starts selling it to all and sundry. Don't hold your breath.

1. Researchers build the world's fastest 'soft' robot, THREE TIMES faster than the last record holder  Daily Mail
2. Soft robots can now run like cheetahs and swim like marlins  Engadget
3. Inspired by cheetahs, researchers build fastest soft robots yet  Tech Xplore
4. Meet the world's fastest soft Robot!  NEWS9 live
5. Fastest Soft Robots To-Date Developed by Researchers  Unite.AI
6. View Full coverage on Google News

Belgian waffles may be about to become more environmentally friendly.

ARCH, the National Respite Network and Resource Center in the United States of America identified that evidence-based research on respite care has, to large extent, been lacking. Across ages, needs and settings, respite is based upon the premise that providing caregivers periodic relief from daily, ongoing caregiving responsibilities will directly benefit them in terms of their physical health, immediate and long-term psychological health, and social-emotional relationships with family members. These benefits are assumed to result in secondary benefits for care receivers and even larger societal benefits in the form of cost benefits or improved employee productivity. Some research studies point to the merits of these assumptions. However, evidence-based research supporting this premise - or going beyond it to demonstrate how to best provide respite care that results in maximum benefits - has not been available. This report presents the findings of an expert panel composed of academics, researchers, service providers, advocates, policymakers and administrators representing a range of age groups, disabilities and professional disciplines. Over a period of 18 months the panel explored the current status of respite research, proposed strategies to overcome barriers to research, and developed a plan to encourage rigorous research in key areas.

A cybersecurity researcher today publicly disclosed technical details and PoC for 4 unpatched zero-day vulnerabilities affecting an enterprise security software offered by IBM after the company refused to acknowledge the responsibly submitted disclosure. The affected premium product in question is IBM Data Risk Manager (IDRM) that has been designed to analyze sensitive business information

Researchers have uncovered a potential means to profile and track online users using a novel approach that combines device identifiers with their biometric information. The details come from a newly published research titled "Nowhere to Hide: Cross-modal Identity Leakage between Biometrics and Devices" by a group of academics from the University of Liverpool, New York University, The Chinese

A team of Princeton biologists found that division of labor and political polarization — two social phenomena not typically considered together — may be driven by the same processes in ant societies.

A team of Princeton researchers led by Bridgett vonHoldt found that microbes are linked to cancer in a threatened species: the Santa Catalina foxes, found only on one island off the California coast.

Using sophisticated algorithms to explore regions of the genome whose roles in cancer have been largely uncharted, an international team of researchers including from Princeton has opened the door to a new understanding of the disease’s genetic origins.

A county-by-county analysis of the United States by Princeton University researchers suggests that rural counties with high populations of people over 60 and limited access to health care facilities could eventually be among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The new material could have applications in robotics and medicine.

The virus simmered quietly in Cuba for about a year before infecting thousands.

Is Randeep Hothi a stalker, a harasser, a perpetrator of violence and an imminent threat?

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a long lost mass grave of US Civil War soldiers in Mississippi.

A team of researchers at the University of California at San Diego have created a soft robotic lens that responds to eye movements.

Japanese researchers at Keio University have unveiled a robotic tail that has been designed to be worn by elderly people who struggle to maintain their balance.

The following article, Univ of Pittsburg Researcher, China Native, Dr. Bing Liu, “On the verge” of COVID19 Breakthrough Is Murdered…Alleged Gunman, Hao Gu, Kills Himself, was first published on 100PercentFedUp.com.

A 37-year-old China native and "outstanding researcher" at the University of Pittsburgh...

Continue reading: Univ of Pittsburg Researcher, China Native, Dr. Bing Liu, “On the verge” of COVID19 Breakthrough Is Murdered…Alleged Gunman, Hao Gu, Kills Himself ...

Located in a global hotspot for biodiversity, Los Angeles County is home to more than 4,000 distinct species of plants and animals, including 52 endangered species - more than any county outside of Hawaii. And with 1 million animal and plant species facing extinction due to human activity, according to the United Nations, efforts to better understand the factors that shape biodiversity in Los Angeles could help shape global conservation efforts.

(University of Helsinki) Mutations in white blood cells can contribute to abnormal immune profile after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

(University of Houston) A University of Houston biomedical researcher is developing a new device to treat babies with blood disorders, because current technology is designed for adults. The ability to perform lifesaving leukapheresis safely and effectively in these most vulnerable pediatric patients will significantly increase their access to highly effective cell-based therapies.

(George Mason University) The team's work supports evidence-based decision making, informed by models, to rethink and facilitate hospital operations during the pandemic.

(DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Software vulnerabilities are more likely to be discussed on social media before they're revealed on a government reporting site, a practice that could pose a national security threat, according to computer scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

(University of Massachusetts Lowell) A UMass Lowell researcher investigating how to identify damage in wind turbines before they fail has received $1.4 million to develop a solution.

(University of British Columbia) Mars had a global magnetic field much earlier -- and much later -- than previously known. Analysis of new satellite data found clear evidence of a magnetic field coming from a lava flow that formed less than 3.7 billion years ago, half a billion years after many people thought the Martian dynamo had ceased. The researchers also detected low-intensity magnetic fields over the Borealis Basin, believed to be one of the oldest features on Mars.

(Kudos Innovations Ltd) Kudos helps researchers maximize reach and visibility of research by opening up Kudos Pro. The platform helps showcase work to a range of target audiences, supporting researchers in fields where conferences have been cancelled -- and those with COVID-19-relevant work that needs rapid communication. Over 2,000 researchers have already signed up.

(Queensland University of Technology) Robots that fly, swim and drive are being designed and built by internationally renowned Australian scientists from QUT.

(Florida State University) Florida State University and partner universities investigated current baseline conditions in the southern Gulf to create a series of maps and guides that detail the distribution of carbon, nitrogen and the carbon-14 isotope.

Current regulations do not effectively prevent potentially misleading claims, says Imperial scientists

(American Geriatrics Society) The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Alexander K. Smith, MD, MPH, an associate professor of medicine at UCSF and one of geriatrics' most influential rising researchers and advocates, will be honored with the 2020/2021 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation.

(The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)) A research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang-Yup Lee reported the production of a microbial strain capable of the massive production of succinic acid with the highest production efficiency to date. This strategy of integrating systems metabolic engineering with enzyme engineering will be useful for the production of industrially competitive bio-based chemicals.

Dr. Leo M. Sreebny, Ph.D., who had a long and distinguished career in academia as a professor of dentistry and researcher, particularly in issues related to saliva and dry mouth, died April 5 from complications of COVID-19 at age 98.

A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry has developed a nanoparticle that could improve treatment for bone defects.

A microbe found in mosquitoes that appears to block malaria could be used to control spread of the disease in humans, according to researchers in Kenya and Britain.

Interferon beta, a drug originally developed to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is being explored as a possible cure for the severe lung infections caused by COVID-19, media reports confirmed Monday

As the population of gray wolves expands across the northern United States, researchers are finding a surprising side-effect: Their presence appears to lead to a reduction in the coyote population.

The Cape honey bee, a subspecies found along the southern coast of South Africa, reproduces without having sex. Now, scientists have identified the gene responsible for the bee's virgin births.

By Jesse Singal. Study fails to replicate 2011 result, suggesting that word choice matters less as issue has become more politicised.

"Researchers of DETCRC 3.1 project acquired substantial experience in seismic exploration of Nickel deposits across Yilgarn craton, Western Australia. There are many lessons learnt and various approaches trialled. The validity of the research conducted and the outputs achieved were verified against real field data provided by the sponsors and affiliates to DET CRC. Research quality was scrutinised by publishing in high level journals. In general high quality images are achieved over nickel rich Kambalda province that allowed for an accurate structural interpretation. Rock identification and characterisation is still challenging particularly due to lack of calibration of seismic images with borehole logs and borehole seismic. Several case histories are documented and briefly analysed. The difference between Komatiitic nickel deposit of Australia and Canada is also commented in light of seismic response and required technology for its detection" -- Executive summary.

But the scientists still aren’t sure what the birds are saying

A recent excavation located the first physical evidence of the capital of the Maya kingdom of Sak Tz'i', founded in 750 B.C.

No SARS-CoV-2 infections have yet been detected in our closest living relatives. But there is precedent for viruses jumping from people to other great apes

Matilda McCrear was just 2 when she was captured and brought to Alabama on the "Clotilda"