Japanese AI Writes a Novel, Nearly Wins Literary Award
Authors beware, because an AI-written novel just made it past the first round of screening for a national literary prize in Japan. The novel this program co-authored is titled, The Day…
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Science & Technology — page 6
Browse science & technology in the Akihabara archive.
Katsuko Saruhashi turned radioactive fallout into a scientific legacy
In 1957, Saruhashi became the first woman to receive a PhD in chemistry in Japan. Her work focused on measuring the molecules in seawater — like carbon dioxide, oxygen, and also radioactive molecules…
Toyota halts autonomous vehicle testing in US
Toyota Motor says it is suspending autonomous vehicle testing on US public roads in the wake of a fatal accident involving a test vehicle operated by the ride-hailing company Uber. Toyota R…
Fukushima professor develops rubber that can make and store power from light and vibration
Kunio Shimada, a professor of fluid mechanics and energy engineering at Fukushima University, has developed a special rubber that can generate electricity from solar and kinetic energy and save the p…
Japan is commissioning the world’s most powerful nuclear fusion research supercomputer
Japan is launching a Cray XC50 supercomputer for advanced nuclear fusion research, which will begin production this year. While the Cray XC50 supercomputer is far from the most powerful on the planet…
Send a ‘surrogate’ to meetings wearing an iPad with YOUR face on it
If the thought of sitting through yet another meeting fills you with dread, you’ll be happy to hear that you could pay a ‘surrogate’ to sit through it for you. Researchers from the University of…
Toyota Designs a Robot that Can Make 200,000 Shots on the Basketball Court
CUE is a humanoid robot that learned its shooting techniques from Artificial Intelligence (AI). It can shoot basketballs with incredible accuracy: a range of close to 200,000 shots can be made, at a …
This Japanese startup is making a hover backpack to augment jumping ability
The device, a non-functioning prototype version that was shown off in the expo hall of Austin’s SXSW festival this week, uses a circular series of rotors to provide enough downward thrust to let…
Tokyo Tech's six-legged robots get closer to nature
A study led by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) has uncovered new ways of driving multi-legged robots by means of a two-level controller. The proposed controller us…
Fukushima frozen soil wall
A panel of government-appointed experts says more measures are needed to contain the increase of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant even after a frozen soil wall was…