Skull sets a new record. A 1982 artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for a record $110.5 million at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art Thursday night. The painting’s graffiti-like typography depicts a face in the shape of a skull.
Music AI synthesizer by Google. NSynth uses machine learning to produce funky sounds derived from recordings of about a thousand different instruments from flutes to clavichords. The resulting beats are more than a mere amalgamation of two instruments playing at the same time, but are instead entirely novel noises created by the program’s neural networks.
Gecko-inspired grippers for robots. The new material FAM made with microfibers on a thin, stretchy membrane can enable a robot to lift up objects or scale walls with irregular surfaces. With a contact area of only 2.5 square centimeters, the “gripper” can lift objects weighing more than 300 grams.
Tech good for aging brain? Positive stress on the brain from new tech may reduce age-related diseases and leave the neurons healthy and more “information-rich” as hormetic (positive) stress places our neurons under continual pressure to repair themselves.
Scientific migrations. Competing PhD and continuing the research often involves working in multiple counties. Science analyzed migration patterns of scientists and revealed, among other things, that third of those who earned their Ph.D. in
