Biodegradable Robots - What's Next?

A Medication Abortion Drug Faces Potential Nationwide Restriction

A federal court case underway in Texas this week could have big implications for medication based abortion care across the U.S. The case involves the FDA’s approval of the drug mifepristone, which is used as part of a two-drug combination in most medication abortions. The plaintiffs in the case are arguing that the FDA went against its own guidelines regarding drug safety when it approved the medication in 2000, though the overwhelming evidence has shown the drug to be safe and effective. A ruling against the FDA could result in mifepristone prescriptions being banned nationwide.

Maggie Koerth, senior science writer at FiveThirtyEight, joins John Dankosky to talk about the case and its implications. They also tackle other stories from the week in science, including investigations of the Earth’s inner core, a timeline for astronauts on board the ISS, and efforts to understand what “burnout” actually is.

 

A New Twist On Sowing Seeds

Imagine sowing a handful of seeds on the ground—but instead of needing planting help from a rake or hoe, the seeds can determine for themselves when the ground is fresh from the rain and ready for planting, and burrow their own way into the damp soil.

Some seeds, including varieties of Erodium species, can actually do that. They use their self-burying ability to adapt to arid climates. But in a recent study in the journal Nature, researchers describe a package, or wrapper that can give other kinds of seeds self-burying powers as well. The design adapts some of the shapes and techniques used by Erodium into a biodegradable corkscrew made of engineered wood, that can respond to moisture and uncoil to slowly drill a seed into receptive soil.

Dr. Lining Yao, co-author of that report and director of the Morphing Matter Lab in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science, joins guest host Regina Barber to describe the seed delivery system, and what remains to be solved before it can be used in the wild.

 

A Long History Shadows New Fight Over California’s Shasta Dam

A few years ago, I stumbled onto the story of the Winnemem Wintu people, an indigenous people of Northern California. Theirs is an epic tale and it grabbed hold of me. For several years, I tagged along with them whenever I could. I was around so much, they started teasing me. The large fuzzy windscreens of my recording setup earned me a nickname. The Winnemem Wintu and their close friends call me and my microphone Gray Squirrel.

Nickname aside, I never took it lightly that the Winnemem Wintu let me into their space. For good reasons, many Native people are suspicious of outsiders. I understood their openness was special and rare. My greatest hope is that you will hear their story of struggle and resilience, of betrayal and a willingness to still believe in the good things to come – and that it will change you as it did me.Behind the Chief we see the top of Shasta Dam’s immense concrete spillway set against a background of dry, rolling hills. Shasta Dam stands 602 feet high. It’s the country’s 8th tallest. It turned California into the giant, agricultural engine that it is today. It also left a legacy of harm when it flooded the Winnemem and other Wintu people off their land.

Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.

 

Rapper And Scholar Sammus Confronts AI In Hip-Hop

Over the last six months, there’s been a lot of movement and discussion about the effects that generative AI will have on visual art and writing. But what about its effects on music—in particular, hip-hop? A few years ago, a deep fake of Kanye West rapping a verse from “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen went viral. It was created with just a few clicks using the program Uberduck, which can output AI-generated raps from text of the users’ choice. And it turns out that the rhythmic qualities that make hip-hop performers’ verses so spellbinding is exactly what makes them easier to mimic in deep fakes, as opposed to other genres of music.

Guest host Regina Barber talks with rapper and music, science, and technology scholar Dr. Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, also known as Sammus, about the unexpected crossovers between hip-hop and the growing field of generative AI. She is also an assistant professor of music at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

 

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