Top 5: STEM this Week

Facebook’s video profile, “The Martian”, charging roads, and robots that can learn are some of this week’s notable events in the world of STEM. Click to learn more about them.

Researchers have developed a new system of learning that can enable industrial robots to learn through video. Read more below. Creative commons image from Vincent Diamante.

Lauren Yang | News Editor

Users can now add a video profile picture. Staff photo by Lauren Yang.

1. Facebook’s looping profile picture
Facebook recently introduced a new set of features to its Facebook Mobile Profile update. With the most recent update, all users can post looping video profile pictures, temporary profile pictures, and filters. Read more about it here.

This high resolution picture was taken when the spacecraft was on its closest approach to the planet. Photo from NASA.

2. New photos of Pluto’s Moon
New photos of Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, were released by NASA on Oct. 1. The photos were taken on July 14 by the New Horizon spacecraft and were transmitted back to Earth on Sept 21. The images reveal canyons and valleys of the moon in detail never seen before. To see more pictures and learn more, click here.

Watch the trailer for “The Martian” above. Video from 20th Century Fox.
3. “The Martian” movie tops box office
“The Martian,” which released to theaters in the United States on Sept 27, topped global box offices at $100 million this weekend. The movie is about how Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, struggles to survive on Mars after an unsuccessful departure during a martian storm. Critics are praising “The Martian” for its attention to scientific detail because much of the plot centers around how Watney utilizes math and science to survive. As Watney says during the movie, “I’m going to science the s— out of this.”

Charging stations, like the one above, may be a thing of the past if the charging roads proposed by the British are successful. Creative commons image from Felix Kramer.

4.Car charging roads
In the UK, the government is testing roads that can charge a car as it drives; this initiative hopes to charge cars much like how today’s wireless phone charger does. The British government has committed $779 million to this project and hopes to bring it to public roads in the next five years. Read more about this here.

Industrial robots, like the one above, may soon be learning from video thanks to this breakthrough. Creative commons image from ICAPlants.

5. Robot see, robot do
Robots can now learn how to perform a variety of tasks simply by analyzing videos of humans executing the same action, thanks to researchers in the Autonomy, Robotics and Cognition Lab at the University of Maryland. These robots learn from videos by utilizing a two pronged learning system that identifies both the actions and the objects involved in the task. This breakthrough can potentially save the manufacturing industry significant amount of money because it makes the robot-reprogramming process more efficient. Read more about robots that learn here.

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