SPONSORED BY  | | | | November 27, 2023: Machine learning to detect land mines, how random sex among bugs protects their genetic diversity and mysterious giant explosions in space. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Researchers are developing a drone-based machine-learning technology to make identifying land mines safer and faster than with traditional methods. A drone flies over an area thought to be mined, collecting a large volume of images. An algorithm, trained on the visual characteristics of 70 types of land mines, cluster munitions, and other unexploded ordnance, processes the images into a map, with resolution down to a fraction of an inch. The model can then recognize and map explosives more quickly and accurately than a human reviewing the same images. The system has a reported detection rate of about 90 percent.
Why this matters: Land mine detection technology has not advanced much since World War II. The majority of demining is done by hand, with human deminers scouring contaminated ground inch by inch with handheld metal detectors. The researchers hope their tech might speed up the process in places like Ukraine; by some estimates the country has about 67,000 square miles that could harbor mines and other explosives.
What the experts say: With the new system, "you can scan wide areas of land and try to figure out where the highest density of contamination is," before sending in humans to defuse the mines, says Jasper Baur, a Ph.D. student in volcanology and remote sensing at Columbia University who is co-developing the new technique with colleagues. | | | Stick-like and wingless insects in the Timema genus are nearly all female and reproduce without sex by creating genetic clones of themselves, a process called parthenogenesis. Entomologists occasionally stumble on male Timema insects, which seem to have no reproductive function and which researchers thought until now were genetic "errors." New DNA analyses of eight Timema populations across four species shows that these males actually introduce genetic diversity into populations through rare sexual encounters with females.
Why this matters: Asexual parthenogenesis (meaning "virgin birth") is common among invertebrates and even occurs in some species of birds, lizards and snakes. But creating offspring through cloning results in low genetic diversity, leaving a population vulnerable to harmful mutations and limiting its ability to adapt to environmental changes. Rare sexual encounters may help these insects thrive.
What the experts say: The discovery "reinforces the hypothesis that many of the species previously thought to be anciently asexual in fact engage in sexual reproduction or other forms of genetic exchange," says Olga Vakhrusheva, an evolutionary biologist at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow. | | | • The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in late October urging consumers to avoid 26 over-the-counter eye drop products. Here's what you need to know. | 5 min read | | | • Astronomers have spotted more than half a dozen extremely bright explosions in space (and named them luminous fast blue optical transients). But the researchers don't know what's causing them. | 3 min read | | | An artist's impression of an luminous fast blue optical transient explosion. Credit: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF | | | • A new documentary film investigates the rise of vaccine anxiety, and couldn't be more timely, writes Keith Kloor, adjunct professor of journalism at New York University. "A complicated mix of psychological, socioeconomic and ideological factors," that includes the influence of crusading antivaccine activists, leads to distrust of science and vaccines, he says. | 6 min read | | | SPONSORED CONTENT BY The Templeton World Charity Foundation | Last Chance to Register for the Global Flourishing Conference! | Can artificial intelligence enable scientific and social progress? What do loneliness experts recommend to improve social connectedness? How can we reframe traditional concepts of well-being and happiness to better reflect life in the modern age? These questions and more will be answered at the 2nd Annual Global Flourishing Conference on 29 – 30 November. Two days left to register – secure your spot today. | | | Welcome back from your Thanksgiving meal stupor! For those of you who enjoyed turkey last week, it's been proposed that L-tryptophan in the meat makes you sleepy. The truth is that turkey doesn't really contain much more of the amino acid than does other meat. It's likely all the carb-heavy sides (and alcoholic beverages) fueling that post-meal crash. Either way, I love that science even shows up at the holiday dinner table. | Thank you so much for writing to me about what you're thankful for! I love hearing from you, good or bad, so reach out anytime: newsletters@sciam.com. See you tomorrow. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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