How to create intelligent robots as those in science fiction?
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 3-Jan-2026 04:11 ET (3-Jan-2026 09:11 GMT/UTC)
Classic AI technologies are disembodied, and insufficient to make robots intelligently behave in the real world. In contrast, embodied artificial intelligence (Embodied AI) enables artificial agents with physical embodiment to achieve intelligent behavior through interactions with environments. Prof. Weinan Zhang and his team from Harbin Institute of Technology provide a comprehensive survey on Embodied AI. The survey proposes a structured research framework for Embodied AI from the perspective of robot behavior.
This study proposes a mechanism-data dual-driven framework to address the challenge of balancing water conservation, carbon emission reduction, and aquatic ecosystem preservation in China's industrial sector at minimal cost. It involves developing hybrid models for water-use and treatment processes and establishing a superstructure optimization model. This model identifies the optimal pathway for simultaneous water saving and carbon mitigation, supporting cost-effective decisions for industrial park water network optimization. Case studies confirm the framework's effectiveness in balancing economic and environmental benefits.
A team from the Technion Faculty of Biology has discovered how marine viruses use a “Trojan horse” strategy to exploit the energy systems of ocean bacteria, reshaping key global processes. The study, published in Nature, reveals that cyanophages—viruses that infect oceanic cyanobacteria—carry a hijacked bacterial gene, nblA, which dismantles the bacteria’s photosynthetic machinery.
Under normal stress, this gene helps cyanobacteria survive by recycling components of their photosynthetic systems. However, when activated by the virus, it turns against the host: the virus triggers the breakdown to release amino acids it then uses to replicate rapidly. This allows the virus to exploit the host’s resources while destroying it from within.
The discovery was made by Prof. Debbie Lindell, Prof. Oded Béjà, and Prof. Oded Kleifeld, together with Dr. Omer Nadel, Dr. Rawad Hanna, and Dr. Andrey Rozenberg, using a combination of genetic engineering, proteomics, and environmental metagenomics to map the process in detail.
The researchers estimate that this viral mechanism reduces the global photosynthetic energy production of marine cyanobacteria by about 5%, with potential implications for the Earth’s carbon and oxygen cycles.
Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a quick-setting, environmentally friendly alternative to concrete they hope can one day be used to rapidly 3-D print homes and infrastructure.