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Machine learning has helped a group of researchers at the University of Washington to devise a system, called Audeo, which creates audio from silent piano performances.

That is, this artificial intelligence recreates the performing experience of musicians and their instruments using only visual cues.

Audeo

Audeo uses a series of steps to decode what's happening in the video and then translate it into music. First, it has to detect which keys are pressed in each video frame to create a diagram over time. Then you need to translate that diagram into something that a music synthesizer will actually recognize as a sound a piano would make. This second step cleans up the data and adds more information, such as how hard each key is pressed and for how long.

The researchers trained and tested the system using YouTube videos of the pianist Paul Barton. The lineup consisted of about 172,000 video frames of Barton playing music by well-known classical composers, such as Bach and Mozart.

Audeo's reliability in interpreting which song is being played is so high that it even surpasses that of song recognition apps: the applications correctly identified the piece that Audeo was playing approximately 86% of the time, while Audeo reached the 93%.

Audeo was trained and tested only on Paul Barton piano videos. Future research is needed to see how well it can transcribe music for any musician or piano player.

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The news

This AI can interpret the music played by an instrument only using visual cues

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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Pureed foods are usually served to patients who suffer from swallowing difficulties known as dysphagia. Health professionals have used silicone molds to shape pureed foods to make them more visually appetizing.

But this process requires time and a lot of storage but inks for 3D printed foods generally are made from pureed foods in liquid or semi-solid form, and then 3D printed by extrusion from a nozzle and assembled layer by layer.

Less additives

Dehydrated foods and freeze-dried powders used as food inks generally contain a high percentage of food additives, such as hydrocolloids (HC).

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The high concentration of HC usually changes the taste, texture and aroma of printed foods, making them unappetizing to patients with dysphagia. But a new 'ink' process to produce food on 3D printers with fresh and frozen vegetables better preserves its nutritional properties and flavor.

This new process has been developed by the research team from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH).

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The optimized ink formulations show excellent 3D printability, minimal water seepage, and dense microstructures with minimal HC. Using fresh vegetables instead of freeze-dried foods serves to preserve the flavor and nutrition as if they were real foods. As explained Yi Zhang, principal investigator of the NTU team:

Our technology helps provide dysphagic patients with appropriate, nutrient-rich and safe diets. Their diet is more dignified, allowing them to socialize and consume foods that look, feel and taste like normal food. Our method of 3D printing fresh vegetables can be easily used in hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers for the aging population with dysphagia and other swallowing disorders. Our research is also a step further into digital gastronomy, where we can satisfy the specific requirements prescribed by dietitians, such as nutrition personalization and visual appeal.

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The news

This 3D printed food with puree preserves flavor better and looks more visually pleasing

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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Consider the final period of a sentence in a book. Or perhaps the final period of this same sentence. Try to expand it. Imagine that you make it giant. That you can peek inside.

In the following image you can see everything that would fit inside.

All the life around us

What is evident in this striking image is that life surrounds us, life is everywhere (whether we see it or not), and it also penetrates us, settles on our skin, helps us live, kills us.

Some even stink.. But bacteria generate repulsive odors not as part of their waste material, but as a means of preventing us from eating their food.

Body bacteria deserve special mention.. For the most part, these species are not pathogens, but rather dentritivores that feed on our bodies as they decompose. In fact, we leave a trail of life everywhere: our skin peels off as we walk around the house in a process called “peeling.”

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If bacteria clump together, they can survive for years in space

50 million flakes a day

We all decompose at a rate of approximately 50 million flakes a day. Each flake of skin that swarms through the air contains, in turn, thousands of bacteria that live and feed on it, as explained Rob Dunn in his book Home alone?:

Riding those parachutes of skin, these bacteria fall off us like a constant snowfall. We also release bacteria through bodily fluids (saliva and so on) and in the feces that we deposit here and there. As a consequence, the places at home where we spend time bear marks of our presence. Every place analyzed in any room where we place the body contains microbial signs of the life lived.

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If we kill microbes by increasing our body temperature, why not always keep it high?

In fact, where we spend more time on the body (regardless of the humidity and temperature of the place) it contains a greater number of mites. Matt Colloff, from the University of Glasgow, found in a study that he himself "left" 18 species of mites in total where it landed, especially on the mattress of your bed. Mostly there were dust mites and dust mite predators, living there in his mattress and feeding on his body as he shed.

All of this, in addition to disgust in the strict sense of the word, can also help us debate moral disgust, the arbitrary lines that we establish to consider a life worthy of being protected, ignored or even eliminated. The bioethical conflicts that arise regarding the abortion debate, for example, can be greatly enriched thanks to data like this, and others that you can see in the following video (not suitable for those who are very, very sure that they have the truth):

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The news

All this life is what fits at the end of the period of this sentence.

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

.

He Tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, is a unique reptile found in New Zealand. A new research suggests that the species has two mitochondrial genomes.

Tuatara are the only species of the order Sphenodontia that has survived to the present day, virtually unchanged since the Mesozoic Era. The meaning of its common name comes from Maori and means "spiny back."

Tuatara

All animals have nuclear DNA found in the nucleus of the cell and mitochondrial DNA, located in the so-called cellular 'power plant', the mitochondria. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or mitochondrial genome, therefore, is genetic material from the mitochondria, the elements of the cell that generate energy for it.

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This is the creature with the largest animal mitochondrial genome in the world

However, after analyzing existing tuatara DNA sequences and comparing them with DNA from other reptiles, they soon realized that the genome was not as incomplete as scientists initially thought. Actually, there were too many mysterious sequences and leftover DNA in the reptile's mitochondrial genome.

After an exhaustive study, thanks to new data from the entire sequenced genome, they identified a second complete mitochondrial genome that is a 10 % different from the 'typical' tuatara mitochondrial genome.

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Although the discovery of a second mitochondrial genome was only confirmed in a single sample, its presence is still surprising. If scientists discover that double mitochondrial genomes are common in tuatara, they could use these multiple genomes to find out when each genome appeared and when it separated from the other. The research could help zoologists understand what exactly makes the species so genetically different from all other reptiles.

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The news

This vertebrate is different from all of them: it seems to have two different mitochondrial genomes

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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A streaming service, such as Netflix, can have an offer of titles close to 4,000. When it comes time to choose a movie, Are you more likely to make a decision quickly or carefully examine the possibilities?

Psychologists refer to those who search for something to arrive at an appropriate choice as 'satisficers'. Meanwhile, it is the 'maximizers' who search exhaustively for what could be considered the perfect option. The first seems like a healthier strategy, but a new study says otherwise (with a nuance).

Maximizers VS Satisfactorers

A new investigation from the University at Buffalo that measured cardiovascular responses at the time of making a decision, rather than after the fact, suggests that it is satisficers who feel unable to really choose, and what appears to be a quick certainty could be In fact a defense of having to think too much about the options presented to them.

As explained Thomas Saltsman, lead author of the study:

We found evidence that, compared to maximizers, satisficers showed cardiovascular threat responses consistent with evaluating themselves as less able to manage their choice in the moment.

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Saltsman says that satisficers may search minimally through their options not because they are less particular or simply care less about their choices than maximizers, but because they feel unable to choose between so many options.

Using a sample of 128 participants, the researchers first assessed everyone's decision-making style (maximization vs. satisfaction), before presenting them with 15 online personal profiles and accompanying cards with related biographical details. Participants had three minutes to choose their 'ideal' person or partner. Later, they reported their decision.

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What you consume, especially what you eat, is much more important for the environment than you think

Unlike previous studies, the researchers measured cardiovascular responses to better understand the psychological experiences of the participants during their election.

The findings, published in the journal Psychophysiology, challenge traditional wisdom. The implications are relevant not only to everyday decision making, but also speak to how people approach important decisions.

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The news

Quick choosing could be a strategy to avoid option overload, not a sign of greater security

was originally published in

Xataka Science

by
Sergio Parra

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