UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Robotic helicopters teach themselves

STANFORD, Calif., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have created robotic helicopters that can teach themselves to fly by "watching" other helicopters.

Stanford University Professor Andrew Ng, who led the project, said the achievement is an important demonstration of "apprenticeship learning," in which robots use an artificial intelligence system to learn by observing an expert, rather than by having software engineers write instructions.

Stanford's artificial intelligence system learned how to fly by "watching" a four-foot-long helicopter flown by expert radio control pilot Garett Oku.

While it might seem an autonomous helicopter could fly stunts by simply replaying the exact finger movements of an expert pilot using joy sticks on a remote controller, Ng said that's not possible due to many uncontrollable variables such as gusting winds.

So the researchers had Oku and other pilots fly entire air show routines while every movement of the helicopter was recorded. As each maneuver was repeated, the helicopter's trajectory inevitably varied slightly with each flight. But the learning algorithms created by Ng's team were able to discern the ideal trajectory the pilot was seeking.

Ng said there is interest in using autonomous helicopters for such duties as searching for land mines or mapping wildfire hot spots in real time.

New diabetes cell therapy is suggested

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Israeli scientists say they have developed a method of replicating insulin-producing beta cells, suggesting a new treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Researchers led by Tel Aviv University Professor Shimon Efrat have developed a way to cultivate, in the laboratory, insulin-producing beta cells derived from human tissue. If such new healthy cells can be implanted into type 1 diabetes patients, the researchers say their method could artificially replicate the insulin cells, thereby ensuring fewer people will die while waiting for pancreas or kidney transplants.

Efrat said his research paves the way for new and alternative forms of treatment in cases in which organ transplantation is not an option. And, one day, the procedure might become as simple as a blood transfusion.

"The shortage of organ donors makes the development of new cell sources for cell therapy critical," said Efrat. "Using beta cell expansion, we are able to grow a massive reserve of healthy cells that may be made to produce enough insulin to restore the function of the destroyed cells."

The research that included graduate students Holger Russ and Yael Bar appears in the journal Diabetes and is featured in a report by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

NASA creates Carl Sagan fellowships

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it's created Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowships in Exoplanet Exploration, designed to inspire the next generation of astronomers.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said the program will allow talented young scientists to follow in the path of the late Carl Sagan, a noted astronomer and popular science communicator.

NASA notes planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, are being discovered at a rapid pace, with more than 300 having been found. Sagan, decades before any exoplanets had been found, predicted the existence of such worlds.

The postdoctoral fellowship program will award stipends of approximately $60,000 per year, for a period of up to three years, to selected postdoctoral scientists.

"NASA's science-driven mission portfolio, its cultivation of young talent to pursue cutting-edge research and the decision to commit its genius to a question of transcendent cultural significance, would have thrilled Carl," said Ann Druyan, Sagan's wife and collaborator. "That this knowledge will be pursued in his name … is a source of infinite pride to our family."

The selection of Sagan fellows will be announced in February.

New surgery stops Parkinson's cell loss

CINCINNATI, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered deep brain stimulation, a surgical procedure used in Parkinson's disease, halts dopamine-cell loss in animal models.

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati's Neuroscience Institute posit the act of stimulating neurons with electrodes boosted the amount of an important protein in animals' brains. The protein, a trophic factor known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, is a nurturing, growth-promoting chemical.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder involving the death of dopamine-producing brain cells, or neurons.

"Demonstrating that deep brain stimulation halts the progression of dopamine-cell loss was basically a confirmation and extension of previous findings," said Associate Professor Caryl Sortwell, the study's lead investigator. "But finding the mechanism is a novel discovery that is even more critical. We now know not only that it works, we also are beginning to understand how it is working."

She said the findings hold important implications for patients with Parkinson's disease and could alter the current recommended timetable for surgical intervention.

Sortwell reported the study during a recent conference by the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.