Emerging infectious diseases increasingly threaten wildlife populations. Most studies focus on managing short‐term epidemic properties, such as controlling early outbreaks. Predicting long‐term endemic characteristics with limited retrospective data is more challenging. We used individual‐based modeling informed by individual variation in pathogen load and transmissibility to predict long‐term impacts of a lethal, transmissible cancer on Tasmanian devil (
Progress in robotics for combating infectious diseases
The world was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, and recovery is likely to be a long process. Robots have long been heralded to take on dangerous, dull, and dirty jobs, often in environments that are unsuitable for humans. Could robots be used to fight future pandemics? We review the fundamental requirements for robotics for infectious disease management and outline how robotic technologies can be used in different scenarios, including disease prevention and monitoring, clinical care, laboratory automation, logistics, and maintenance of socioeconomic activities. We also address some of the open challenges for developing advanced robots that are application oriented, reliable, safe, and rapidly deployable when needed. Last, we look at the ethical use of robots and call for globally sustained efforts in order for robots to be ready for future outbreaks.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2032729
- PAR ID:
- 10280914
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science Robotics
- Volume:
- 6
- Issue:
- 52
- ISSN:
- 2470-9476
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- eabf1462
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Sarcophilus harrisii ) populations. For this, we employed approximate Bayesian computation to identify model scenarios that best matched known epidemiological and demographic system properties derived from 10 yr of data after disease emergence, enabling us to forecast future system dynamics. We show that the dramatic devil population declines observed thus far are likely attributable to transient dynamics (initial dynamics after disease emergence). Only 21% of matching scenarios led to devil extinction within 100 yr following devil facial tumor disease (DFTD ) introduction, whereasDFTD faded out in 57% of simulations. In the remaining 22% of simulations, disease and host coexisted for at least 100 yr, usually with long‐period oscillations. Our findings show that pathogen extirpation or host–pathogen coexistence are much more likely than theDFTD ‐induced devil extinction, with crucial management ramifications. Accounting for individual‐level disease progression and the long‐term outcome of devil–DFTD interactions at the population‐level, our findings suggest that immediate management interventions are unlikely to be necessary to ensure the persistence of Tasmanian devil populations. This is because strong population declines of devils after disease emergence do not necessarily translate into long‐term population declines at equilibria. Our modeling approach is widely applicable to other host–pathogen systems to predict disease impact beyond transient dynamics. -
As artificially intelligent humanoids become increasingly prevalent in the home, it is imperative that we develop secure designs to guard against cyberattacks. The next evolution of AI-powered home devices, such as Alexa, is to create physical effectors to enable these devices to alter their environments. Current humanoids on the market, such as the EZ-Robot JD and NAO, are examples of artificially intelligent robots that may one day become common in home environments. If these humanoids are not designed to be safe against cybersecurity vulnerabilities, they may be used to cause harm to living spaces and possibly even the humans living in these spaces. This paper examines the cybersecurity of two humanoid robots and provides recommendations for future safe designs and protections in artificial intelligent social robots.more » « less
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Living tissues are still far from being used as practical components in biohybrid robots because of limitations in life span, sensitivity to environmental factors, and stringent culture procedures. Here, we introduce fungal mycelia as an easy-to-use and robust living component in biohybrid robots. We constructed two biohybrid robots that use the electrophysiological activity of living mycelia to control their artificial actuators. The mycelia sense their environment and issue action potential–like spiking voltages as control signals to the motors and valves of the robots that we designed and built. The paper highlights two key innovations: first, a vibration- and electromagnetic interference–shielded mycelium electrical interface that allows for stable, long-term electrophysiological bioelectric recordings during untethered, mobile operation; second, a control architecture for robots inspired by neural central pattern generators, incorporating rhythmic patterns of positive and negative spikes from the living mycelia. We used these signals to control a walking soft robot as well as a wheeled hard one. We also demonstrated the use of mycelia to respond to environmental cues by using ultraviolet light stimulation to augment the robots’ gaits.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abf1462
