Category archives: Computer science

The dangers of agricultural big data

The dangers of agricultural big data

Computer scienceEconomicsEthicsSociology

By Invited Researcher

Most internet users are by now aware of the vulnerability of their personal data. When the news broke that tech companies misuse and manipulate our personal data, there was a widespread “techlash” against the corporate giants Facebook, Amazon and Google. The explicit motive for data harvesting is the prediction of consumer wants and needs. And […]

Deadbots can speak for you after your death

Deadbots can speak for you after your death

Computer scienceEthicsSociology

By Invited Researcher

Machine-learning systems are increasingly worming their way through our everyday lives, challenging our moral and social values and the rules that govern them. These days, virtual assistants threaten the privacy of the home; news recommenders shape the way we understand the world; risk-prediction systems tip social workers on which children to protect from abuse; while […]

AI can predict Alzheimer’s risk from brain scans

AI can predict Alzheimer’s risk from brain scans

Computer scienceNeurobiologyNeuroscience

By Rosa García-Verdugo

Since humans are not very good at predicting the future, even if the help of a magic ball, scientists have developed a new system based on artificial intelligence to help us predict the future risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by analysing certain parameters in brain scans. The research, recently published in the journal Diagnostics […]

The proper use of deep learning in microscopy image analysis

The proper use of deep learning in microscopy image analysis

Computer scienceDIPC Biochemistry

By DIPC

Microscopy is a leading technology in biological research. Today, a typical microscopy session may generate hundreds to thousands of images, generally requiring computational analysis to extract meaningful results. But a simple analysis is not enough any more. Over the last few years, deep learning (DL) has increasingly become one of the gold standards for high-performance […]

Mining Wikipedia to unveil emergent interdisciplinary knowledge

Mining Wikipedia to unveil emergent interdisciplinary knowledge

Computer scienceDIPC MestizajesEpistemology

By DIPC

Specialisation has necessarily led to the fragmentation of knowledge, creating loosely connected disciplines in which discoveries in one area are hardly known in others. This implies that the flow of knowledge is severely restricted among disciplines or even among different areas within the same discipline. In recent decades, different approaches have been proposed to overcome […]

Altcoins could provide a green solution to energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies

Altcoins could provide a green solution to energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies

Computer scienceEconomics

By Invited Researcher

The cryptocurrency bitcoin now uses up more electricity a year than the whole of Argentina, according to recent estimates from the University of Cambridge. That’s because the creation of a bitcoin, in a process called mining, is achieved by powerful computers that work night and day to decode and solve complex mathematical problems. The energy […]

3 medical innovations fueled by COVID-19 that will outlast the pandemic

3 medical innovations fueled by COVID-19 that will outlast the pandemic

Computer scienceGeneticsHealthMedicineMolecular biologyPharmacy

By Invited Researcher

A number of technologies and tools got a chance to prove themselves for the first time in the context of COVID-19. Three researchers working in gene-based vaccines, wearable diagnostics and drug discovery explain how their work rose to the challenge of the pandemic, and their hopes that each technology is now poised to continue making […]