Micro air vehicles with bird-like navigation speed and safety
Related Articles
Human neural dynamics of real-world and imagined navigation
The ability to form episodic memories and later imagine them is integral to the human experience, influencing our recollection of the past and envisioning of the future. While rodent studies suggest the medial temporal lobe, especially the hippocampus, is involved in these functions, its role in human imagination remains uncertain. In human participants, imaginations can be explicitly instructed and reported. Here we investigate hippocampal theta oscillations during real-world and imagined navigation using motion capture and intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from individuals with chronically implanted medial temporal lobe electrodes. Our results revealed intermittent theta dynamics, particularly within the hippocampus, encoding spatial information and partitioning navigational routes into linear segments during real-world navigation. During imagined navigation, theta dynamics exhibited similar patterns despite the absence of external cues. A statistical model successfully reconstructed real-world and imagined positions, providing insights into the neural mechanisms underlying human navigation and imagination, with implications for understanding memory in real-world settings.
The closing longevity gap between battery electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles in Great Britain
Electric vehicles are increasingly being adopted in Great Britain and other parts of the world, driven by the perception that they offer a cost-effective alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles while reducing emissions. However, a key element that underpins this perception is the longevity of electric vehicles, which remains relatively under researched. Here we show that although early battery electric vehicles (BEVs) exhibited lower reliability than internal combustion engine vehicles, rapid technological advancements have allowed newer BEVs to achieve comparable lifespans, even under more intensive use. Longevity is also found to be impacted by engine size, location and make of vehicle. We provide parameter estimates for life mileage that can be used to update life cycle assessment and total cost of ownership studies of different vehicle powertrains. Our results also shed light on BEV diffusion patterns, fleet replacement strategies and end-of-life treatment planning, including the increasingly important debate around BEV battery recycling and second-life options.
Intelligent shipping: integrating autonomous maneuvering and maritime knowledge in the Singapore-Rotterdam Corridor
Designing safe and reliable routes is the core of intelligent shipping. However, existing methods for industrial use are inadequate, primarily due to the lack of considering company preferences and ship maneuvering characteristics. To address these challenges, here we introduce a methodological framework that integrates maritime knowledge and autonomous maneuvering model. Based on historical maritime big data, the framework offers customized routes for companies with specific routing preferences. The autonomous maneuvering model then evaluates the safety and reliability of the routes by considering ship motion characteristics and ocean hydrodynamics. We validate its effectiveness on the world’s longest Green and Digital Shipping Corridor between Singapore and Rotterdam. Results demonstrate that our model can provide customized route design for companies and enhance safety for shipping. The framework could serve as a fundamental structure to build a fully digitalized platform for route customization and evaluation for global shipping, optimizing operational decision-making and safety assurance.
Person-centered analyses reveal that developmental adversity at moderate levels and neural threat/safety discrimination are associated with lower anxiety in early adulthood
Parsing heterogeneity in the nature of adversity exposure and neurobiological functioning may facilitate better understanding of how adversity shapes individual variation in risk for and resilience against anxiety. One putative mechanism linking adversity exposure with anxiety is disrupted threat and safety learning. Here, we applied a person-centered approach (latent profile analysis) to characterize patterns of adversity exposure at specific developmental stages and threat/safety discrimination in corticolimbic circuitry in 120 young adults. We then compared how the resultant profiles differed in anxiety symptoms. Three latent profiles emerged: (1) a group with lower lifetime adversity, higher neural activation to threat, and lower neural activation to safety; (2) a group with moderate adversity during middle childhood and adolescence, lower neural activation to threat, and higher neural activation to safety; and (3) a group with higher lifetime adversity exposure and minimal neural activation to both threat and safety. Individuals in the second profile had lower anxiety than the other profiles. These findings demonstrate how variability in within-person combinations of adversity exposure and neural threat/safety discrimination can differentially relate to anxiety, and suggest that for some individuals, moderate adversity exposure during middle childhood and adolescence could be associated with processes that foster resilience to future anxiety.
Determinants of consumer intention to use autonomous delivery vehicles: based on the planned behavior theory and normative activation model
Autonomous delivery vehicles (ADVs) that provide contactless services have attracted much academic and practical attention in China in recent years. Despite this, there is a lack of in-depth research on what motivates customers to embrace ADVs. The study integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and normative activation model (NAM) and explores how environmental factors, situational factors, and individual factors affect original TPB constructs and ultimately consumers’ intention to use ADVs. Structural equation modeling was performed on survey data of 561 Chinese consumers through an online sampling platform. The results show that among the factors affecting consumer intention, word-of-mouth recommendations have the greatest impact, followed by perceived enjoyment, COVID-19 risk, ascription of responsibility, subjective norm, attitude, and perceived behavioral control. The results not only make important theoretical contributions to the technology acceptance fields but also provide helpful references to logistics enterprises, ADVs technology providers, and policymakers.
Responses