One voice does not fit all when it comes to virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, according to researchers who examined how customization and perceived similarity between user and voice assistant (VA) personalities affect user experience. They found a strong preference for extroverted VAs -- those that speak louder, faster and in a lower pitch. They also found that increasing personality similarity by automatically matching user and VA voice profiles encouraged users to resist persuasive information.
Scientists have announced the discovery of nearly 300 gamma ray pulsars.
Graphene, a material which consists of a single layer of carbon atoms, has been celebrated by many as the 'next big thing' in material science. But according to researchers, its thermal properties may not be as revolutionary as previously thought.
Efficient removal of abnormal myelin allows survival of nerve fibers targeted by adaptive immune cells, according to a novel study.
Researchers have discovered a new relationship between the Sun's magnetic field and its sunspot cycle, that can help predict when the peak in solar activity will occur. Their work indicates that the maximum intensity of solar cycle 25, the ongoing sunspot cycle, is imminent and likely to occur within a year.
Researchers characterize nearly 600 microbial genomes collected from goldmine. The study illuminates 'microbial dark matter' residing below the surface. Microbes divide into two groups: minimalists that have one, specialized job or maximalists that are prepared to use any available resource. Study has implications for how underground activities, like mining and carbon storage, could affect or be affected by microbial life. The lifestyle of these 'intraterrestrial' microbes also provides hints to what organisms could be living on other planets.
Taking into account whether people believe they are receiving a real treatment or a fake one (placebo) could provide better insights that could help improve interventions for conditions such as depression and ADHD.
Researchers discovered a mechanism for repairing damaged nerves during peripheral neuropathy in mice, wherein the protein Mitf orchestrates nerve repair after both trauma-induced and chronic nerve damage conditions, like Charcot Marie Tooth disease. Their findings may inspire novel therapeutics that bolster repair function and heal peripheral neuropathy -- even in hereditary and developmental cases.
Heart disease kills 18 million people each year, but the development of new therapies faces a bottleneck: no physiological model of the entire human heart exists -- so far. A new multi-chamber organoid that mirrors the heart's intricate structure enables scientists to advance screening platforms for drug development, toxicology studies, and understanding heart development.
A new method allows scientists to label and image many different molecules at once within a living cell. The technique relies on 'switchable fluorophores' -- fluorescent proteins that turn on and off at a specific rate.
In diseased hearts, low-dose radiation therapy appears to improve heart function.
Researchers report that they have developed a new composite material designed to change behaviors depending on temperature in order to perform specific tasks. These materials are poised to be part of the next generation of autonomous robotics that will interact with the environment.
Biologists investigated the snook’s almost 400-mile migration up into the rainforest habitat of the Usumacinta River. They have found that the snook, which connect aquatic food webs and support fisheries, spawn and start their lives in coastal nursery habitats before moving into river habitats that offer an array of food resources.
Researchers have found certain immune cells can still fight cancer even when the cancer cells lack an important protein that the immune system relies on to help track down cancer cells.
Researchers have developed a new surgical implant that has the potential to transform the treatment of complex bone infections. When implanted on an injured or infected bone, the material can not only speed up bone healing, it also reduces the risk of infections without the need for traditional antibiotics.
On November 30, the COP28 climate talks will begin in the United Arab Emirates against the backdrop of two wars. Here’s a quiz on this crucial summit.
China has for nearly 20 years been the preferred location for a range of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing services due to the low cost and speed offered by contract drugmakers there
A research team has successfully developed a novel pneumococcal vaccine by combining the team's proprietary mucosal vaccine technology with pneumococcal surface proteins that can cover a wide range of serotypes. Experiments were conducted using mice and macaques and it was confirmed that pneumonia caused by pneumococcal infection was clearly suppressed in the target groups of animals inoculated with the vaccine.
A new kind of 'wire' for moving excitons could help enable a new class of devices, perhaps including room temperature quantum computers.
Researchers have developed a new program that provides a more accurate understanding of the peptide sequences in cells. The researchers use machine learning to help analyze the makeup of unfamiliar cells, which could lead to more personalized medicine in the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.
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