
Robot crab ‘killed' by rivals in mating rituals
But the little machine was thwarted by an altogether different kind of pincer movement after being attacked by furious rivals, unhappy with the interloper.
'The females realised he was a bit odd, and some of the males tried to fight him,' admitted Dr Joe Wilde, who carried out the study while working for the University of Exeter.
'One male broke Wavy Dave by pulling off his claw. We had to abandon that trial and reboot the robot.'
The Exeter team were studying the mating habits of male fiddler crabs, who have one oversized claw, and attract females by standing outside their burrow and waving it.
Female fiddler crabs prefer males with a larger claw, and those that wave their jumbo pincher more quickly. The outsized claw is so big it can be 30 per cent of their body weight and takes a lot of effort to continually wave.
Once a male crab has impressed a female with his laborious claw waving, she will lay eggs in his burrow which he will then fertilise. Once the eggs have hatched, the larvae float away to sea.
Thousands of crabs live on the mudflats in Southern Portugal where the study was conducted, and Wavy Dave was set up 12 inches from a real male's burrow to find out how males adjust their behaviour in the presence of a rival.
The team discovered that the males did not appreciate the extra competition and stayed outside their burrows, waving for longer, to make sure they won the female's attention.
The study – led by the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour (CRAB) at Exeter – suggests male crabs notice the behaviour of rivals and can adjust their courtship in response.
'If you own a shop and your rivals start selling things really cheaply, you might have to change how you run your business,' added Dr Wilde.
'The same might be true for males signalling to attract females – and our study suggests males do indeed respond to competition.
'Our findings reveal the subtle ways in which these crabs adjust their behaviour to compete in a dynamic environment, investing more in signalling when it is likely to be most profitable.'
The scientists said they observed multiple males 'aggressively challenging and physically attacking' the robot during trials, saying they were confident they saw Wavy Dave as a rival.
However, when a larger claw was fitted, the crabs grew more fearful and less willing to throw their hat into the ring for the females.
They retreated back into the burrow for longer periods, which researchers said was potentially to avoid attack and prevent their homes being stolen. Scientists believe crabs use the size of claws to assess fighting ability.
Dr Wilde said Wavy Dave began as a 'pipedream' during the Covid lockdown.
At the time, Dr Wilde was learning about 3D printing, and he happened to see that someone had created 3D scans of fiddler crabs and made them freely available.
He found a 3D printer to make a model, and taught himself enough robotics to make a crab that waved its claw. He then developed an app to control the crab via Bluetooth signals.
The new research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Staff fear UK's Turing AI Institute at risk of collapse
Staff at the UK's national institute for artificial intelligence (AI) have warned the charity is at risk of collapse, after Technology Secretary Peter Kyle threatened to withdraw its at the Alan Turing Institute raised a series of "serious and escalating concerns" in a whistleblowing complaint submitted to the Charity complaint, seen by the BBC, accuses the institute's leadership of misusing public funds, overseeing a "toxic internal culture", and failing to deliver on the charity's mission.A government spokesperson said Kyle "has been clear he wants [the Turing Institute] to deliver real value for money for taxpayers". The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) spokesperson said the institute "is an independent organisation and has been consulting on changes to refocus its work under its Turing 2.0 strategy"."The changes set out in his letter would do exactly that, giving the Institute a key role in safeguarding our national security and positioning it where the British public expects it to be," they comes after Kyle urged the Turing Institute to focus on defence research and suggested funding would be pulled unless it also wants an overhaul of its leadership. Any shift to focusing on defence would be a significant pivot for the publicly funded organisation, which was given a grant of £100m by the previous Conservative government last in 2015 as the UK's leading centre of AI research, the Turing Institute has been rocked by internal discontent and criticism of its research the complaint, the staff said Kyle's letter had triggered "a crisis in governance".The government's £100m grant was "now at risk of being withdrawn, a move that could lead to the institute's collapse", the complaint Turing Institute told the BBC it was undertaking "substantial organisational change to ensure we deliver on the promise and unique role of the UK's national institute for data science and AI"."As we move forward, we're focused on delivering real world impact across society's biggest challenges, including responding to the national need to double down on our work in defence, national security and sovereign capabilities," said a BBC has been told the Turing Institute has not received notification of a complaint and has not seen the letter sent by staff.A Charity Commission spokesperson said: "We are currently assessing concerns raised about the Alan Turing Institute to determine any regulatory role for us."They said it is in the early stages of this assessment and has not decided whether to launch a formal legal investigation. Internal turmoil The staff said they had submitted the complaint anonymously "due to a well-founded fear of retaliation". The BBC was sent a copy of the complaint in an email signed off by "concerned staff members at The Alan Turing Institute".The complaint sets out a summary of eight of a risk to funding, the complaint said the Turing Institute's "ongoing delivery failures, governance instability and lack of transparency have triggered serious concerns among its public and private funders".It accuses the charity of making "a series of spending decisions that lack transparency, measurable outcomes, and evidence of trustee oversight".And in other allegations, the complaint accuses the board of presiding over "an internal culture that has become defined by fear and defensiveness".The complaint said the concerns had been raised with the Turing Institute's leadership team - including chairman Doug Gurr - and claimed "no meaningful action has been taken".The Alan Turing Institute describes itself as the UK's national body for data science and AI. It was set up by former Prime Minister David Cameron in institute has been in turmoil for months over moves to cut dozens of jobs and scrap research the end of 2024, 93 members of staff signed a letter expressing lack of confidence in its leadership team. 'Need to modernise' In March, Jean Innes, who was appointed chief executive in July 2023, told the Financial Times the Turing Institute needed to modernise and focus on AI recently, its work has focused on AI and data science research in three main areas - environmental sustainability, health and national research projects listed on its website include the use of artificial technology in weather prediction, and a study suggesting one in four children now use the tech to study and who have worked with the Turing Institute told the BBC there are concerns within the wider research community about its July, professors Helen Margetts and Cosmina Dorobantu, long-standing co-directors of a successful programme which helped the public sector use AI, quit their positions at the chief technology officer Jonathan Starck left the organisation in May after eight some of its remaining staff describe a toxic internal AI sector is a key part of the government's strategy to grow the UK economy - investing in the development of data centres and supercomputers and is encouraging big tech firms to and development of this rapidly evolving tech is also his letter to the Turing last month, Kyle said boosting the UK's AI capabilities was "critical" to national security and should be at the core of the institute's secretary of state for science and technology said there could be a review of the ATI's "longer-term funding arrangement" next year.


The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Annual Perseid meteor shower to reach dazzling peak on Tuesday night
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
How our 'killer' immune cells can be harnessed to beat diabetes and arthritis
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Early trials show it not only improves symptoms, but 'resets' the immune system, suggesting it may offer long-lasting relief. Current treatment for autoimmune conditions often relies on long-term use of steroids and immunosuppressant drugs, but in reducing the immune response these can increase risk of infection, cancer and other complications. In the absence of effective treatments many patients face years of fatigue, pain and disability. More recently, scientists have begun trialling CAR-T therapy, better known as a cutting-edge cancer treatment, for autoimmune diseases such as lupus – where multiple tissues and organs come under attack, including the kidneys, lungs, joints and brain. CAR-T therapy works by modifying a type of white blood cell called T cells so they recognise a marker on the cancer cell and then kill it. While promising, 'one drawback to this approach is there can be significant side-effects', says Professor Lucy Walker, chair in immune regulation at the Institute of Immunity & Transplantation, University College London. These include cytokine release syndrome, where the immune system goes into dangerous over-drive, triggering widespread inflammation, and neurological complications. 'While these may be acceptable in cancer settings, as late-stage cancer patients tend to be older, for autoimmune diseases, approaches with fewer side-effects are needed because they're chronic but not immediately life-threatening and often affect younger people,' she adds. It's hoped the latest breakthrough (called CAR NK –which stands for Chimeric Antigen Receptor Natural Killer cells) may prove an even better option. The CAR NK cells are a type of immune cell genetically engineered in the lab to target the cells that produce the faulty antibodies. The immune system then regenerates with 'normal' cells. 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He believes the approach could 'transform care' for people with a wide range of autoimmune conditions. But Professor Walker cautions: 'The approach is promising but is in its infancy – it's only been tested on a very small number of people.' However, she says, if follow-up work 'showed it was successful, it could represent a much more targeted approach than long-term immunosuppression and potentially be tolerated much better'. Luke Evnin, chair of the US-based Scleroderma Research Foundation, is upbeat: 'The promise is that in a single course of treatment, the patient would get lasting benefit and potentially stop other medicines and be freed from disease progression. It would be a game-changer.'