The paper dis cusses the development of an associative, neural network as an on-line algorithm to train and control a fire-fighting robot. Learning is externally supervised with encoded target actions. The robot acquires basic navigation skills as well as the ability to detect a fire and to extinguish it. _____________________________________

Rough-and-tumble play, or play fighting, is common in the young of many mammals. Research on play fighting among rats shows that there are many levels of neural control over this behavior: subcortical mechanisms mediate the motivation and behavior of such play, and the cortex provides mechanisms by which the play changes with age and context. The cortical mechanisms help to explain the advantag...

Unlike many mammals, primates spend much of their lives as reproductively-immature juveniles. During the juvenile period, they develop social relationships and physical skills that both facilitate survival to adulthood and impact adult fitness. In this study, we use 2 years of observational data to examine the development of these skills across the juvenile period in a wild cercopithecine prima...

J effrey sachs is an economist, not an evangelist. But give the man 10 minutes behind a microphone, and a scholarly symposium starts to feel like a revival meeting. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he tells a hushed hall after describing how AIDS sufferers die in Malawi for want of $1-a-day drugs, “this plague is exploding. Its consequences will make the world quake. Rich countries could stop the devast...

Life experiences can alter cognitive abilities and subsequent behavior. Here we asked whether differences in experience could affect social status. In hierarchical animal societies, high-ranking males that typically win aggressive encounters gain territories and hence access to mates. To understand the relative contributions of social experience and physical environment on status, we used a hig...

This study presents the development of a video game with audio and haptic interfaces that allows for the stimulation of orientation and mobility skills in people who are blind through the use of virtual environments. We evaluate the usability and the impact of the use of an audio and haptic-based videogame on the development of orientation and mobility skills in school-age blind learners. The r...

Health technology, according to WHO is the application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicine, vaccines, procedures and systems development to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives4. When used in this paper, the term healthcare technology means the different types of devices or equipment used in health facilities. Its encompasses: medical equipment for ...

Over the past few years, soccer-playing humanoid robots have advanced significantly. Elementary skills, such as bipedal walking, visual perception, and collision avoidance have matured enough to allow for dynamic and exciting games. When two robots are fighting for the ball, they frequently push each other and balance recovery becomes crucial. In this paper, we report on insights we gained from...