ADAM IN ACTION: "Adam" consists of a number of computers, robotic arms and lab devices working together autonomously to perform experiments, hypothesize about the results, and then test those hypotheses.
Image: © JEN ROWLAND
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The Best Science Writing Online 2012
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This time, for "Adam and Eve" knowledge is not forbidden—it's their mission. Working with computers and robots in the lab, scientists have been able to generate exponentially increasing amounts of data as the technology improves. Concerned they lack the manpower to translate the deluge of raw information into results, researchers are programming their mechanical lab assistants to share more of the workload. A prime example of this is "Adam," an autonomous mini laboratory that uses computers, robotics and lab equipment to conduct scientific experiments, automatically generate hypotheses to explain the resulting data, test these hypotheses, and then interpret the results.
Researchers at Aberystwyth University in Wales and England's University of Cambridge report in Science today that they designed Adam—which is 16.4 feet (five meters) in length, with a height and width of 9.8 feet (three meters)—to perform basic biology experiments with minimal human intervention. They describe how the bot operates by relating how he carried out one of his tasks, in this case to find out more about the genetic makeup of baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an organism that scientists use to model more complex life systems.
Using artificial intelligence, Adam hypothesized that certain genes in baker's yeast code for specific enzymes that catalyze biochemical reactions. The robot devised experiments to test these beliefs, ran the experiments, and interpreted the results. Because biological organisms are so complex, the details of biological experiments must be recorded in great detail so those experiments can faithfully be reproduced, even if this record-keeping is tedious, says lead study author Ross King, an Aberystwyth computer science professor. "With a computer, all of the results and conclusions and structure are expressed in logic," he says, "that can uniformly be understood by other researchers."
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5 Comments
Add CommentAnd on other blogs, people are still asking whether computers can ever be creative! I am excited by computers doing scientific research. I hope this paradigm extends rapidly beyond just Adam, Eve, and biology. Great work!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo is this the singularity then? It's coming a lot sooner than I thought it would if it is. Exciting stuff.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe singularity is getting closer. The semantic web will also help, allowing automated researchers to communicate with each other. Who knows what will happen after that? The only problem we may have is getting those researchers to explain to us what they are discovering in terms we can understand. :-) Some automated mathematical proofs are 100's of pages long...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeriously, this paradigm could fuel major advances in many areas. Again, great work!
Great job! The dream that only happens in films will come into reality, surprisingly to see that!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWow, now robots are doing experiments to improve things! Including the lives of killer robots. Im going to start taking sides and making friends.....sorry humans! You had your chance! Killer robots....here I come!
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