Radiologists are using artificial intelligence to increase breast cancer detection by 20%, without raising the number of false-positive readings, Sweden’s Lancet Oncology Journal reported yesterday. In addition to higher detection rates, the study — conducted with the participation of 80k women within the Mammography Screening with Artificial Intelligence (MASAI) trial — also showed AI assistance meant doctors spent half the time on the same workload. After being randomly divided into two groups, participants in the control group were assigned a traditional reading performed by two physicians while the intervention group’s mammograms were read by doctors with the assistance of AI. Interestingly, the use of AI did not increase the incidence of false positive results, the project’s lead researcher, Dr Kristina Lång told Euronews.

AI won’t replace physicians just yet:Despite growing fears over AI taking over jobs, Lång maintained that the use of AI was not intended to replace physicians: “The design of [the] screening protocol emphasizes the central role of the radiologist,” she told the news outlet. An important factor that is crucial to curbing overdiagnosis or overdetection if AI is left to its own devices, scientists Nereo Segnan and Antonio Ponti warned, the article added.

Electrified cement can make your home a literal power-house: Researchers discovered that building materials such as cement can store electricity that covers half the daily power capacity of a concrete-built home, according to Science. Electrified roadways can also supply electric cars with power as they are driving, with the use of supercapacitors — cement devices with nonflammable electrolytes. Supercapacitors remain limited in their power output and currently come in the form of batteries that can only light up LED bulbs, but researchers are working on raising their performance and output capacity.

Carbon black is the key component: If carbon black, a widely-available substance that was previously used as black pigment, is mixed with cement (which is a poor conductor of electricity), and is used in building homes it can operate an average household for a day as it can save 10 KW-hours of electricity, according to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Since concrete is a poor electrical conductor, carbon black fills in this gap, as it is a good conductor of electrical power and when mixed in with cement powder collects into threads that act as wires. For powering cars: Copper coils embedded in the roadways are the suggestion to provide cars with electricity, a concept that is already developing in Germany and the Netherlands.

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