Science - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 72

Artificial intelligence

From Walking Robots to AI Errors: A Kazakh Researcher’s Path to Intelligent Systems

What should a robot do after making a mistake? The answer becomes more complicated when the person nearby does not explicitly say something has gone wrong, but merely hesitates, looks confused, or begins to lose trust in the machine. This is one of the problems currently being studied by Kazakh researcher Arman Ibrayeva. Over several years, her scientific interests have developed from mechanics and walking robots to autonomous navigation, medical robotics, and human interaction with intelligent systems. In June 2026, Ibrayeva was among the authors of REPAIR-Bench, a new research benchmark for studying how people respond to robot errors and how interaction can be restored after a failure. The researchers conducted 214 interaction trials involving 41 participants, recording speech, facial expressions, head movements, and users’ preferred responses to different robot failures. The task goes beyond simply detecting a failure. A robot working alongside people needs to understand how its mistake has changed a person’s behavior. One user may become irritated, another confused, while a third may try to repeat the action. The robot’s response should depend on that reaction. For Ibrayeva, this is a continuation of a scientific career that began not with generative AI, but with mechanics. She studied mechanics at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2018 and master’s degree in 2020. She then continued her studies at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, where she conducted research in mechanical engineering. Her official KAUST profile lists robotics, mechanical engineering, and machine learning among her research interests. One of the early areas of her work was walking machines. Ibrayeva studied how their design could be simplified and the number of actuators reduced without losing the required range of movement. Such an approach can reduce energy consumption and simplify robot control. At a robotics conference at KAUST in 2022, she presented a walking robot design with decoupled limb motion. Agriculture was cited as one possible application because heavy wheeled machinery compacts soil and can damage plants. The walking mechanism was designed to move over uneven terrain while placing less load on its actuators. This work later developed into research combining classical mechanics, numerical optimization, and machine learning. A 2025 paper co-authored by Ibrayeva describes several physical prototypes of walking robots, tests on uneven surfaces, and the use of LiDAR for autonomous navigation. Another area was medical robotics. Ibrayeva took part in research on a lower-limb exoskeleton. The authors sought a design capable of reproducing the movements of the human leg with less mechanical complexity and more efficient force transmission. She also worked on autonomous navigation for service robots in rehabilitation medicine. A 2024 study examined a system using 3D LiDAR that allows a robot to map its surroundings, determine its position, and avoid obstacles while moving through a medical facility. At first glance, a walking machine for agriculture, a rehabilitation exoskeleton, and a robot interacting with a person belong to different fields. Yet all these projects involve the same practical problem: a...

Public health

Kazakhstan and China Launch One Health Research Center in Almaty

Kazakhstan and China have opened a joint research center in Almaty focused on infectious diseases and biosafety. The Center for One Health Research opened on July 27 at the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, known as KazNARU. It was created under Kazakhstan’s National Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the opening ceremony, four institutions signed a memorandum covering joint research and academic exchanges. The signatories were Kazakhstan’s National Academy of Sciences, KazNARU, Zhejiang University, and the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The center will support research into microbiology, veterinary medicine, public health, and infectious diseases. Its work will also cover antimicrobial resistance, food safety, and biological security. The One Health approach recognizes that the health of people, animals, plants, and ecosystems is closely connected. It encourages medical, veterinary, agricultural, and environmental specialists to work together on shared health risks. The World Health Organization says more than 60% of emerging infectious diseases reported worldwide originate in wild or domestic animals. Closer monitoring across human, animal, and environmental health systems can help identify outbreaks earlier and improve prevention. WHO develops the approach alongside the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the UN Environment Programme. KazNARU said the new center would provide a platform for joint Kazakhstan-China research projects. It will also support exchanges involving scientists, lecturers, and students. The initiative expands scientific cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in biotechnology and applied research. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, institutions from the two countries have also agreed to develop biological crop-protection products and transfer agricultural technologies.

Astronomy

Two Asteroids Named After Uzbek Astronomers

Two Uzbek astronomers have received an unusual form of international recognition: their names have been assigned to minor planets orbiting the Sun. The International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature approved (121339) Otabekburkhonov and (131358) Kamolergashev in its July 9 bulletin. The names will now be used in scientific catalogues and research. Both asteroids were discovered at the Ondřejov Observatory in the Czech Republic by astronomers Petr Pravec and Peter Kušnirák. Otabekburkhonov, first known as 1999 TO15, was found on October 13, 1999. Kamolergashev, previously 2001 KA2, was discovered on May 19, 2001. Otabek Burkhonov, born in 1975, joined the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute in 2000 and received his PhD in 2005. He heads the institute’s Laboratory of Galactic Astronomy. His work covers optical photometry, including asteroid light curves, variable stars, gravitationally lensed quasars, and follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts at Maidanak Observatory. Kamoliddin Ergashev, born in 1988, joined the institute’s Asteroid Group in 2007 and completed his PhD in 2024. His research examines asteroid brightness and rotation, physical characteristics, and the behavior of asteroid pairs, clusters, and binary systems. The two scientists also contributed to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection through a deliberate spacecraft impact. Their observations from Maidanak helped measure changes in the Didymos-Dimorphos system before and after the September 2022 collision. In February, both received a NASA Group Achievement Award for their role in the international observing campaign. DART shortened Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos by about 33 minutes, showing that a kinetic impact could alter an asteroid’s motion.

Science

Kazakhstan Student and Researcher Gain Global Recognition in Science

Two recent achievements from Kazakhstan have drawn attention from the international scientific community, highlighting advances by young Kazakhstani researchers in water technology and education. One standout is Dana Kadyrbek, an 11th-grade student at Gymnasium No. 79 in Almaty, who has been named among the world’s top three young inventors. She received this recognition at the Cleantech Days Forum 2026, held with the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna. Kadyrbek has been working toward this achievement for several years. In 2024 and 2025, she became a prizewinner at the Kazakhstan Smart Space international competitions, later secured second place at the Olympiad USA, and won the YISF competition in Indonesia. However, her project on extracting water from air has drawn the most attention. Her development, titled “Synthesis of Metal-Organic Framework Structures Based on Aluminum Fumarate for Atmospheric Water Harvesting,” makes it possible to produce drinking water even in arid conditions. In July 2025, the project earned her a gold medal at the World Invention Creativity Olympic (WICO) in Seoul. Another researcher from Kazakhstan has gained recognition in the academic field. Assel Sharimova, a postdoctoral researcher at the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University, has been awarded the Michael Fullan Emerging Scholar in Professional Capital and Community Award. According to the organizers, she is the first recipient of the award not only from Kazakhstan but from the entire post-Soviet region. Only two researchers worldwide received the award in 2026. Sharimova has been conducting research in education for several years. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and previously worked within the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools system. Her research focuses on the professional development of teachers. “My research examined how teachers build and mobilize professional capital within virtual professional communities, with a particular focus on Kazakhstan. I explored how social networks facilitate informal learning, especially in the context of reforms where access to professional support is uneven. I also integrate these insights into my teaching and work with educators and researchers to support the development of collaborative professional communities,” Sharimova said. The Michael Fullan Award is considered a notable recognition in the field of education. It is presented by the Journal of Professional Capital and Community for research with both academic and practical impact. Award recipients receive a monetary prize and international recognition within the academic community.

Science

Researchers in Kazakhstan Develop Central Asia’s First Digital Food Atlas

Researchers at Nazarbayev University in Astana have unveiled Central Asia’s first digital food atlas, a tool designed to improve how diets in the region are measured and studied. The development is expected to strengthen research in public health and nutrition. Developed by the Central Asia Food Innovation Lab (CAFI Lab), the atlas addresses a long-standing gap in public health research: the lack of accurate, region-specific data on dietary habits. As the researchers note, even minor errors in estimating portion sizes can lead to significant distortions in calculating calorie and nutrient intake. Until now, specialists in Central Asia have largely relied on Western or East Asian dietary databases. However, the structure of the regional diet, characterized by high consumption of red meat, flour-based foods, and dairy products, limits the accuracy of such tools. [caption id="attachment_47557" align="alignnone" width="300"] @NU[/caption] The atlas introduces a standardized approach based on two previously developed regional datasets: the Central Asian Food Dataset (CAFD) and the Central Asian Food Scenes Dataset (CAFSD). It includes 115 items, ranging from traditional dishes such as beshbarmak, plov, and manty to commonly consumed foods such as pizza, cereals, and ice cream. Each item has been digitized under laboratory conditions with precisely measured portions, an essential factor for accurate dietary assessment. “This is not just a visual guide,” said Dr. Mei Yen Chan, assistant professor at the university's school of medicine. “It aligns with international standards and allows researchers in Central Asia to generate data that are globally comparable.” At the same time, the atlas represents only a first step. It does not directly calculate calorie content and requires an additional analytical layer. As the authors note, regional dishes vary widely in composition and preparation methods, while “hidden” components, such as fats, broths, and density, make precise assessment difficult. In theory, caloric value is calculated as the sum of the energy provided by all ingredients (e.g., 4 kcal per gram of protein and carbohydrates, and 9 kcal per gram of fat). In practice, however, accurate calculation would require weighing every ingredient, an approach rarely feasible in real-life settings. Visual atlases therefore serve as a practical compromise, helping estimate portion size and approximate calorie intake, albeit with some margin of error. Even AI-based systems still struggle to accurately analyze complex, multi-ingredient dishes. [caption id="attachment_47558" align="alignnone" width="300"] @NU[/caption] In this context, the project’s significance extends beyond calorie counting. By standardizing portion sizes, the atlas addresses a fundamental prerequisite for reliable dietary assessment and the advancement of digital nutrition technologies. Beyond research, the atlas supports the development of AI-driven health applications. The datasets are already being used to train machine learning models, including multi-task deep learning systems capable of recognizing dishes, estimating nutritional value, and supporting digital health tools from mobile applications to telemedicine platforms. The findings have been published in the international peer-reviewed journals Nutrients, IEEE Access, and Scientific Reports, and are available in open access. The research team is currently working to expand the project by incorporating detailed nutritional data and is seeking additional...

Science

A Technology to Reduce Harmful Industrial Emissions Developed in Kazakhstan

Scientists at Aktobe Regional University have developed a new gas purification technology capable of reducing dust and harmful substances in industrial emissions by dozens of times, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan reported. The development is intended for use in the metallurgical, energy, and food industries, as well as in the production of construction materials. The technology is based on an improved regeneration system for bag filters, enabling the cleaning of filter elements from accumulated dust without the need for replacement. This approach helps preserve the filter material, improves purification efficiency, and extends the service life of equipment, contributing to more stable production processes. The technology is currently being implemented at several industrial facilities in the cities of Aktobe, Aksu, and Ekibastuz. At the Aktobe Ferroalloy Plant, for example, use of the system has reduced the concentration of harmful components in emissions by approximately 40 times. According to the ministry, similar solutions are already in use at the Aksu Ferroalloy Plant and at enterprises operated by JSC TNK Kazchrome, helping to reduce environmental impact and ensure compliance with environmental regulations. The ministry emphasized the importance of the development in terms of import substitution, noting that such gas purification systems were previously supplied mainly from abroad. The technology also aligns with the objectives of the National Carbon Quota Allocation Plan, which aims to reduce industrial emissions and support the country’s climate goals. The equipment is manufactured in Karaganda as part of scientific and technical cooperation between the university and KazEnergoMashEkologia. The results of pilot testing have been registered with the National Center for State Scientific and Technical Expertise, allowing the project to participate in a competition for the commercialization of scientific developments. The project received a state grant of $742,000, while the industrial partner invested an additional $260,000. The total cost of the developed and implemented gas purification equipment to date is approximately $805,000. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, scientists at Satbayev University in Almaty are also working on a compact device capable of converting mechanical vibrations from the environment into electrical energy.