EVERY scar tells a story, yet a huge gash on Mars has long proven very hard to read. Now a peek beneath the planet’s surface reveals that the scar is the largest known impact structure in the solar system – gouged out by a collision that reshaped the Red Planet.
Continue reading… “Getting Smashed”
All The Cool Robots Are Wearing Black These Days
Artist Fiddian Warman built some robots controlled by a neural network. Neural networks can learn, so he’s been playing them classic punk records in an attempt to turn them into robotic versions of his younger self. The robots are 2 metres tall and have the ability to pogo.
Continue reading… “Artist/Roboticist Teaching Neural-Net Bots to Love (and Dance to) Punk Music”
Navi Bear
Every day we come across “random” type gadgets that are quite funny most of the time. The latest of these bizarre products is a GPS enabled Teddy Bear.
Continue reading… “Navi Bear – The GPS Teddy Bear”
One day robots will rule us. But until they do, we have to make do with cool little robo slaves like Sega-Hasbro’s Ampbot.
Just over two feet tall, he has an iPod cradle on his back for carrying your tunes about. He’ll play them through his stereo speakers, with a total power of 12W.
Continue reading… “Ampbot – Automated Music Personality Robot”
How about getting dad a gift that will keep on giving all summer long, and for years to come? It’s a Roomba for your yard – the Robomower mows the lawn – you don’t!
Continue reading… “The Robomower”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cAwzSZqO_w[/youtube]
How would you build a conscious machine? Well to begin with I’d get Life Insurance and then take my brain and put it in a jar and freeze my body. Then hundreds of years later wake me up and transplant me into an IronMan. Yes, I partially got that idea from the movie IronMan and from Futurama. I’m still going to do it though. But more to the point, Christof Koch and Giulio Tononi both have good points of in their articles that they wrote on consciousness and robots.
Continue reading… “Can Robots Evolve? On Building the “Conscious” Machine…”
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have developed a ‘mind-reading’ computer.
It is hoped the mind-reading machine, which can forecast the activity patterns a brain will create for a specific word, will offer a better understanding of how and where the brain stores information and even lead to improved treatments for language disorders and learning disabilities.
Continue reading… “Scientists Build Mind-Reading Computer”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2V8GFqk_Y[/youtube]
Here is the a Plustech Oy / John Deere hexapod logging machine prototype. While it may look like some kind of alien life form, it’s actually a prototype vehicle for moving felled trees.
Continue reading… “Introducing the Six-Legged Logging Vehicle”
Oscar Pitorius – the “blade runner”
Oscar Pistorius – also known as ‘Blade Runner’ – is a double leg amputee who is using specially developed artificial legs to compete in races. A world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 meters Paralympic events, Pistorius was denied by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) his application to participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The IAAF argued that his prosthetic racing legs give him a clear competitive advantage. On May 16, the IAAF’s decision was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing Pistorius to participate in the Olympics if he could make the minimum qualifying time.
This episode drives home the monumental issues our society will be facing in the not too distant future thanks to our increasing technological ability to enhance the human body.
Continue reading… “The Miracle of Bionics – Presenting Challenging Questions”
An army of inflatable, spherical robots might one day roll around on the Martian surface. Engineers who have designed the lightweight probes say they could economically explore vast regions of other planets.
Continue reading… “Future Inflatables Explore Mars”
A research organization has developed a new technology that enables some robots to scale walls.
Wall-climbing robots could be a boon for the US military, which could use them on reconnaissance or other missions in war zones, said Philip von Guggenberg, director of business development for SRI International, a nonprofit research and development organization that created the technology. The independent group has received some funding from DARPA, the technology research arm of the Pentagon.
Continue reading… “Introducing the Wallclimber Robot”
