From caring for distant parents to entering burning buildings, there are lots of ways that people might use robot avatars to be in places they can’t go themselves. The XPrize Foundation is offering $8 million if someone can build one by 2021.
Continue reading… “The Latest XPrize Is For Building Remote-Controlled Humanoid Robots”
One of the less obvious products being unveiled this week at SXSW is a small concrete house. On the outside, it doesn’t look like anything particularly special, although the covered patio and spacious windows are less common on tiny poured-concrete buildings.
That’s because the innovation isn’t in the structure or materials — it’s in the design and building. ICON, the company that builds the 650-square-foot house, claims it costs just $10,000 to build, and can be 3-D printed by a Vulcan printer in 12 to 24 hours using the most common building material on Earth.
Peter Diamandis is the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which designs and operates large-scale incentive competitions to, in essence, change the world.
In the words of its own criteria, an Xprize must be bold, audacious, and achievable. It must target market failure, drive investment, and give birth to a new industry. And, of course, it must give other innovators hope.
As children, most of us humans are taught not to be a “sore loser” by throwing some kind of tantrum when we lose a competition. The idea of gracefully accepting defeat forms the basis of friendship, democracy, and game shows, but Fox is risking the sanctity of all of that by developing a new show in which humans must compete against malevolent entities that know nothing about the danger of being a sore loser. We are talking, of course, about evil robots—or at least neutral robots that have the potential to become evil.
Continue reading… “Fox to kick off the human-robot war with a new AI-based game show”
Should governments start taxing robots as a way to prepare for a future of mass unemployment brought on by technology?
Continue reading… “Preparing for the economic impact of artificial intelligence”
“To make real progress in A.I., we have to overcome the big challenges in the area of common sense,” said Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft in the 1970s with Bill Gates.
Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen said Wednesday that he was pumping an additional $125 million into his nonprofit computer research lab for an ambitious new effort to teach machines “common sense.”
Continue reading… “Paul Allen wants to teach machines common sense”
Elon Musk issued yet another incredibly ambitious timeline.
During a Q&A at the SXSW festival on Sunday, Musk said SpaceX will be ready to fly its Mars rocket in 2019.
Continue reading… “Elon Musk: Mars rocket will fly ‘short flights’ next year”
In late February, 14-year-olds Nahima and Yayaya, died after eating tainted biscuits at a classmate’s birthday celebration in their school, located just outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja. Several other children in their class were hospitalized. Panic and threats from angry parents forced a temporary school closure, but to date, there have been no efforts to investigate the root causes nor track or shut down the responsible company.
Continue reading… “Fake processed food is becoming an epidemic in African urban life”
A new research push aims to make the silver bullet for our energy problems a reality by 2033—a very ambitious target.
Continue reading… “MIT researchers say nuclear fusion will feed the grid “in 15 years””
The G2X wakeboard pushes itself along at up to 36 MPH.
Continue reading… “Radinn’s second-gen electric wakeboard is faster and cheaper”
How much money it takes to be “rich” varies from city to city.
About 20% of Americans are upper-income, or “rich,” meaning they earn at least two times the national median household income.
The amount of money it takes to be considered rich is largest in San Jose, California.
Continue reading… “How much money you have to earn to be considered rich in 42 major US cities”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.