Archive for October, 2015
Robot Buses Are Coming To America
October 30th, 2015Via: Fast Company: Self-driving buses are coming to America. The Bishop Ranch business park in San Ramon, California will be the first place in the U.S. to use French robo-buses to ferry passengers around. … The EZ10 is a driverless bus designed for short hops. It has been deployed in Europe—in Finland, France, and is […]
China Decides to Abolish 1-Child Policy, Allow 2 Children
October 29th, 2015Via: AP: China’s ruling Communist Party announced Thursday that the country will start allowing all families to have two children, abolishing an unpopular policy that limited many urban couples to only one child for more than three decades. The decision is the most significant easing of family-planning policies that were long considered some of the […]
Wifi Networks Can Now Identify Who You Are Through Walls
October 29th, 2015Via: Gizmodo: Who needs a peep hole when a wifi network will do? Researchers from MIT have developed technology that uses wireless signals to see your silhouette through a wall—and it can even tell you apart from other people, too. The team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab are no strangers to using […]
Medication Errors Found in 1 Out of 2 Surgeries
October 29th, 2015Via: Harvard: The first study to measure the incidence of medication errors and adverse drug events during the perioperative period — immediately before, during and right after a surgical procedure — has found that some sort of mistake or adverse event occurred in every second operation and in 5 percent of observed drug administrations. The […]
Google’s Project Loon Internet Balloons to Circle Earth
October 28th, 2015Via: BBC: Google believes it is on course to have enough internet-beaming balloons in the stratosphere to form a ring over part of the world next year. It told the BBC the move would let it trial a continuous data service to people living below the balloons’ path. The declaration coincides with the announcement that […]
EU Countries Won’t Be Able to Opt Out of Genetically-Modified Food
October 28th, 2015Wow. Via: The Journal: EU LAWMAKERS HAVE rejected a hard-won compromise which would have allowed member states to decide whether or not to import Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) for use in food and animal feed. The European Parliament voted 557 to 75 against on a law which took the European Commission years to negotiate amid […]
Yamaha Shows Motobot Motorcycle-Riding Humanoid Robot
October 28th, 2015Via: Gizmag: Yamaha produced somewhat of a surprise at the Tokyo Motor Show today when it showed a motorcycle-riding robot. Unlike most two-wheeled debutants, Yamaha’s new Motobot isn’t starting out on a small capacity motorcycle, but release images show the humanoid robot riding Yamaha’s most sporting motorcycle, the 1000cc R1M.
Inside the Pentagon’s Effort to Build a Killer Robot
October 28th, 2015Via: Time: The defense program DARPA is working to create an artificial brain—but what will it mean for humanity if it succeeds? … I am headed to the laboratory of Dr. Garrett T. Kenyon, whose program falls under the rubric of synthetic cognition, an attempt to build an artificial brain. Roboticists define artificial brains as […]
U.S. Back to Combat in Iraq AND Syria
October 28th, 2015“This is combat and things are complicated,” Carter said. No shit. With the Russian imposed no-fly-zone over Syria… How’s this going to work? Without mushroom clouds, I hope. Via: NBC: Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin “direct action on the ground” against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria, aiming to […]
Northrop Grumman Wins Long Range Strike Bomber Contract
October 27th, 2015Via: Washington Post: Northrop Grumman on Tuesday won the Pentagon contract to build a fleet of stealthy planes known as the Long Range Strike Bomber, a new generation of aircraft designed to reach deep into enemy territory. Northrop beat out a team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the high-stakes competition for a project likely […]
