Archive for October, 2015
Beta Radiation Sensors in Major U.S. Cities Turned Off
October 27th, 2015Via: Wall Street Journal: A national radiation-monitoring system enhanced after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks isn’t working as intended, with nearly three-quarters of stations not checking for a type of radiation in real time, including ones in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Environmental Protection Agency officials confirmed 99 of 135 beta-radiation sensors in […]
Why Self-Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill
October 27th, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review: Self-driving cars are already cruising the streets. But before they can become widespread, carmakers must solve an impossible ethical dilemma of algorithmic morality.
The Okinawa Missiles of October
October 27th, 2015Via: The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: By Bordne’s account, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Air Force crews on Okinawa were ordered to launch 32 missiles, each carrying a large nuclear warhead. Only caution and the common sense and decisive action of the line personnel receiving those orders prevented the launches—and averted the […]
Recovery: People Line Up to Sell Blood Plasma
October 26th, 2015Or is it, “Green shoots”? Via: LA Times: The going rate for plasma donation, which can take a couple of hours, is about $25 or $30. But Octapharma is offering $50 for the first five visits, and a poster in the lobby says: “Donate 10X by the end of October for a chance to win […]
Saudi Price Arrested, Two Tons of Amphetamines Found on His Private Jet
October 26th, 2015Two. Tons. Via: Telegraph: A Saudi prince has been detained at Beirut airport in Lebanon after two tons of an amphetamine drug popular with Syrian rebels was found on a private jet. Prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four other men were held after what was described as the biggest ever drugs bust […]
Wal-Mart Seeks to Test Drones for Home Delivery, Pickup
October 26th, 2015Via: Reuters: Wal-Mart Stores Inc applied Monday to U.S. regulators for permission to test drones for home delivery, curbside pickup and checking warehouse inventories, a sign it plans to go head-to-head with Amazon in using drones to fill and deliver online orders. The world’s largest retailer by revenue has for several months been conducting indoor […]
Google Turning Its Lucrative Web Search Over to AI Machines
October 26th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Google has been one of the biggest corporate sponsors of AI, and has invested heavily in it for videos, speech, translation and, recently, search. For the past few months, a “very large fraction” of the millions of queries a second that people type into the company’s search engine have been interpreted by an […]
Morocco Poised to Become a Solar Superpower with Launch of Desert Mega-Project
October 26th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Guardian: When the full complex is complete, it will be the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world , and the first phase, called Noor 1, will go live next month. The mirror technology it uses is less widespread and more expensive […]
War Criminal Tony Blair Sorry for Iraq War
October 24th, 2015Via: Independent: Tony Blair has made apologies about aspects of the Iraq War for the first time and has said there are ‘elements of truth’ in the theory that the invasion helped feed the rise of the so-called Islamic State (Isis). In an television interview with the US network CNN, the former British Prime Minister […]
Robot Builder Designed for Construction Sites
October 22nd, 2015Via: Reuters: Zurich-based architects and roboticists have created the In-situ Fabricator, an autonomous construction robot capable of laying bricks into pre-programmed structures. Designers at the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication laboratory believe a future generation of the robot could be used widely on building sites.
