Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Social Skills Are Last Line of Defense for Humans Seeking Work
October 19th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: David Deming, an associate professor of education and economics at Harvard University, has found that jobs requiring social interaction are growing relative to work that doesn’t, and such skills may offer some protection from robotic takeover. Certain high-level professions that demand technical expertise and low-skill work that can be done by a greater […]
Workhorse Drone Company Tests Package Deliveries in Ohio
October 18th, 2015Via: USA Today: A drone company is ready to start testing package deliveries in Ohio, but it’s not named Amazon or Google. Workhorse Group Inc. and the University of Cincinnati have been working for years to launch drones from the top of delivery trucks that look like typical UPS or U.S. Postal Service box trucks. […]
Feds Eye Pilotless Helicopters to Battle Wildfires
October 17th, 2015Via: AP: The future of wildland firefighting launched Wednesday morning in Idaho. A Lockheed Martin helicopter capable of flying autonomously with no human control did so as it scooped up water, dropped it on targets and delivered supplies to a distant ridge in a demonstration in front of top federal decision makers 20 miles east […]
U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered
October 17th, 2015Via: NBC: The federal government will announce a new plan requiring anyone buying a drone to register the device with the U.S. Department of Transportation, NBC news has learned. The government has been concerned about the rise in close calls between unmanned drones and aircraft flying into and out of some of the nation’s biggest […]
Battelle DroneDefender
October 15th, 2015Via: Battelle Institute:
The Drone Papers
October 15th, 2015Via: The Intercept: The Intercept has obtained a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The documents, provided by a whistleblower, offer an unprecedented glimpse into Obama’s drone wars.
Japan: Robo-Bulldozers Guided by Drones
October 14th, 2015Via: The Verge: Komatsu is the world’s second largest construction company, a venerable Japanese brand with 94 years of history that sells forklifts and bulldozers to customers around the globe. But in its home country, Komatsu has been struggling with an aging population, a trend that has left few young workers available to operate its […]
Who Is Responsible for a Driverless Car Accident?
October 9th, 2015Via: BBC: Volvo says it will accept full liability for accidents involving its driverless cars, making it “one of the first” car companies to do so. It joins Mercedes and also tech firm Google, who have made similar claims. Volvo says it is trying to expedite regulation in the US, where “a patchwork” of rules […]
New British Killer Drone Called “Protector”
October 6th, 2015Maybe “Reaper Overkill Edition” didn’t do so well in focus groups. Via: Janes: The UK is to receive 20 new ‘Protector’ unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as part of a wider ramp-up of unmanned, surveillance, and special forces capabilities to combat militant Islam in the Middle East, Prime Minister David Cameron announced on 3 October. Speaking […]
The Era Of Automatic Facial Recognition And Surveillance Is Here
October 5th, 2015Via: Forbes: ID checks were a common response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but they’ll soon be obsolete. You won’t have to show your ID, because you’ll be identified automatically. A security camera will capture your face, and it’ll be matched with your name and a whole lot of other information besides. Welcome to […]
