Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Introducing Spot
February 10th, 2015Via: Boston Dynamics (Google):
Alibaba Tests Drone Deliveries in China
February 4th, 2015Via: Forbes: Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos is not the only one with a drone-delivery dream. Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma is also testing drone-delivery services, as the company races to overcome logistics barriers in the country. The initial scope of Alibaba’s experiment is small. The company’s online Taobao bazaar is inviting 450 shoppers in […]
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars
February 3rd, 2015Via: TechCrunch: Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch. They say the company has hired talent from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, including lead engineering and commercialization experts.
AI Will Not Kill Us, Says Microsoft Research Chief
January 28th, 2015Via: BBC: Microsoft Research’s chief has said he thinks artificial intelligence systems could achieve consciousness, but has played down the threat to human life. Eric Horvitz’s position contrasts with that of several other leading thinkers. Last December, Prof Stephen Hawking told the BBC that such machines could “spell the end of the human race”. Mr […]
How the CIA Made Google
January 27th, 2015This is a really good one. Via: Medium: Google styles itself as a friendly, funky, user-friendly tech firm that rose to prominence through a combination of skill, luck, and genuine innovation. This is true. But it is a mere fragment of the story. In reality, Google is a smokescreen behind which lurks the US military-industrial […]
The Birth of D Weapons
January 17th, 2015Via: Spiegel: According to top secret documents from the archive of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden seen exclusively by SPIEGEL, they are planning for wars of the future in which the Internet will play a critical role, with the aim of being able to use the net to paralyze computer networks and, by doing so, potentially […]
Robots Roam Hallways of San Francisco’s Newest Hospital
January 16th, 2015Via: cnet: Meet Eve, a short, refrigerator-wide robot. While it doesn’t have arms, or a head, its portly frame can haul heavy loads, dispense supplies and travel long distances. Eve is one of 25 autonomous robots programmed to help the staff of San Francisco’s newest hospital. When the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center […]
Robots Can Now Learn to Cook by Watching YouTube Videos
January 3rd, 2015Via: Venture Beat: Researchers have come up with a new way to teach robots how to use tools simply by watching videos on YouTube. The researchers, from the University of Maryland and the Australian research center NICTA, have just published a paper on their achievements, which they will present this month at the 29th annual […]
Who Is Watching You?
December 29th, 2014Via: Medium: We are living in a Dragnet Nation?—?a world of indiscriminate tracking where institutions are stockpiling data about individuals at an unprecedented pace. The rise of indiscriminate tracking is powered by the same forces that have brought us the technology we love so much?—?powerful computing on our desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Before computers […]
Helicopter Drone Makes First Flight from Navy Destroyer
December 25th, 2014Via: Defensetech: A helicopter drone developed by Northrop Grumman Corp. has made its first flight from a U.S. Navy destroyer, the company announced. The MQ-8C Fire Scout on Dec. 16 completed 22 autonomous takeoffs and landings aboard the guided-missile destroyer, USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109), off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, according to a Dec. […]
