Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Will Superintelligent Machines Destroy Humanity?
September 13th, 2014My money would be on nukes. How about, superintelligent machines somehow in control of nukes? Via: Reason: In Frank Herbert’s Dune books, humanity has long banned the creation of “thinking machines.” Ten thousand years earlier, their ancestors destroyed all such computers in a movement called the Butlerian Jihad, because they felt the machines controlled them. […]
GM to Introduce Hands-Free Driving in Cadillac Model in Two Years
September 7th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: General Motors Co. (GM), the largest U.S. automaker, will introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can be driven on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on a pedal. The 2017 Cadillac model will feature “Super Cruise” technology that takes control of steering, acceleration and […]
Intel’s New Mobile Chips Are Always Listening
September 6th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: A new line of mobile chips unveiled by Intel today makes it possible to wake up a laptop or tablet simply by saying “Hello, computer.” Once it has been awoken, the computer can operate as a voice-controlled virtual assistant. You might call out “Hello, computer, what is the weather forecast today?” […]
Britain: Robots Help Deliver Meals and Transport Waste and Equipment at New Hospital
September 4th, 2014Via: Western Daily Press: This is the incredible fleet of robots helping to provide food for almost 1,000 patients at a new £430 million super hospital. Southmead Hospital in Bristol has deployed a fleet of 12 automatic guided vehicles to deliver meals to its 950 patients. The droids, which start work at 10.15 every morning, […]
Red Light Camera Industry Fights Citizen Vote
September 4th, 2014Via: WTSP: Florida’s leading red light camera-provider American Traffic Solutions confirms to 10 Investigates Wednesday that it has joined the fight to prevent a citizen-backed referendum on red light cameras from ever reaching a ballot. The city is also fighting the referendum on grounds that it infringes upon city council’s power. However, the enemy of […]
Robirds
September 4th, 2014Via: Slash Gear: Unless you look really close, this robot peregrine falcon would almost look like the real thing from a distance, especially while flapping its wings high above the sky. That resemblance to a real avian predator, however faint, might just be enough to scare away other birds that would other wise ruin crops […]
NASA Building Air Traffic Control System for Drones
September 2nd, 2014Via: The Verge: NASA is developing an air traffic control system for drones. The New York Times reports the US space agency is working on creating a management system for vehicles that fly at around 400 to 500 feet off the ground — much lower than conventional aircraft — at its Moffett Field base around […]
Man 3D Prints Concrete Castle in Backyard, Designing Kit to Print Two-Story Houses
August 31st, 2014Via: 3ders: In Minnesota, contractor Andrey Rudenko is currently working on a project of gargantuan proportions that seems to be stretching and exploring the limits of 3D printing technology. Using a printer that was substantially modified and expanded, he has printed a concrete castle in his own backyard. And at 3 by 5 meters, this […]
Inside Google’s Secret Drone-Delivery Program
August 28th, 2014Via: The Atlantic: After two years of development, the Silicon Valley company reveals to The Atlantic that it has substantial research effort into building flying robots than can deliver products across a city in a minute or two.
‘Robo Brain’ Will Teach Robots Everything from the Internet
August 25th, 2014This is the exact scenario from two recent cyber apocalypse stories; Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson and Transcendence. The goo escapes the cage in the lab and devours everything. Vis: Physorg: Robo Brain – a large-scale computational system that learns from publicly available Internet resources – is currently downloading and processing about 1 billion images, […]
