H+ Weekly - Issue #9
ISSUE #9
In this issue - a lot about robots, why Philadelphia is not a good city for robots, a lot of videos and more!
Artificial Intelligence
Neurogram
Someone created a neural network which creates abstract art.
Why Can’t Robots Understand Sarcasm?
Artificial intelligence has yet to grasp some of the finer nuances of human communication.
The Danger of Artificial Stupidity
J. Mark Bishop argues that we should not be afraid of singularity or that machines will make us obsolete. Instead, we should be working alongside AI systems and by combining our creativity with power of machines avoid scenarios of "artificial stupidity", when AI is escalating situations to catastrophic conclusions.
Why We Really Should Ban Autonomous Weapons: A Response
Here's a response to last week's article titled We Should Not Ban ‘Killer Robots,’ and Here’s Why, which itself was a response to open letter proposing banning the weaponization of AI.
Robotics
Fashion Finds a More Perfect Model: The Robot
Will the perfectly shaped human-like androids replace real human models on catwalks?
Amazon proposes drones-only airspace to facilitate high-speed delivery
Amazon does not give up its drone delivery idea. The retail giant’s proposal carves out airspace from 60-120 meters exclusively for autonomous drones, with a further 30 meters above it declared a no-fly zone.
HitchBOT destroyed in Philadelphia, ending U.S. tour
HitchBOT successfully traveled through Canada and Europe, and was on his third great adventure - on a journey across USA. Was, because someone destroyed him in Philadelphia. If there are any robots reading this, be careful or avoid Philadelphia. It's not a city for robots.
Robotic Rhythmic Gymnastics Should Be an Olympic Sport
Do you agree with that statement? Would you like to see competition between different robots twirling the ribbon, or would you rather leave it to humans?
Disruptive — Bioinspired Robots
A talk in three parts which brings closer robots and concepts in robotics inspired by nature, like swarm robotics, new manufacturing techniques that are enabling popup and soft robots and how a wearable robotic exosuit or soft robotic glove could assist people with mobility impairments, as well as how the goal to create real-world applications drives his research approach.
Robot Comforts People On Their Deathbed If The Family Is Too Busy
The Last Moment Robot, a creepy art installation, takes the idea of human replacement to a more extreme scale. It allows for robotic intimacy technology to be reevaluated. The form factors are also been challenged, instead of mimicking the real, the Last Moment Robot’s objective is aim to allowing the patients to experience the paradoxical sensation.
LEGO Exoskeleton Is Like A Tiny Pacific Rim
That just looks so awesome!
Autonomous trucks: Daimler seeks licence for road tests
Car manufacturer Daimler is hoping to test self-driving trucks on German motorways this year, according to a company executive.
Are we ready for the rise of social robots?
Social robots are coming, but will we enjoy their company? Chris Baraniuk explains why it might not always be easy to adjust to our new companions, and how it’ll change us.
The Coming Age Of Cyborg Animals
Wearables are not only restricted to us, humans. There are some products designed for cats, dogs and other domesticated animals. They can track where your pet was, how was it behaving, measure its health state. They can have cameras and even entertain your pet. Maybe one day there will be devices translating dog's barking or cat's purring into human languages.
Human Vs. Robot: Bricklaying Robot Can Place 1,000 Bricks an Hour
It's faster than any human bricklayers, doesn't need to sleep and can erect the walls of a house in two days.
Is Drone Racing Legal?
It turned out that drone racing or FPV (first-person view) drones in general might be illegal is US. All thanks to murky law interpretations. But there is a light in the tunnel. Also murky, but still, it's a light.
Bionics
Oxygen absorbing material may allow us to breathe underwater
This new material, which basically sucks out oxygen from the environment, might revolutionize the treatment of lung diseases and also might allow us to "breathe" underwater without heavy and bulky scuba tanks.
Woman With the Metal Chest: Surgeons Implant World’s First 3D Printed Titanium Sternum An excellent example how 3D printing can be used in medicine to print perfectly fitted implants.
World's first 'feeling' leg prosthesis offers hope to amputees
The world's first artificial leg capable of simulating the feelings of a real limb and fighting phantom pain was unveiled by researchers in Vienna.
‘Smart Wires’ In Bionic Hand Contract The Same Way Natural Muscles Do
Mimicking the way our muscle fibers naturally use electricity to power their contractions, researchers at Saarland University in Germany were able to build a bionic hand that looks, feels and functions more like a biological one.
Biotechnology and genetics
An open source future for synthetic biology
Or why open source biotechnology project are a solution for hostility against genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Something to watch
Sarah Bergbreiter: Why I make robots the size of a grain of rice
By studying the movement and bodies of insects such as ants, Sarah Bergbreiter and her team build incredibly robust, super teeny, mechanical versions of creepy crawlies … and then they add rockets. See their jaw-dropping developments in micro-robotics, and hear about three ways we might use these little helpers in the future.
Michio Kaku: Can Nanotechnology Create Utopia?
Dr. Kaku addresses the question of the possibility of utopia, the perfect society that people have tried to create throughout history. These dreams have not been realized because we have scarcity. However, now we have nanotechnology, and with nanotechnology, perhaps, says Dr. Michio Kaku, maybe in 100 years, we'll have something called the replicator, which will create enormous abundance.
Can robots be creative? - Gil Weinberg
People have been grappling with the question of artificial creativity -- alongside the question of artificial intelligence -- for over 170 years. For instance, could we program machines to create high quality original music? And if we do, is it the machine or the programmer that exhibits creativity? Gil Weinberg investigates this creative conundrum.
The Dawn of Killer Robots
Motherboard investigated the evolving relationship between humans and robots, and what intelligence in machines bodes for the future of war and humanity.
Aubrey de Grey - HardTalk - Ending Aging
Dr. Aubrey de Grey talks on BBC about aging and how to stop it, reverse it and eventually cure it. He explains the great plan, where are the blocks and how his researches could impact society.
Roboticist Mark Setrakian's Axis Robot
Norm from Tested takes a closer look on Axis - beautiful robotic Battlebots' trophy - with its creator, Mark Setrakian. Interesting piece of robotics.
Watch these super-fast futuristic drones race like crazy
Drone racing looks ultra awesome. Here are some shots from 2015 US National Drone Racing Championships.
Something to listen
Be afraid, be very afraid: the robots are coming and they will destroy our livelihoods
A debate between four experts trying to answer the questions - should we be afraid of robots? How would the future life with intelligent machines look like? Who will win and who will lose in the forthcoming second machine revolution?
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