Oct 03
According to a Japanese researcher, robots that can mimic the exact brush strokes of master painters or calligraphers could recreate their work. His calligraphy robot has gone on display at Asia’s biggest tech fair, Ceatec. While this tech may not be as interesting as 3D printing, the aesthetic implications are breathtaking. How long before one can print …
Aug 12
A soft autonomous robot worm, brought to you by science. MIT News says: Earthworms creep along the ground by alternately squeezing and stretching muscles along the length of their bodies, inching forward with each wave of contractions. Snails and sea cucumbers also use this mechanism, called peristalsis, to get around, and our own gastrointestinal tracts …
Aug 11
Singularity Hub is reporting that dozens of underwater drones have been deployed to waters near Iran: As US talks with Iran over their nuclear program began to sour and the possibility of sanctions against the country rose, Iran responded by threatening to cut off the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway and the only way …
Jun 25
By year’s end Dongbu Robot plans to launch robots that impersonate K-Pop Stars Girl’s Generation and Super Junior. Sadly, not into outer space where they could act as ambassadors to the dance loving aliens of other planets but on Earth, where they will just annoy people. According to Dongbu, the robot ‘will be able to fully …
Jun 25
These performing robots were created by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology’s Center for Intelligent Robotics as part of their program to depress and terrify the elderly.
Jun 25
Joggobot is a helicopter drone that motivates joggers by flying in front of them. This is, of course, different from the usual way drones motivate running, which consists of shooting missiles at your wedding. The Week Magazine explains: The aerial robot uses its camera to spot a colorful pattern on a T-shirt worn by the …
Jun 24
Researchers have taught robots to have some of the most boring hallucinations since the worst excesses of the classic rock era. They’ve taught them to hallucinate furniture arrangement. Researchers in the Personal Robotics Lab of Ashutosh Saxena, assistant professor of computer science, have already taught robots to identify common objects, pick them up and place them …
Jun 17
Bio-mimicking MAV (micro aerial vehicles) are nothing new. (Been blogging about them almost as long as I’ve been blogging.) But, if you’re new to this, these are drones, that is, flying robots, that look and act like natural creatures. Insects, birds, whathaveyou. There’s some new work being done out of John Hopkins university –funded by US Defence agencies– that …
Jun 11
According to a recent study, more than half of the accounts who follow businesses on twitter are robots. The researcher used a random sample of 10,000 followers for each company then analysed their behaviour using software and algorithms to work out who was human. Proper punctuation, profiles with a name, image or physical address and …
May 26
IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects) is working with torture-tool manufacturer Raytheon to develop a metaphorical language analysis system: The system will automatically find, identify and categorize large numbers of linguistic metaphors in foreign language texts. Under the contract, Raytheon BBN will: Develop tools and techniques to identify, qualify and categorize metaphors; Build a metaphor repository that identifies and links …
"This ultra-sharp, darkly satiric, hyper-speed novel is set in a world where multi-level mega malls serves as city states and everything on the outside lies in ruin. On the lower red levels, gang violence and media saturation and bio-tech designer drugs rule. During the weekend, slummers from the green levels leave their safe lives of jobs and families to partake in risky, sometimes deadly, fun on the red levels. And on every level, TV and advertisements literally penetrate the mind. Death is easy and life cheap, until that life is your own or your beloveds. Extreme stylization, great characters, and a high-level of intensity is maintained throughout. This is a whip-smart, truly violent novel that has at its core a still very human pulsing heart."
May 20, 1990: Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson’s remarkable Kenyon College commencement address on creative integrity.
川流不息 Endless stream by Singer 晴哥 on Flickr.
