One day in the future, when an engineer discovers a robot has become self aware, there is a good chance that technician will be working at Boston Dynamics. The robotics and engineering company works with various government agencies such as DARPA, the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and corporations like Sony. Using sensor-based controls and computation, Boston Dynamics's experimental robots mimic the capabilities of complex organisms, exhibiting remarkable agility, dexterity and speed. If you are a robot watcher like I am, Boston Dynamics's creations are startling in their ability to conjure both utopian possibilities and surreal nightmares. Robots like these could have powerful applications navigating hostile terrains like Mars, or become mindless weapons of war. Boston Dynamics' latest creation is Handle, a research robot with 10 actuated joints which resembles a bucking horse. Handle stands 6.5 ft tall with the ability to retract and extend its legs. The robot has uncanny balance, travels at 9 mph and is able to jump 4 feet vertically into the air, and lift 100 pounds. … [Read more...] about Boston Dynamics Terrifying and Astounding Handle Robot
A Perfect Space X Landing
Slicing down through the clouds, riding on the power of the sun. Everytime the Falcon 9 lands, we move closer to a Mars mission. A new era of space travel dawns. A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Feb 19, 2017 at 12:20pm PST … [Read more...] about A Perfect Space X Landing
Peace on Earth!
Election 2016: Things are going to get Weird.
Writers and artists, by their nature, are sensitive. We spend years building up feathery radar as delicate as moth antennae in order to observe the nuances of human behavior. So when something happens that blows your mind and makes you question the reality you're living in, it can make you feel woozy and lost at sea without a compass. Whatever politics you subscribe to, the 2016 election revealed a divide so vast it can only be called shocking. The pollsters were not able to measure reality. The dark desires of the collective unconscious tossed up strange, seemingly unnatural, even horrifying events and players. We saw racism, misogyny, xenophobia and hatred, the dark flower of a baser, deeper emotion— fear. Right now, that fear is rushing across the land like a wave. Our first instinct may be to fight events, even try and change the outcome, but nothing we do can stop how weird things are going to get. No matter how civilized and decent you believe President Obama to be, half the country saw this president as a frightening boogieman. And no matter how obvious Trump's … [Read more...] about Election 2016: Things are going to get Weird.
H.L. Mencken’s Prophecy
A tougher Turing Test shows chatbots are still pretty stupid – ScienceAlert
An interesting article on Science alert about a more complicated Turing test... To find out just how advanced our current AI systems are, researchers have developed a tougher Turing Test - called the Winograd Schema Challenge - which measures how well robotic intelligence matches human intelligence. In the end, the team found that - even though AI is definitely improving every day - our robotic pals are still seriously lacking some common sense, suggesting that it will be some time before AI is fully ready to meld with society. First, before we go any further into the new competition's results, it's important to define what a 'Turing Test' actually is. Developed and coined by Alan Turing back in the 1950s, the Turing Test is a way for researchers to challenge computer-based intelligence to see if it can become indistinguishable from human intelligence, which is basically the goal for AI researchers. These tests are mostly language-based because human language is - when you truly think about it - super weird. In short, Turing believed that AI should aim to have robots that a … [Read more...] about A tougher Turing Test shows chatbots are still pretty stupid – ScienceAlert
Pokémon Go! Gaming just crashed into Reality.
Have you looked outside lately? People are standing around staring at their phones, seeing things only they can see. People on bikes are picking up points as they hunt rats and dragons and sword-like creatures placed in our world by the game. People at bars are "luring" invisible creatures inside to rack up points as they have a drink with friends. Arlington Cemetery just asked players to please stop wandering through the sacred grounds trying to find invisible creatures and gather eggs. Why should you care? Because Gaming just crashed into your reality in the form of Pokémon Go. This is just the beginning.... Save Save Save … [Read more...] about Pokémon Go! Gaming just crashed into Reality.