A remote-controlled cleaning robot sent into a damaged reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant had to be removed before it completed its work because of camera problems most likely caused by high radiation levels. It was the first time a robot has entered the chamber inside the Unit 2 reactor since a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami critically damaged the Fukushima Da-ichi nuclear plant. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it was trying to inspect and clean a passage before another robot does a fuller examination to assess damage to the structure and its fuel. In this image released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), a remote-controlled'cleaning' robot, bottom, enters the reactor containment chamber of Unit 2 for inspection and cleaning. The'cleaning' robot that entered one of three tsunami-wrecked Fukushima reactor containment chambers was withdrawn before completing its mission due to glitches most likely caused by high radiation The robot went only part way into a space under the core that TEPCO wants to inspect closely.

Robots have become smarter and more useful over the last year alone, and Segway Robotics is turning to developers for ideas on more meaningful applications for its Loomo bot. For three days starting February 10th, the company is co-hosting the MIT Hacking Medicine Robotics hackathon in Singapore to create eldercare-based uses for Loomo. The winning teams' creations will be tested in Singapore, and successful applications will be rolled out globally. In addition to coming up with helpful applications for Loomo, the event's organizers are also hoping to get participant feedback on how to improve the robot. Segway unveiled the latest developer version of Loomo at CES this year, and announced an array of partners that includes MIT, BMW and Intel.

A drone that can pollinate flowers may one day work side by side with bees to improve crop yields. About three-quarters of global crop species, from apples to almonds, rely on pollination by bees and other insects. But pesticides, land clearing and climate change have caused declines in many of these creatures, creating problems for farmers. Pollination is needed for reproduction in flowering plants. Male flower parts, or stamens, produce pollen that fertilises female parts, known as pistils, to make seeds.

One of the earliest real robot mecha anime of the 80's that defined decades of anime and video games to follow was that of Fang of the Sun Dougram. Now after all these years, Bandai has given us probably the best toy of the titular mecha. Fang of the Sun Dougram was set in the far off future where humanity has colonized various planets outside of our solar system, all of which are run by the Earth Federation. In a coup d'état on the planet Deloyer, the governor is seemingly replaced by a military dictatorship all under the approval of the Federation. The former governor's son, Crinn Cashim, steals a prototype combat armor called the Dougram and with a group of ragtag rebels fights back against this tyranny and in doing so free Deloyer's citizens from martial rule.

In this image released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), a remote-controlled "cleaning" robot, bottom, enters the reactor containment chamber of Unit 2 for inspection and cleaning a passage for another robot as melted materials are seen at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. The "cleaning" robot that entered one of three tsunami-wrecked Fukushima reactor containment chambers was withdrawn before completing its mission due to glitches most likely caused by high radiation.

I believe "less is more" will become the mantra for companies that need to consolidate their various service-driven mobile apps into one enterprise app. The goal will be to integrate data, analytics and insights into a single platform to create a more seamless customer experience. We helped one of our clients do this by deconstructing its old digital presence and revamping its mobile offering. After assessing its needs and analyzing user behavior, we helped them create a mobile app that integrated web functionality with mobile. Meanwhile, Google is reimagining apps with the introduction of Instant Apps.

Preparations to further examine the inside of the No. 2 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were halted Thursday by a technical glitch, the plant's manager said. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., better known as Tepco, said it sent a robot with a high-pressure water nozzle into the primary containment vessel, which houses the pressure vessel, but halted the operation after video images from the robot's camera went dark. Tepco said the high radiation might have caused the camera glitch. The camera was designed to withstand 1,000 sieverts of cumulative exposure. Last week, the beleaguered utility said it estimated the radiation in the primary containment vessel to be as high as 530 sieverts per hour, during a similar probe late last month.

The government is to press ahead with plans to enable petty criminals to plead guilty online and receive a sentence through a computer. A report from the Ministry of Justice has called for the system to be tested with non-prisonable offences, such as tram fare evasion, railway fare evasion and possession of an unlicensed road and line. "Under this proposal, defendants who opt in to the online procedure and plead guilty will be offered the option to accept a pre-determined penalty (including the payment of any appropriate compensation and costs), be convicted and pay the amount immediately," it reads. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar. Japan's On-Art Corp's CEO Kazuya Kanemaru poses with his company's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot'TRX03' and other robots during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan Japan's On-Art Corp's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot'TRX03' performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan Singulato Motors co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin poses in his company's concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China A picture shows Singulato Motors' concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China Connected company president Shigeki Tomoyama addresses a press briefing as he elaborates on Toyota's "connected strategy" in Tokyo.

Whether brewing crisp lagers or creating a new candy bar, flavor is a fickle thing. On this week's edition of the NVIDIA AI Podcast we talk to Jason Cohen, founder of Analytical Flavor Systems, who is using AI to help businesses that create beer, chocolate, wine, coffee and spirits better understand flavor. "Something crazy like 95 percent of all new products fail, either in the conception phase or in the R&D phase or in the go-to-market phase," Cohen says in a conversation with our host, Michael Copeland. "That's because these companies can't predict consumer preference, because they don't have a measurement of what consumers are going to taste in that product." Analytical Flavor Systems uses GPU-powered artificial intelligence to turn data about what people taste -- whether it's beer, wine, chocolate, wine, coffee and spirits -- into data companies can use to create more consistent -- and tastier -- products.

I have been slow to accept that, from a service perspective, humans will ever be replaced by computers. I've suggested that customers will resist "robots" and I've based my thinking in part on the "uncanny valley" hypothesis which postulates that the more robots look like humans the less humans will feel comfortable with them. I am starting to rethink my assumptions and my conclusion. While humans may not be fully replaceable, I do believe artificial intelligence and robots will displace a lot of service providers. Café X is now open in Hong Kong and San Francisco.