The campaign, led by academics Kathleen Richardson and Erik Billing, argues that the development of sex robots should be stopped because it reinforces or reproduces existing inequalities. Yes, society has enough problems with gender stereotypes, entrenched sexism and sexual objectification. But actual opposition to developing sexual robots that aims for an outright ban? That seems shortsighted, even – pardon the pun – undesirable. Groundbreaking work by David Levy, built on the early research into teledildonics – cybersex toys operable through the internet – describes the increasing likelihood of a society that will welcome sex robots. For Levy, sex work is a model that can be mirrored in human-robot relations.

Metropolis is a silent science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and Thea von Harbou. Lang and von Harbou, who were married, wrote the screenplay in 1924, and the story was novelized by von Harbou in 1926. It is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and examines a common science fiction theme of the day: the social crisis between workers and owners in capitalism. The film stars Alfred Abel as the leader of the city, Gustav Fröhlich as his son, who tries to mediate between the elite caste and the workers, Brigitte Helm as both the pure-at-heart worker Maria and the debased robot version of her, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the mad scientist who created the robot. Metropolis was produced in Germany in the Babelsberg Studios by Universum Film A.G. (UFA) and released in 1927 during a stable period of the Weimar Republic. The most expensive film of its time, it cost approximately 7 million Reichsmark to make.

Bots are showing themselves to be one of the darlings of adtech in 2016. They may potentially disrupt brand-consumer interaction as we know it, creating both opportunity and chaos for marketers. And yet, as with websites and apps, building an effective brand asset doesn't happen overnight -- or come without challenges. And that's certainly true for bots, whose technology is still very imperfect and will require extensive development before all is said and done. Even so, the benefits outweigh the risks, and brands should act now, as first movers will likely see major advantages. Previously, I spoke with more than a dozen executives to learn what bot implementations hold the most promise (See: 10 ways bots can surprise and delight your customers).

Scientists have shown how the brain anticipates all of the new situations that it may encounter in a lifetime by creating a special kind of neural network that is "pre-adapted" to face any eventuality. This emerges from a new neuroscience study published in PLOS Computational Biology. Enel et al at the INSERM in France investigate one of the most noteworthy properties of primate behavior, its diversity and adaptability. Human and non-human primates can learn an astonishing variety of novel behaviors that could not have been directly anticipated by evolution--we now understand that this ability to cope with new situations is due to the "pre-adapted" nature of the primate brain. This study shows that this seemingly miraculous pre-adaptation comes from connections between neurons that form recurrent loops where inputs can rebound and mix in the network, like waves in a pond, thus called "reservoir" computing.

Can EPFL do better than Paul the Octopus? That's what the developers of kickoff.ai are hoping, with a new website that uses artificial intelligence to predict the results of Euro 2016 soccer games starting with the very first round. According to their calculations, France should beat Romania in the opening game on Friday, and Switzerland should come out ahead of Albania in their game on Saturday. The three researchers – who are also avid soccer fans – developed their model at EPFL's Computer Communications & Applications Laboratory. Their model uses a combination of machine-learning algorithms and data mining, making it more accurate than most predictive systems currently out there. "A lot of websites aim to predict the winners of soccer games, but they draw on data about the past performance of each country's team.

Sending packages by airplane is nothing new, but the task could soon be taken over by drones. DHL recently completed of a three-month-long test of its automated drone delivery system, the Parcelcopter. It works with a combination helipad and mailbox dubbed Skyport, which can automatically load and unload the drone's payload when it lands and store it in one of the station's lockers. Testing took place between January and March of 2016 in Bavaria, Germany. The idea was to see if the drone could be used to deliver packages to areas that are remote and where standard delivery takes a long time.

Those leg motors include sensors to detect "the slightest intention of movement," and an onboard computer then follows the child's steps to create the smoothest mechanical gait possible. Because children are constantly growing and moving, the whole setup is designed with telescoping supports that get taller with the patient. CSIC's "smart" approach is similar to the algorithm that SRI Ventures recently built into the Superflex soft exosuit, and with a little tweaking the algorithm could probably help extend the CISC suit's five-hour battery life. Finally, the CISC is currently testing the exoskeleton with three child volunteers in Madrid and Barcelona, but in the U.S., Harvard engineers have teamed up with ReWalk Robotics to test and eventually market a similar, soft exosuit designed for adults with limited mobility.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your seafaring Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Within the last 30 years half of all corals have died already. However, there are selective measures in restoring coral reefs by cultivating and eventually statically outplanting them on reefs.

This is the heartwarming moment a five-year walks for the first time after he was picked to test a exoskeleton prototype developed for children. The remarkable aluminium and titanium device, which weighs just over 26lbs, was designed by engineers at Marsi Bionics, a company based in the Spanish capital Madrid. Their goal was to help children with degenerative genetic conditions recover some of their autonomy - and the device looks set to do exactly that. Incredible: Alvaro had talked about his dreams of one day being able to'play football' and'go to school alone', which could soon become a reality The development of the prototype was led by industrial engineer and Superior Council of Scientific Investigations - which is affiliated with Marsi Bionics - investigator Elena Garcia. The team of determined engineers got to work in 2009 and began transforming the concept into a real and potentially life-changing product.

A lot can change in the space of six years: At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Germany, match results were predicted by an octopus named Paul. As Euro 2016 prepares to kick off Friday in France, scientists are using advanced neural networks to try to figure out which team will win this summer's big soccer tournament. As fans from across the continent begin their journeys toward France this week, predictions among them will be based on passion, patriotism and hope rather than algorithms, artificial intelligence or machine learning. But that's not stopping companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and Blue Yonder from trying to leverage their technology to predict this year's winner. At the World Cup in 2010, Paul the Octopus became a celebrity by accurately predicting the results of every single game involving host country Germany, which went on to win the tournament.