Government
MIT and NASA designed 'morphing' wings made of digital materials
Researchers are pulling inspiration from the Wright brothers' twisted wood-and-canvas wings in order to make today's flying more efficient. MIT and NASA have designed a new kind of bendable, 'morphing wing' system that is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and assembled by small robots. The new structure could simplify the manufacturing process and greatly reduce fuel consumption by improving the wing's aerodynamics. MIT and NASA teamed up to create a new kind of bendable, 'morphing wing' system made of tiny, lightweight'digital materials' and assembled by a team of small robots MIT and NASA created a new kind of bendable, 'morphing wing' system of carbon fiber reinforced plastic that are assembled by a team of small robots. Miniature robots crawl along or inside the wing structure as it takes shape.
Elon Musk Says Advanced A.I. Could "Take Down the Internet"
The internet is about to become a vicious, chaotic battlefield, and Elon Musk says advanced A.I. could make the carnage even worse. According to a short exchange on Musk's Twitter today, the systems that keep the internet running are particularly vulnerable to simple, brute-force computing attacks -- the kind of cyberwarfare that artificial intelligence excel at. On October 21, an unknown group of hackers wiped out part of the internet in the United States and Europe with a massive Denial of Service attack. The hackers used a massive "botnet" -- linked computers able to perform coordinated functions -- of simple Internet of Things devices to relentlessly overload the servers at Dyn Systems, which provides DNS services to a huge number of websites, including Spotify, Twitter, Netflix, and Reddit. For the most part, cybersecurity authorities believe that a human being or group of people orchestrated and executed the attack, plugging in the botnet's targets and making sure their digital blows landed.
The interracial-romance turmoil at the center of 'Loving' is brought to light with a clear-eyed humanity
"Loving" is an unpretentious film about unassuming real people, but don't let that mislead you. Just as Richard and Mildred Loving ended up overturning the status quo and making American legal history, so this feature on their lives by writer-director Jeff Nichols turns out to be a film of quiet but quite significant strengths. Nichols, responsible for "Mud," "Take Shelter" and the underappreciated humanistic science fiction epic "Midnight Special," has gone in a different, more historical direction here. He's made an involving socially conscious drama about the interracial couple whose marriage, illegal in their home state of Virginia, led to the unanimous 1967 Supreme Court ruling that racist anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. But "Loving" is hardly a legal drama rife with attorney strategies and courtroom scenes.
Singapore is striving to be the world's first 'smart city'
There are few places better positioned to become a "smart city" than Singapore. That's an easy statement to justify. Singapore is an island city-state just 30 miles across that has been governed by the same party for decades. Putting the implied democratic flaws to one side, the geography and political stability of Singapore have aided the city in preparing for the future. Two years ago, those preparations got a name: "Smart Nation," an ambitious program to push the city, its residents and its government into the digital age.
Morning roundup of Artificial Intelligence news for November 3, 2016
This brings the three-year-old company's total funding to over $8 million. Photo taken by Alex Villafania The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is planning to incorporate research into artificial intelligence (AI) in its 2017-2022 development agenda in an effort to ramp up the country's science and technology research programs. DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said during the recent National Research and Development Conference that they intend to incorporate AI into the Philippine Development Plan called "Ambisyon Natin 2040." Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing (MEVIS) in Bremen, Germany have developed software that uses deep learning to facilitate the detection of tumours in progressive cancer treatment images. The package will be demonstrated in Chicago at the world's largest radiology meeting, RSNA, on 27 November to 2 December.
Nasa's plan to save Earth: Space agency reveals mock-up of a robot that will lasso an asteroid in 2021 and place it in orbit around the moon
Nasa is planning an ambitious mission that will see a robotic spaceship visit an asteroid to create an orbiting base for astronauts. The robot shipwill pluck a large boulder off the space rock and sling it aroundthe moon, becoming a destination to prepare for futurehuman missions to Mars. Nasa also plans to study the asteroid and test deflection techniques that one day may be necessary to save Earth from a potentially catastrophic collision. Now the space agency has created a mock-up of its robot arm and tested it using a mock asteroid boulder. The robot ship will pluck a large boulder off an asteroid and sling it around the moon, becoming a destination to prepare for future human missions to Mars.
Mossberg: Google Home shows promise, but needs work
Like many tech enthusiasts, I've been using a $180 Amazon Echo intelligent speaker at my home for a year or more. And, while I love using it for some things -- playing music and podcasts, setting timers, and re-ordering items from Amazon -- I've come to realize that, like Apple's Siri and all other virtual assistants, its Alexa voice-driven artificial intelligence system disappoints a lot. So I was excited to test Google Home, the $129 Echo competitor that puts the search giant's much-touted new Google Assistant intelligence technology inside a small, but powerful Echo-like speaker and microphone unit. Surely, I thought, after collecting all that info about the world (and about me) for years and years, Google would crush Amazon in the home-intelligence race. But after nearly a week of using two Google Home units in two different rooms, my conclusions are decidedly mixed.
Semiconductor Engineering .:. Ready For Social Robots?
After years of steady growth, innovation and sometimes disappointment, the robotics market is heating up on several fronts amid some new breakthroughs in the arena. Both the industrial and service robotics markets are hot. In addition, the consumer market is seeing a new level of interest, as the industry is invaded by the next wave of so-called personal assistant robots or social robots for the home. Asus, Blue Frog Robotics, InGen, Jibo, NEC, Samsung and others are developing various personal assistant robots for consumers. In addition, a number of companies from China are also developing them. Personal assistant robots might be the next big thing. "If successful, Jibo (and its competitors) could usher in a new consumer electronics market--social robots for the home," said Dan Kara, an analyst at ABI Research. "Personal robots, often called social robots, are technically advanced robots that interact directly with people and are designed to assist in the home, or to act as a companion," Kara said.
No-fly zones to be imposed over jails
No-fly zones are to be imposed over jails in a drive to prevent drones being used to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into prisons. Figures have revealed increasing numbers of incidents involving the use of remotely-controlled devices for smuggling contraband into jails. Ministers have vowed to crackdown on the problem because prisoners are understood to be ordering illicit cargo using phone smuggled into cells and then a'pilot' controlling the drone from outside the walls lands the device or makes it hover outside a cell window. Ministers have vowed to crackdown on the problem because prisoners are understood to be ordering illicit cargo using phone smuggled into cells and then a'pilot' controlling the drone from outside the walls lands the device or makes it hover outside a cell window In one instance, a drone carrying super-strength skunk cannabis, mobile phones and chargers came down in an exercise yard at Category B HMP Bullingdon in Bicester, Oxon. Shocking footage captured at Wansdworth Prison in London in April, showed a black bag floating through the air via a drone into a window, where two pieces of wood tied together could be seen reaching out from a cell and hooking it in.
Snasci Logo Symbolism And AGI Ethics
The Snasci Logo comprises of three smaller rings, intersected by a large ring. Symbolically, this represents an adaptation of the Three Laws of Robotics by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules first appeared in his short story "Runaround" (1942). Quoting from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", the laws are: Whilst these laws are broadly acceptable for a robot, they are too narrow for an Artificial General Intelligence. An artificial General Intelligence must deal with scenarios that go beyond physical interaction with humans.