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robots

STUDY: When Robots Beg For Their Lives

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robot - pixabay

Robots designed to interact socially with humans are slowly becoming more and more common. They’re appearing as receptionists, tour guides, security guards, and porters. But how good are we at treating these robots as robots? A growing body of evidence suggests not good at all. Studies have repeatedly shown we’re extremely susceptible to social cues coming from machines, and a recent experiment by German researchers demonstrates that people will even refuse to turn a robot off — if it begs for its life. In the study, published in the open access journal PLOS One, 89 volunteers were recruited to complete … Read more

TECH: Tiny Robot Arms Build World’s Tiniest House

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world's tiniest house - live science

Pushing the tiny-house movement to bizarre new limits, French scientists have constructed the “world’s smallest house” on the tip of an optical fiber. With each wall spanning about 0.0006 inches in length (15 micrometers, or 15 millionths of a meter), the humble chalet is too small to accommodate a dust mite, an amoeba or a sperm cell. It’s about 10,000 times too small to host a tardigrade; it’s even too small to hold a piece of tardigrade poop. So, why build a house so small that even a tardigrade can’t make use of it? Mainly just to prove it can … Read more

TECH: Today in Creepy Robots

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Atlas Robot gif

You can run from Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas, but it wouldn’t do you any good — the robot can run after you. In a video shared to YouTube yesterday (May 10) by the robot maker, the uncannily human-like Atlas demonstrates running ability that is eerily reminiscent of a person’s. The robot jogs methodically across an expanse of grass, against a backdrop of trees punctuated by a few isolated buildings. The scene is almost peaceful and idyllic, except for the pervasive whirring and clanking of Atlas’ motors, gears and joints, and the sense of growing unease that comes with witnessing … Read more

SCIENCE: Electronic Skin May Help Prevent Robots from Crushing Us (Unless They Really Want To)

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robot - pixabay

A metallic robot hand with “Terminator”-like power sounds good for the movies. But what about a real-life future where that android is now cradling your baby or just shaking your hand? That’s when attributes like “gentle” and “sensitive” might be more warranted to avoid a human-crushing outcome. Electronic skin may be the answer, as it could give such robots (and even prosthetic limbs) the ability to sense how forceful their handshakes and cradles are when interacting with humans. A new electronic skin may also prove more robust than previous versions to prevent accidental damage. It could even heal with the … Read more

TECH: Japan’s Next Robot News Anchor

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Robot News Anchor

At a mere 23 years old, Japan’s latest news anchor would make her parents proud — if she had any. Erica, a lifelike android designed to look like a 23-year-old woman, may soon become a TV news anchor in Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to Hiroshi Ishiguro, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka Universityand Erica’s creator, the android will replace a human news anchor on the airwaves as soon as April, the Daily Mail said. Erica the android may be well suited for this desk job. For starters, she can capably recite scripted writing and sit … Read more

Robot Nails Backflip, Ensures Humanity’s Eventual Downfall

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Boston Dynamics robot

When robots one day rise up against their human oppressors and enslave the fleshy mammals of this planet, we hope they’ll remember how nice some of us were their kind ― the Teddy Ruxpins, the Furbys, the Tickle Me Elmos ― and ultimately show mercy. Until that time, the robotic design company Boston Dynamics continues to fan the uprising flames by giving robots the ability to sprint like cheetahs and perform infinite pushups. By Andy McDonald – Full Story at The Huffington Post

ANNOUNCEMENT: Red Gods Sing, by Trevor Barton

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Red Gods Sing

QSFer Trevor Barton has a new MM sci fi book out: “adorable [and] horrifying” – Geek Syndicate You’re a robot man living in 2060’s America. You’re off on a hot date. Forget fake news and flying saucers. What’s the one thing you should’ve packed? Josh could be forgiven for being a little forgetful. In his world, the problem isn’t with AI. It’s with humans. (Some of them, at least.) A threat is looming, and with it an ultimatum. Brobots like Josh can rise up. Or they can face extinction. Josh has decisions to make. But where will they leave a … Read more

This is How the Robot Apocalypse Begins

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robot army

An army of robots has assembled in China and so far they seem content to dance and break records. The move is almost certainly to lull humans into a false sense of security so we will ignore the obvious threat they pose. The 1,069 dancing “Dobi” robots set up by WL Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. was recognized earlier this month by Guinness World Records for breaking the mark for “most robots dancing simultaneously.” By Ed Mazza – Full Story at the Huffington Post

TECH: Robots to Invade Pisa

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robot

Every year, millions of visitors flock to Italy to immerse themselves in its epic history, art, architecture, culture and traditions, and it’s quite likely that the average tourist goes home from Italy with the impression that they’ve just visited a huge open air museum, never considering that it is, in fact, a modern, innovative country. But all that science and creativity happened in the past … didn’t it? How many tourists, I wonder, are aware that Italy is at the cutting edge of research into robotics? How many visitors to the world famous Torre di Pisa know that Pisa is … Read more

Today in Creepy Robots

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robots

It was a spooky sight: two lifelike disembodied robot torsos discussing the pros and cons of humans in front of a nervously tittering audience in Hong Kong Wednesday. Artificial intelligence is the dominant theme at this year’s sprawling RISE tech conference at the city’s harbourfront convention centre, but the live robot exchange took the AI debate to another level. While chief scientist Ben Goertzel of Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, which invented the machines, sang their praises, the robots seemed more sceptical of their human peers. When Goertzel asked the duo whether robots could really be moral and ethical, Han countered: … Read more