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TechCrunch: “You’ll soon be coming home and a robot will greet you at the door.”

VentureBeat: “Read to kids, host video chats, take pictures, recognize faces and objects, connect to smart home devices, and secure the home by roaming around and video taping everything.”

H+ Magazine: “What sets Autonomous’s efforts apart is the sophistication of the software which incoporates deep learning neural networks and what they call — talents.”

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The workplace is going to look drastically different ten years from now. The coming of the Second Machine Age is quickly bringing massive changes along with it. Manual jobs, such as lorry driving or house building are being replaced by robotic automation, and accountants, lawyers, doctors and financial advisers are being supplemented and replaced by high level artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

So what do we need to learn today about the jobs of tomorrow? Two things are clear. The robots and computers of the future will be based on a degree of complexity that will be impossible to teach to the general population in a few short years of compulsory education. And some of the most important skills people will need to work with robots will not be the things they learn in computing class.

There is little doubt that the workforce of tomorrow will need a different set of skills in order to know how to navigate a new world of work. Current approaches for preparing young people for the digital economy are based on teaching programming and computational thinking. However, it looks like human workers will not be replaced by automation, but rather workers will work alongside robots. If this is the case, it will be essential that human/robot teams draw on each other’s strengths.

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Article by Richard Heidmann, Association Planète Mars vice president – English translation by Etienne Martinache.

After having analyzed the targets assigned by SpaceX to its project of an Earth-Mars transportation system which is supposed to set up and serve a Martian settlement (see “l’étude MCT” on the site www.planete-mars.com), we decided to address the issue of an essential aspect of the feasibility of the project, the design of the living areas (pressurized enclosures).

This aspect was subject to many proposals, even though most of previous documented studies applied to upstream phases of human presence, those of exploration from a temporary base or from a permanent base with few residents and limited self-sufficiency. The consequences of the specific constraints related to a mass production of these enclosures, essentially from local resources, have seldom been considered.

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Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow‘s company makes in-space habitats. One (the BEAM adds 16 cubic meters of living area to the ISS) is now attached to the International Space Station and he and his company are developing permanent, stand-alone habitats to serve as private space stations in orbit around the Earth, ready to house private astronauts.

Bigelow has talked with United Launch Alliance Chief Executive Tory Bruno about using the company’s Atlas V 552 rocket, which has an extra-wide payload fairing, to deliver the B330 into orbit.

United Launch Alliance is developing an advanced upper-stage vehicle, ACES, to provide in-space propulsion.

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Would you like to know more? http://pdxint.at/2mvFVSx

Stellaris: Utopia brings even greater depth and variety to a game already celebrated for its story-telling power and near endless possibilities. Are you ready for perfection?

One of the core improvements in Utopia is the introduction of Ascension Perks. As your species advances and gains new traditions, it can choose how it wants to evolve as it is further enlightened. You can choose between a biological path, a psionic path or a synthetic path, with various options within these broad categories. Body, Mind or Machine — how will your species challenge the future?

Utopia Also Includes:
Megastructures: Build wondrous structures in your systems including Dyson Spheres and ring worlds, bringing both prestige and major advantages to your race.
Habitat Stations: Build “tall” and establish space stations that will house more population, serving the role of planets in a small and confined empire.
Rights and Privileges: Set specific policies for which of the many species under your thumb will have the rights and privileges of full citizenship. Build an egalitarian paradise or follow a caste system.
And even more improvements and updates, including (as is traditional with all of our paid content releases) free updates for every Stellaris owner!

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We have seen 3D printed buildings before but most of them were prototypes, built off-site or not used afterwords, but nothing compares to this house built by Apis Cor.

Apis Cor used a unique house 3D printing machine they developed and made an on-site house in 24 hours for the cost of some 10000 USD. It has surface of 38 square meters (409 square foot) and has been built in Stupino town, Moscow region, Russia.

The finished house is fully livable with all the appliances. Very cool!

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Never before have businesses been able to build billion-dollar valuations in so little time. Never before have incumbent enterprises been able to go out of business so quickly. Disruption is now commonplace, and augmented reality (AR) is emerging as yet another avenue to turn industries on their heads. But what direction will this new technology take?

AR overlays digital information on the physical world using a smartphone (think Pokémon Go) or a headset. In its simplest form, AR is simply a rectangular display floating in front of the eyes, à la Google Glass. More advanced forms will drop video game characters or useful information seamlessly onto physical objects, from homes to industrial warehouses.

While virtual reality is moving into a more commercial phase, AR is a little earlier in its development. But AR’s potential practical applications are significant. So, what’s in store for AR in the coming years?

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