Once again, Dilbert explains it perfectly:
Category: robotics/AI – Page 2494
Nanotechnology and 3-D printing are two fields that have huge potential in general, but manipulating this technology and using it in biology also has tremendous and exciting prospects. In a promising prototype, scientists have created micro-robots shaped like fish which are thinner than a human hair, and can be used to remove toxins, sense environments or deliver drugs to specific tissue.
These tiny fish were formed using a high resolution 3-D printing technology directed with UV light, and are essentially aquatic themed sensing, delivery packages. Platinum particles that react with hydrogen peroxide push the fish forward, and iron oxide at the head of the fish can be steered by magnets; both enabling control of where they ‘swim’ off to. And there you have it — a simple, tiny machine that can be customised for various medical tasks.
In a test of concept, researchers attached polydiacetylene (PDA) nanoparticles to the body, which binds with certain toxins and fluoresces in the red spectrum. When these fish entered an environment containing these toxins, they did indeed fluoresce and neutralised the compounds.
Mark Pollock and trainer Simon O’Donnell (credit: Mark Pollock)
A 39-year-old man who had been completely paralyzed for four years was able to voluntarily control his leg muscles and take thousands of steps in a “robotic exoskeleton” device during five days of training, and for two weeks afterward, UCLA scientists report.
This is the first time that a person with chronic, complete paralysis has regained enough voluntary control to actively work with a robotic device designed to enhance mobility.
Scary conversation with an AI
These days, robots are being developed with some absolutely amazing technology. Indeed, robotics technology has become so impressive that the notion of the whole Terminator scenario (robots taking control of the human race) becoming our reality is starting to seem a lot less far-fetched. Not only are they beginning to look incredibly realistic, they are starting to develop the capacity to think for themselves as well.
A prime example of these new and improved robots is an android that was created by roboticist David Hanson; this android closely resembles the late, great science fiction writer, Philip K. Dick, the author of many popular films including: Bladerunner, Totall Recall, Minority Report, and Paycheck.
This is a link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hptgw_-59YY
Thanks to MassDevice, we learned of a new company that’s developed a small surgical robot for performing laparoscopic procedures that may lower the cost and offer robotic capability to clinics that don’t have millions of dollars in discretionary funds. Virtual Incision Corporation is a spin-off out of the University of Nebraska and the company just raised $11.2M in equity financing to sponsor a feasibility study of its robotic technology.
The system was designed to fit almost completely into the abdominal cavity via a single incision, with only the handle and cables staying on top. It’s intended for surgeries that are often performed in an open fashion that can benefit from robotic laparoscopy, such as colon resections.
Should humans be able to marry robots?
Posted in robotics/AI, sex
Oh great, now republicans can start bitching about same sex robotic marriage! lol! At least it’ll give them something to do after they are booted out of office.
I always try to look on the bright side. wink
(credit: AMC)
The Supreme Court’s recent 5–4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges legalizing same-sex marriage raises the interesting question: what’s next on the “slippery slope”? Robot-human marriages? Robot-robot marriages?
Why yes, predicts Gary Marchant on Slate.
New article on how tech can help achieve free education while also shrinking the prison system:
Micro drones, robot guards, and tracking chips will turn convicts into tax-paying, law-abiding citizens.
Auto Express’ Mat Watson meets Honda’s robot Asimo in Brussels, where he plays football, dances and serves a drink!
AI and Effective Altruism
Posted in computing, robotics/AI
MIRI is a research nonprofit specializing in a poorly-explored set of problems in theoretical computer science. GiveDirectly is a cash transfer service that gives money to poor households in East Africa. What kind of conference would bring together representatives from such disparate organizations — alongside policy analysts, philanthropists, philosophers, and many more?
Effective Altruism Global, which is beginning its Oxford session in a few hours, is that kind of conference. Effective altruism (EA) is a diverse community of do-gooders with a common interest in bringing the tools of science to bear on the world’s biggest problems. EA organizations like GiveDirectly, the Centre for Effective Altruism, and the charity evaluator GiveWell have made a big splash by calling for new standards of transparency and humanitarian impact in the nonprofit sector.
What is MIRI’s connection to effective altruism? In what sense is safety research in artificial intelligence “altruism,” and why do we assign a high probability to this being a critically important area of computer science in the coming decades? I’ll give quick answers to each of those questions below.