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Alexandra Ossola — MotherBoard

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Ever since humans first envisioned robots, we’ve thought about how to make the machines more like us. Robots compete against us on game shows, and rendezvous with us in the bedroom (or at least, make virtual sex feel real). But part of being human is sensing the world around us in a particular way, and doing it all at the same time.

This is much more complicated than it seems, as scientists haven’t fully unraveled how we’re able to sense what we do; it’s both our hardware and software that contain codes that are difficult to crack. Still, scientists power through, discovering how their own senses work while crafting artificial versions of them. Here are some of the most valiant attempts to get robots to taste, smell, touch, hear, and see in the most human way possible.

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David Robson — BBC Future
(Science Photo Library)

Mid-conversation with Robert Provine, I have a compelling urge, rising from deep inside my body. The more I try to quash it, the more it seems to spread, until it consumes my whole being. Eventually, it is all I can think about – but how can I stop myself from yawning?

Provine tells me this often happens when people are talking to him; during presentations, he sometimes finds the majority of his audience with their mouths agape and tonsils swinging. Luckily, as a psychologist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and author of Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping, and Beyond, he isn’t offended. “It makes a very effective lecture,” he says. “You talk and then the audience starts yawning. And then you can ask people to experiment on their yawns – like closing the lips, or inhaling through clenched teeth, or trying to yawn with the nose pinched closed.”

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FUTURISM UPDATE (October 28, 2014)

a Amazon and Lifeboat

REUTERS: Wall St. flat after last week’s big gain; energy weighs http://lnkd.in/dZxTeKd

REUTERS: Amazon buys comedy service Rooftop Media to expand digital content http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/27/us-amazon-com-medi…XW20141027

KAI: How ferroelectrics could replace silicon in computers http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-ferroelectrics-could-replace-silicon-in-computers

Power through Ultrasound to Become Ubiquitous if uBeam Succeeds http://www.21stcentech.com/gizmos-gadgets-power-ultrasound-u…-succeeds/

WEST, GET READY. REUTERS: China on track to develop Indian railways as Xi heads to South Asia http://lnkd.in/dEFekhN

BBC: German business confidence falls again, Ifo says http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29787980

REUTERS: Treasury’s Lew warned China on antitrust probes of foreign firms: WSJ http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/14/us-usa-china-antit…VM20140914

THE GUARDIAN: The internet is after your job – video http://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2014/oct/15/the-…-job-video

THE GUARDIAN: China linked to cyber attacks on Taiwan exploiting Windows vulnerability http://lnkd.in/dgSzSFR

HP: The Internet Destroyed The Middle Class http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/the-internet-destro…72360.html

Yes, Technology Is Going to Destroy the Middle Class http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/yes-technology…ddle-class

DIGITAL THINKING: Is Technology Really Destroying Jobs? http://www.dugcampbell.com/is-technology-really-destroying-jobs/

BLOOMBERG: Move Over, iPhone Cases. Here’s Where No 3-D Printer Has Gone Before http://lnkd.in/dRCR-gx

BLOOMBERG: Russian Brain Drain Saps Talent as Sanctions Hit Financing http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-27/russia-brai…ncing.html

BLOOMBERG: Supercomputers Combat Ebola in Sierra Leone http://www.bloomberg.com/video/combating-ebola-in-sierra-leo…sJoVw.html

THE ECONOMIST: Pakistan’s stockmarket: Oil on troubled waters http://econ.st/12k0A1c

THE ECONOMIST: China’s future growth: Even dragons tire http://econ.st/1oxLWgX

PHYS ORG: Reducing population is no environmental ‘quick fix’, modelling research shows http://phys.org/news/2014-10-population-environmental-quick.html

ENGINEERING: Solar, Storage, and Software: A Three-Pronged Approach to Energy Management http://lnkd.in/dDtJqzY

FOREIGN AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: The Rise of Big Data. How It’s Changing the Way We Think About the World http://lnkd.in/dsccfaC

THE WASHINGTON POST: The rise of big data brings tremendous possibilities and frightening perils http://lnkd.in/dqT2hT2

ENGINEERING: MIT’s First Professional Online Course on Big Data http://lnkd.in/dJFExUi

THE ECONOMIST: New roles for technology. Rise of the robots Prepare for a robot invasion. It will change the way people think about technology http://lnkd.in/dh_7asG

BBC: Are we about to see the rise of robot bosses? http://lnkd.in/dNPWqCy

THE ECONOMIST: Free exchange: The geography of joblessness http://econ.st/12kl5KU

THE ECONOMIST: Information technology: A fork in the digital road http://econ.st/1sUts8L

FUNDWEB: ETF Securities has launched a fund tracking the global robotics industry as it continues to add niche products to its line up. The Robo-Stox Global Robotics and Automation GO Ucits ETF is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is the first ETF offering focused exposure to listed companies…more http://lnkd.in/dvEKfV4

TED: Cynthia Breazeal: The rise of personal robots http://www.ted.com/talks/cynthia_breazeal_the_rise_of_person…anguage=en

“Our economy is bigger than it was before the start of the Great Recession,” says Andrew McAfee, also of MIT.

CBS NEWS: Robots on the rise in the workplace http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-on-the-rise-in-the-workplace/

BBC: Self-employment: First choice or last resort? http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27397993

YOU REALLY LOVE PERPETUAL UNEMPLOYMENT. WIRED: The Three Breakthroughs That Have Finally Unleashed AI on the World http://lnkd.in/dv_ViiU

QZ: Will robots boost middle class unemployment? http://lnkd.in/dyPqmtq

BY MR. ANDRES AGOSTINI

White Swan Book Author (Source of this Article)

www.LINKEDIN.com/in/andresagostini

www.AMAZON.com/author/agostini

www.appearoo.com/aagostini

http://connect.FORWARDMETRICS.com/profile/1649/Andres-Agostini.html

@AndresAgostini

@ThisSuccess

Kurweil AI

Researchers at NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, and Pennsylvania State University have developed a 3D printing process that transitions from one metal or alloy to another in a single object.

For example, they created a prototype of an improved telescope mirror mount. The part at the top near the glass mirror is made of a metal with low thermal expansion, so that it won’t shrink in space as much as most metals do. That prevents stress in the epoxy adhesive between the mirror and the metal. The bottom part of this mount is stronger stainless steel and could be connected to a stainless steel component of a spacecraft.

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Kurweil AI

A new Terminator T-1000 robot-style material made of wax and foam — and capable of switching between hard and soft states — could be used to build morphing surgical robots that move through the body to reach a desired location without damaging organs or vessels along the way.

Robots built from the material, described in a new paper in the journal Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, could also be used in search-and-rescue operations to squeeze through rubble looking for survivors, says Anette Hosoi, an MIT professor of mechanical engineering and applied mathematics who led the research team.

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James Vincent — The Independent

In a quiet announcement that has sent shockwaves through the scientific world, Nasa has cautiously given its seal of approval to a new type of “impossible” engine that could revolutionize space travel.

In a paper published by the agency’s experimental Eagleworks Laboratories, Nasa engineers confirmed that they had produced tiny amounts of thrust from an engine without propellant – an apparent violation of the conservation of momentum; the law of physics that states that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction.

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FUTURISM UPDATE (October 24, 2014)

new-2

FORBES: Three Industries Going Through Dramatic Supply Chain Transformations http://lnkd.in/drBaPhW

GEEKWIRE: Google leads $542M Magic Leap deal, betting on augmented reality http://www.geekwire.com/2014/google-leads-542m-magic-leap-in…d-reality/

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Google Invests Heavily in Magic Leap’s Effort to Blend Illusion and Reality http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/google-invests-in-mag…lity-firm/

THE NEW YORK TIMES: On the Cusp of Climate Change, that is the Global Existential Risk of the Climate at http://lnkd.in/dcENSVk

FORBES: Three Industries Going Through Dramatic Supply Chain Transformations http://lnkd.in/drBaPhW

FEDTECH: Why Data Center Consolidation Savings Are a Moving Target. Most agencies are reporting estimated savings and cost avoidance data to the Office of Management and Budget. http://lnkd.in/dFsrTm7

NEW YORK TIMES: Amazon Web Services to Open German Center http://lnkd.in/d7X2Grd

BUSINESS INSIDER: Mark Zuckerberg taught himself Mandarin, inspired by his wife Priscilla Chan, while running Facebook. He’s good enough that he was able to give a 30-minute Q&A today entirely in Mandarin at Tsinghua University in China. http://lnkd.in/dnpYPxF

GIZMODO: Compact SSDs That Outperform the Fastest USB Flash Drives http://gizmodo.com/compact-ssds-that-outperform-the-fastest-…socialflow

THE NEW YORK TIMES: On the Cusp of Climate Change, that is the Global Existential Risk of the Climate at http://lnkd.in/dcENSVk

COMPUTERWORLD: 8 big trends in big data analytics http://lnkd.in/dd_GZ8X

NASA: China launched to the Moon today. The spacecraft will have a brief 8-day mission out to the Moon and back. It is an engineering test for the technology that the future Chang’e 5 sample return mission will need to return samples to Earth. http://lnkd.in/dDktQMQ

FINANCIAL TIMES: PC market recovery boosts Microsoft http://on.ft.com/1oyRYxV

THE ECONOMIST: Japan’s new airliner. Is Mitsubishi’s new jetliner a commercially viable project? http://lnkd.in/dctx_6Z

REUTERS: Why Ukraine’s revolution has left protesters discontented and the country divided. http://reut.rs/1rlK4TV

BUSINESS INSIDER: 3 Girls Won The Google Science Fair With A Bacteria-Based Plan To Solve The Food Crisis http://lnkd.in/dHZRFP9

FUTURE OBSERVATORY: Current Sun Activity May Reduce the Speed of Climate Change and Stop Humans From Going to Mars http://lnkd.in/dnsjrdY

MOSCOW TIMES: Russia Wants State Control of Root Internet Infrastructure http://lnkd.in/d_4XqhK

MOSCOW TIMES: Russia’s CSTO Stumbles on Regional Conflicts in Drive to Rival NATO. While top Russian officials and pro-Kremlin politicians continue to paint NATO as an existential threat to Russia and even an instigator of the Ukraine crisis, Moscow has been working to strengthen the legitimacy of…more http://lnkd.in/dEKe3tE

DER SPIEGEL: The Zombie System: How Capitalism Has Gone Off the Rails http://lnkd.in/d2X-P2A

REUTERS: Microsoft sales beat Street hopes, cloud profits up http://lnkd.in/d7Dr7nz

THE ECONOMIST: Market turmoil: A blessing in disguise? http://econ.st/12kjLbc

LINKEDIN: Boards and Clients! http://lnkd.in/dA9breP

THE ECONOMIST: Unproductive production. Weakening productivity is casting doubt on the sustainability of China’s growth http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21623708…3b12a5e227

WASHINGTON TIMES: Putin emboldened by weak U.S. response to Russian aggression, analysts say: http://wtim.es/1seW6gV

FORTUNE MAGAZINE: In online sales, could Wal-Mart ever top Amazon? http://for.tn/1xevpgX

REUTERS: Merkel says EU will discuss bridging finance for Ukraine next week http://reut.rs/1ozyxEW

FINANCIAL TIMES: Chinese property prices fall across the country http://on.ft.com/1D3Xbi8

Love by Sun Tzu is paid with love by Sun Tzu.

George Soros: Russia threatens EU’s survival: http://on.mktw.net/1uM3lPv

MONEY IS NOT BACKED WITH GOLD. REMEMBER NIXON? WSJ Markets: Put your money into blue-chip stocks and watch it grow? Not so much lately: http://on.wsj.com/1ovpZ25

Bloomberg News: Drop in China home prices spreads as easing fails to halt downturn of economy http://bloom.bg/1zn4YuP

FINANCIAL TIMES: US accuses allies of buying Isis oil http://on.ft.com/1DF95B6

THE ECONOMIST: The world’s biggest economies. China’s back http://lnkd.in/dKUKrDe

BY MR. ANDRES AGOSTINI

White Swan Book Author (Source of this Article)

www.LINKEDIN.com/in/andresagostini

www.AMAZON.com/author/agostini

www.appearoo.com/aagostini

http://connect.FORWARDMETRICS.com/profile/1649/Andres-Agostini.html

@AndresAgostini

@ThisSuccess

This archive file was compiled from an interview conducted at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, 2013.

As late as the 1980s and the 1990s, the common person seeking stored knowledge would likely be faced with using an 18th century technology — the library index card catalogue — in order to find something on the topic he or she was looking for. Fifteen years later, most people would be able to search, at any time and any place, a collection of information that dwarfed that of any library. And unlike the experience with a library card catalogue, this new technology rarely left the user empty-handed.

Information retrieval had been a core technology of humanity since written language — but as an actual area of research it was so niche that before the 1950s, nobody had bothered to give the field a name. From a superficial perspective, the pioneering work in the area during the 1940s and 50s seemed to suggest it would be monumentally important to the future — but only behind the scenes. Information retrieval was to be the secret tool of the nation at war, or of the elite scientist compiling massive amounts of data. Increasingly however, a visionary group of thinkers dreamed of combining information retrieval and the ‘thinking machine’ to create something which would be far more revolutionary for society.

In the case of Google’s Amit Singhal, it was a childhood encounter with a visionary work that gave him his initial fascination with the dream of the thinking machine — a fascination that would result in his evolution to be one of the individuals who began to transform the dream into a reality. The work that he encountered was not that of a scientific pioneer such as Alan Turing or Marvin Minsky — it was a visionary work of pop culture.

More about Amit Singhal:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amit_Singhal
Google Search:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Search

By Chris Baraniuk — BBC Future

(Auraveda/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

The internet is one big experiment, and you’re part of it. Every day, millions of trials are manipulating what you see when you browse online, to find out how to keep your attention, make you click more links – and spend more money. And these experiments are often secret. You’ll probably never know you were part of them.

This is all thanks to something now well-known in the tech industry, called A/B testing. It means that the web pages served to you are not necessarily the same as those shown to the next person – they might have slightly different colours, an alternate headline or, on social networks, you could be shown different personal information about your friends and family.

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