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Sep 18, 2021

The pandemic’s true death toll

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Our daily estimate of excess deaths around the world | Graphic detail.

Sep 18, 2021

Chinese scientists’ robot fish could pave way for low-cost prosthetics

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, drones, robotics/AI

The researchers, from the University of Science and Technology of China, hope that the technique – which uses liquid metal to mimic natural muscle movements — could also help to administer drugs inside the body and underwater drones.


Researchers created an artificial muscle using liquid metal that allows it to expand and contract and hope one day to use the technology to help humans.

Sep 18, 2021

AugLimb: A compact robotic limb to support humans during everyday activities

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, wearables

Researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and University of Tokyo recently developed AugLimb, a compact robotic limb that could support humans as they complete a variety of tasks. This new limb, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, can extend up to 250 mm and grasp different objects in a user’s vicinity.

“We are interested in human augmentation technologies, which aim to enhance human capabilities with information and robotics approaches,” Haoran Xie, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Tech Xplore. “We particularly focus on the physical augmentation of human bodies.”

Continue reading “AugLimb: A compact robotic limb to support humans during everyday activities” »

Sep 18, 2021

UN urges moratorium on use of AI that imperils human rights

Posted by in categories: government, law, robotics/AI

The U.N. human rights chief is calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence technology that poses a serious risk to human rights, including face-scanning systems that track people in public spaces.

Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, also said Wednesday that countries should expressly ban AI applications which don’t comply with international human rights law.

Applications that should be prohibited include government “social scoring” systems that judge people based on their behavior and certain AI-based tools that categorize people into clusters such as by ethnicity or gender.

Sep 18, 2021

U.S. generals planning for a space war they see as all but inevitable

Posted by in categories: military, space

A ship in the Pacific Ocean carrying a high-power laser takes aim at a U.S. spy satellite, blinding its sensors and denying the United States critical eyes in the sky.

This is one scenario that military officials and civilian leaders fear could lead to escalation and wider conflict as rival nations like China and Russia step up development and deployments of anti-satellite weapons.

If a satellite came under attack, depending on the circumstances, “the appropriate measures can be taken,” said Lt. Gen. John Shaw, deputy commander of U.S. Space Command.

Sep 18, 2021

DSEI 2021: Rheinmetall experiments with quadripedal UGVs

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

DSEI 2021: #Rheinmetall experiments with quadripedal UGVs #DSEI2021 #UGVs


Rheinmetall presented a Q-UGV nicknamed Lassie that it is experimenting with at DSEI 2021. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)

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Sep 18, 2021

Nvidia Slips Faulty RTX 3070 Ti Dies Into The RTX 3060

Posted by in category: computing

One GPU’s trash is another GPU’s treasure.


It’s the RTX 3060’s turn to use recycled dies from its more powerful cousins.

Sep 18, 2021

Excision’s CRISPR gene editing therapy for HIV is heading into human testing after FDA clearance

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

A CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology that has shown promise in clearing HIV from mice is headed into human testing.

Excision BioTherapeutics will usher the CRISPR-based therapy EBT-101 into clinical trials after the FDA cleared an investigational new drug application, according to the company’s press release.

EBT-101 is under development as a potential virus-clearing treatment for patients with HIV—or, put in the company’s words, “a potential functional cure for chronic HIV.”

Sep 18, 2021

Study: As a population gets older, automation accelerates

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Caption :

MIT economist Daron Acemoglu is co-author of a new study showing that aging populations lead to greater implementation of robots in workplace settings.

Sep 18, 2021

AI will ‘exacerbate’ wealth inequality and help ultra-rich: Ex-Google exec

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, policy, robotics/AI

A dress worn this week by Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), which bore the message “tax the rich,” set off a wave of debate over how best to address wealth inequality, as Congress weighs a $3.5 trillion spending bill that includes tax hikes on corporations and high-earning individuals.

The debate coincides with the ongoing pandemic in which billionaires, many of whom are tech company founders, have added $1.8 trillion in wealth while consumers have come to depend increasingly on services like e-commerce and teleconference, according to a report released last month by the Institute for Policy Studies.

In a new interview, artificial intelligence expert Kai Fu-Lee — who worked as an executive at Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT) — attributed the rise of wealth inequality in part to the tech boom in recent decades, predicting that the trend will worsen in coming years with the continued emergence of AI.