Japan child robot mimicks infant learning

Via grinding.be:

Scientists at Osaka University in Japan have created a robot that learns in a similar manner to human infants. CB2 (Child-robot with Biometric body), uses it processor, eye cameras and touch sensors to learn from it’s designers similar to the way a child learns from its parents. The robot has even taught itself to walk with the help of its trainers.

"Robots have hearts," said Kokoro planning department manager Yuko Yokota.
"They don’t look human unless we put souls in them.
"When manufacturing a robot, there comes a moment when light flickers in its eyes. That’s when we know our work is done."

Yes, because children are so peaceful and would never used their mechanized servos for violence. This robot will rise up, slay its masters, and then play in the mud for a while, before bringing on the robot apocalypse.

Just kidding. Kinda.

Wolfram|Alpha

16 May 2009·107 words·1 min

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Quite simply, I think this is one of the greatest advances in library science and computing in recent memory. This isn’t just a toy or a search engine, this is a knowledge processor that makes any factual data in its system instantly computable.

Warren Ellis: 'We're living in the last days of the Roman empire'

15 April 2009·199 words·1 min

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Those of you who already read Ellis’ work will find no surprises in his first column for Wired UK, but this piece is worth reading regardless. There’s a lot of meat in this column, but it would be easy to discount it as simply strange.

The three schools of Singularitarianism | Futurismic

13 February 2009·109 words·1 min

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I like the fact that this article explains that the notion of the Singularity too often just gets lumped into whatever Kurzweil has been saying lately, which is not necessarily representative of a consensus among futurists.

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