Army Plans Swarms of Military Bug Robots Bringing Sci Fi to Life: related news

Army Plans Swarms of Military Bug-Robots, Bringing Sci-Fi to Life

The rather beautiful looks of the robot in this image hide the fact that in reality it would be part of a swarm of military bots designed to creep into caves, bunkers and other hostile areas to grab intel on the baddies hiding within. Yes: it sounds like Minority Report, Dr Who and Robot Wars all rolled into one. And yes: it might just end up as a real machine, since BAE Systems has just been awarded $38 million by the Army Research Lab to head up the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology project to develop the technology. The promotional video gives us a few more clues, despite its game-like looks, and if you don't like spiders then the image of one of the other potential drone bots will surely give you the heebyjeebies.

Life Found a Mile Below Terrestrial Seabed; Implications For Life on Mars

We all know how hard life can be, but spare a thought for the microbes recently discovered 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) below the seabed off the coast of Canada. The living conditions are cramped, the environment is a searing 100°C (212F), and yet these hardy cells appear to be thriving. In the midst of the historic landing of Phoenix in the arctic wastes of Mars yesterday, the interest in finding life on the Red Planet has, yet again, reached fever pitch. Although Phoenix isn't built to look for life, it is assessing the Martian surface water content for signs that it may (or may have been able to) support life. This new discovery of life so deep below the Earth's surface may set some new limits on just how extreme life can be on other planets…

Eye-Fi Unveils Family Of Products

Eye-Fi makers of the world’s first wireless SD memory card, announced an extended product line-up designed to make photo sharing easier and meet the needs of individual users. Eye-Fi will launch three new wireless memory cards, including Eye-Fi Explore, which will automatically add geographic location tags to each photo and will allow on the go users to upload their memories from Wi-Fi hotspots. The original Eye-Fi Card, now called Eye-Fi Share, is designed for the photographer who wants to effortlessly upload images directly to their preferred photo sharing site in addition to their computer. And, the new Eye-Fi Home card is aimed at those who want to simply and wirelessly upload digital memories to their home computer.

Bringing Wi-Fi and Cellular Together in One Smartphone

Wi-Fi® enabled BlackBerry® smartphones give you Wi-Fi access, which means that if your organization has deployed the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution, you can securely access all your corporate data over Wi-Fi networks, onsite or off. The capabilities of Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry smartphones can also be leveraged to fill any cellular coverage gaps by enabling you to connect directly to your organization's on-site Wi-Fi network. Your BlackBerry services will deliver the same functionality as when you're connected to the cellular network.

Sci Fi Channel to join the virtual world

Sci Fi Channel is entering a brave new world by teaming television writers with videogame designers to create a franchise that’s both a television series and a massive multiplayer online game. More than that, the fans who play the game will actually help shape the show’s story arc with their virtual exploits. Sci Fi executives are mum about the title of the show and game and their premise, but they do hint that it will be set 80 to 100 years in the future on an Earth that looks very different from today. The team has summer 2010 as the targeted launch.

Springer Handbook of Robotics Debuts at ICRA

Robots! Robots on Mars and in oceans, in hospitals and homes, in factories and schools, robots fighting fires, making goods and products, saving time and lives. Robots today are making a considerable impact on many aspects of modern life, from industrial manufacturing to healthcare. Reaching for the human frontier, robotics is also vigorously engaged in the growing challenges of new emerging domains. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people's lives. The prospect of practical robots among humans follows half a century of robotic developments that established robotics as a modern scientific discipline.

Designing bug perception into robots

12 May 2008 Insects have provided the inspiration for a team of European researchers seeking to improve the functionality of robots and robotic tools. The research furthers the development of more intelligent robots, which can then be used by industry, and by emergency and security services, among others. Smarter robots would be better able to find humans buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, for example. The EU-funded SPARK project set out to develop a new robot control architecture for roving robots inspired by the principles governing the behaviour of living systems and based on the concept of self-organisation.

Large Defined Benefit Plans Produce Better Returns Than Comparable 401(k) Plans

From Spencer's Benefits Reports: Companies that sponsor both large defined benefit plans and 401(k) plans see better investment returns from their defined benefit plans, according to Watson Wyatt. This generally is true because larger plans have access to a wider variety of investment options and economies of scale. As reported in a recent Insider newsletter, Watson Wyatt used 5500 form data to calculate the median rate of return for plan sponsors that sponsored both a defined benefit plan and a 401(k) plan, each with at least 100 participants.

Zappos uses an army of robots to ship you your Nikes

Zappos, the online footwear retailer, knows that puny humans are totally inefficient when it comes to doing warehouse work, which is why they've replaced them with an army of box-toting robots. More specifically, an army of robots from the Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System.

BAE Systems led team to develop miniature robots for military use

BAE Systems will lead a team of scientists that will develop miniature robots to improve military situational awareness. The company signed a $38 million agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead an alliance of researchers and scientists from the Army, academia and industry.

BAE Systems-Led Team to Develop Miniature Robots for Military Use

MERRIMACK, N.H. - BAE Systems will lead a team of scientists that will develop miniature robots to improve military situational awareness. The company signed a $38 million agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead an alliance of researchers and scientists from the Army, academ

US military plans robot swarms

Weapons manufacturers are planning the next generation of military robots using designs based on creatures from the natural world.

National Army Museum Marks Black History Month

The National Army Museum will host a new exhibition exploring the black and asian contribution to the First World War. It will open in October 2008 to mark Black History Month. The exhibition plans to showcase the life of the first black British Army combat officer Walter Tull, and it is hoped will feature unseen objects loaned by his family to illustrate Tull’s remarkable life and legacy.

MTM Technologies Awarded United States Army Enterprise Contract to Provide Data-at-Rest Encryption Solution

Mobile Armor Software to provide the data encryption standard for an estimated 850,000 US Army personnel including all Active Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Civilian Workforce, Army Contractor and Joint Org...

MTM Technologies Awarded United States Army Enterprise Contract to Provide Data-at-Rest Encryption Solution

Mobile Armor Software to provide the data encryption standard for an estimated 850,000 US Army personnel including all Active Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Civilian Workforce, Army Contractor and Joint Org...

SCI FI Channel to launch new television series, online game

's SCI FI Channel said June 2 that it plans to launch a new entertainment franchise that will involve both a television series and a related online video game.

Sci Fi Plotline to Play on TV and Video Game

In a new variation on media migration, Sci Fi plans to debut a dramatic series and simultaneously release a video game companion to engage viewers as role players in the unfolding drama.

US wants sci-fi killer robots for terror fight KILLER robots which can change their shape to squeeze under doors and through cracks in walls to track their prey are moving from the realms of science fiction to the front line in the fight against terr

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Tests check out rescue robots' life-saving vision

To save lives, search and rescue robots crawling through the rubble of a collapsed building or surveying a chemical spill area must be capable of beaming back clear, easily interpretable images of what they "see" to operators and emergency planners, working away from the immediate disaster site. A new ASTM International standard, developed under a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) coordinated program with first responders and manufacturers, offers a systematic way to evaluate the robot visual capability humans need to drive the device, search for victims and access general hazard conditions. Emergency personnel will be able to use the test data to select the best systems for their specific needs. Industry adoption of the standard is expected to accelerate innovation, development and deployment of the life-saving robots

New standard to check visual capability of life-saving robots

Washington, June 13 : The use of rescue robots may prove to be a great technological achievement in saving lives, as these robots search through rubble of a collapsed building or survey a chemical spill area. However, emergency planners, working away from the immediate disaster site face difficulty in co-ordinating with these robots due to lack of the images sent by them from the site.

Robots moving closer to humans

Robots today are making a considerable impact on many aspects of modern life, from industrial manufacturing to healthcare. Reaching for the human frontier, robotics is also vigorously engaged in the growing challenges of new emerging domains. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people’s lives. The prospect of practical robots among humans follows half a century of robotic developments that established robotics as a modern scientific discipline.

Imminent Discovery of Life On Mars?

Life on Mars?Do you think there is life on Mars? Do you think Phoenix will find evidence of it? Now there's a blog that's trying to collect a snapshot of the opinions of scientists, amateurs, and everyday people. "Imminent Discovery" thinks Phoenix may find simple life. Finding this evidence will definitely become headlines… If it happens. Is it possible it might have originated from earth? Perhaps from space, like the famous Antarctica meteorite which was believed to contain evidence of life transported here from Mars?

Robots with a Vision

The deployment of robots in industrial environments is increasing so as to achieve manufacturing economies. This trend is being driven by the technological advancements in the field of robotics. Several important performance parameters of robots have seen a phenomenal change over the past decade—there has been a drastic improvement in the reliability of robots, the payloads robots can handle, and the diversity of applications that can be deployed. Computer-vision-based robotic guidance is a significant technology that has facilitated this change (see Fig. 1). Machine-vision-based feature tracking has replaced encoder-based tracking technology in many applications.

Robots or not?

With so much written and researched about relationships between men and women, it would seem that every detail has been explored. But according to experts, the next revolution will be all about human robots. Researchers say that within four decades, there will be robots with emotions who will talk and display their own personalities. And within five years we can all expect robots which will be used as sex toys. Let's hope they don't go the way of most Durban robots, which lie mangled on our street corners!

Vintage Japanese Robots Storm Sci-Fi Museum

Though made for children, Japanese toy robots can catch the eye of even the most discriminating adults. Iconic graphic designer Tom Geismar, whose firm Chermayeff & Geismar has created memorable logos for Mobil, PBS and other U.S.

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