Day's Headlines: Why AI?; AI Building AI; Personal Aircraft; Robo-Cockroaches Take the Stairs; Mini Moto; Glo-In-The-Dark Highways; Bot Sewn Sow; Da Vinci's DNA Code; 35 Tons of Dead Fish; American Crisis; Pope's Unity Award; $1b Peace Pledge; Foam Goat Heads; and NK's Propaganda Push

Friday, May 6, 2016

Why AI?; AI Building AI; Personal Aircraft; Robo-Cockroaches Take the Stairs; Mini Moto; Glo-In-The-Dark Highways; Bot Sewn Sow; Da Vinci's DNA Code; 35 Tons of Dead Fish; American Crisis; Pope's Unity Award; $1b Peace Pledge; Foam Goat Heads; and NK's Propaganda Push

Today we have lots of tech related articles, from more robo-cockroaches (the mini-robots of choice by scientists, it seems) to 'engines' so small you can't see them to concrete that glows in the dark for up to 12 hours. Also, look closely - one of these links is not like the others...


AI

WHY AI? currentoldnews.blogspot

Back before I started this blog, when I used to email links of current event stories, a friend cornered me at church one day. Cocking his head a little funny, he said something to the effect of: "You sure email a lot of stuff about AI!"

His confused, perplexed response to AI articles as "current (old) news" was understandable - and perhaps you share his sentiments. And I admit - it is a little unusual because it is so sci-fi and out there, seeming more at home in a movie than in a newspaper.

In my first long-form article on this blog, I ramble on a bit as to why I include AI articles so often in these daily lists of news. 'Long' is a key word. Grab your coffee before clicking the link :)

Building AI Is Hard—So Facebook Is Building AI That Builds AI wired

No joke. Inside Facebook, engineers have designed what they like to call an “automated machine learning engineer,” an artificially intelligent system that helps create artificially intelligent systems. It’s a long way from perfection. But the goal is to create new AI models using as little human grunt work as possible.

Tech

Personal aircraft aiming to take off from your home phys.org

Founded in February 2015 by four engineers and doctoral students from the Technical University of Munich in Germany, Lilium has already proved the concept with several scale, 25 kg prototypes and is now developing its first ultralight vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

The dream continues...:D

Watch robo cockroach buddies help one another climb stairs theverge v

It's a simple demonstration, meant to show how smaller robots like this can work together to overcome tasks they can't handle alone. The UC Berkeley scientists from the university's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab have been playing with their roach and bug designs for a while now, and suggest the bots will eventually find a place in disaster rescue scenarios.

Cambridge scientists lay claim to world’s tiniest engine, a million times smaller than an ant heralddemocrat

It’s at [the] microscopic scale that scientists at the University of Cambridge say they’ve constructed a working engine. The prototype motor, which the physicists described Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, relies on lasers, gold particles and the exploitation of a nifty physics principle called van der Waals forces.

Looking to light highways with light-emitting cement phys.org

During the day, any building, road, highway or structure made out of this new cement can absorb solar energy and emit it during the night for around 12 hours.

Why We Should Care About the Autonomous Robot That Just Performed Surgery on a Pig fortune

The significance of this, beyond its meaning in the medical world, is that surgery strikes most of us as just about the last job we could imagine a robot doing. But robots are clearly on their way to doing it.

DNA

Scientists seek to unravel genius within da Vinci DNA code guernseypress

An international team including scientists and historians will analyse evidence from paintings, drawings and notebooks touched by the famous Italian polymath.

We stand to gain not only greater historical knowledge of Leonardo but possibly a reconstruction of his genetic profile, which could provide insights into other individuals with remarkable qualities.

Mass Animal Death

35 tons of dead fish suddenly wash up in a lake in China mashable

The fish floated to the surface of the Hongcheng lake, located in the Hainan island, China's southernmost point. The government is investigating the cause of their death, but experts speculate that it might be due to fluctuations in the water's saline levels, reports China Daily.

I've been avoiding posting this story the last couple days because mass animal deaths have been so frequent the last few years that it gets "old" talking about them...but it's just SO MANY fish at once! :)

Society

Crisis in American Democracy albertmohler

When the essential institutions of society are no longer respected, government demands that respect for itself. That is a recipe for tyranny.

Peace & Unity

Pope Francis castigates Europe in speech on solidarity theguardian

Speaking as he became the first pope to accept the prestigious Charlemagne prize for his work on behalf of European solidarity, the pontiff called for Europe to reclaim the principles that had been established after the second world war, above all by embracing integration and revamping its economic model to “benefit ordinary people and society as a whole”.

See also Pope Seeks to Renew European Dream as He Accepts Unity Prize

China takes first step in US$1 billion pledge to UN to fund peace, development channelnewsasia

The money will be paid into a newly established U.N. Peace and Development Trust Fund, and China's contribution will be split evenly between supporting peace and security, and implementing a 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

Military

Why the Army Needs Foam Goat Heads time

...[training] all boils down to the details. That’s why the Army is buying flocks of foam animals and foam fruits and veggies. “Atmospherics props are designed to enhance the village concept training in Military Operations in Urban Terrain sites,” the Army’s Fort Knox says of its cadet summer training. “The purpose of this acquisition is to enhance training quality by adding a measure of realism to Mission Command Leadership Exercise operations.”

North Korea

Why Kim Jong Un is now advertising his arsenal (Opinion) edition.cnn

Rather than coming as a surprise, North Korea's recent activities are actually the predictable result of years of work. Meanwhile, the North's concerted effort to advertise these developments for its own political reasons has proven to be an information bonanza for outside analysts, providing greater insight into the status of North Korea's WMD programs.

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