Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Why robots can't be trusted with weapons - tech - 03 March 2009 - New Scientist
Why robots can't be trusted with weapons - tech - 03 March 2009 - New Scientist: "THE idea that robots might one day be able to tell friend from foe is deeply flawed, says roboticist Noel Sharkey of the University of Sheffield in the UK. He was commenting on a report calling for weapon-wielding military robots to be programmed with the same ethical rules of engagement as human soldiers.
The report (www.tinyurl.com/roboshoot), which was funded by the Pentagon, says firms rushing to fulfil the requirement for one-third of US forces to be uncrewed by 2015 risk leaving ethical concerns by the wayside. 'Fully autonomous systems are in place right now,' warns Patrick Lin, the study's author at California State Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo. 'The US navy's Phalanx system, for instance, can identify, target, and shoot down missiles without human authorisation.'"
The report (www.tinyurl.com/roboshoot), which was funded by the Pentagon, says firms rushing to fulfil the requirement for one-third of US forces to be uncrewed by 2015 risk leaving ethical concerns by the wayside. 'Fully autonomous systems are in place right now,' warns Patrick Lin, the study's author at California State Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo. 'The US navy's Phalanx system, for instance, can identify, target, and shoot down missiles without human authorisation.'"
Saturday, February 28, 2009
New Method Of Self-assembling Nanoscale Elements Could Transform Data Storage Industry
New Method Of Self-assembling Nanoscale Elements Could Transform Data Storage Industry: "'The density achievable with the technology we've developed could potentially enable the contents of 250 DVDs to fit onto a surface the size of a quarter,' said Xu, who is also a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory."
"An innovative and easily implemented technique in which nanoscale elements precisely assemble themselves over large surfaces could soon open doors to dramatic improvements in the data storage capacity of electronic media, according to scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst).
"An innovative and easily implemented technique in which nanoscale elements precisely assemble themselves over large surfaces could soon open doors to dramatic improvements in the data storage capacity of electronic media, according to scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst).
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Siftables - the smart blocks
Video on TED.com David Merrill demos Siftables, the smart blocks A very cool application of manipulatives in computing...
Revolutionary Chip uses 30 times less electricity
Rice National Media Site Revolutionary Chip uses 30 times less electricity: "In the first real-world test of a revolutionary type of computing that thrives on random errors, scientists have created a microchip that uses 30 times less electricity while running seven times faster than today's best technology. The U.S.-Singapore team developing the technology, dubbed PCMOS [pronounced 'pee-cee-moss'], revealed the results here today at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), the world's premier forum for engineers working at the cutting edge of integrated-circuit design.
Conceived by Rice University Professor Krishna Palem, PCMOS piggybacks on the 'complementary metal-oxide semiconductor' technology, or CMOS, that chipmakers already use. That means chipmakers won't have to buy new equipment to support PCMOS, or 'probabilistic' CMOS. Although PCMOS runs on standard silicon, it breaks with computing's past by abandoning the set of mathematical rules -- called Boolean logic -- that have thus far been used in all digital computers. PCMOS instead uses probabilistic logic, a new form of logic developed by Palem and his doctoral student, Lakshmi Chakrapani."
Conceived by Rice University Professor Krishna Palem, PCMOS piggybacks on the 'complementary metal-oxide semiconductor' technology, or CMOS, that chipmakers already use. That means chipmakers won't have to buy new equipment to support PCMOS, or 'probabilistic' CMOS. Although PCMOS runs on standard silicon, it breaks with computing's past by abandoning the set of mathematical rules -- called Boolean logic -- that have thus far been used in all digital computers. PCMOS instead uses probabilistic logic, a new form of logic developed by Palem and his doctoral student, Lakshmi Chakrapani."
Semantic Web to contribute to Sustainability?
ICT Results Semantic web promises a smarter electricity grid: "Working in the EU-funded S-TEN project, the team developed a generic framework for novel ICT architectures and applied semantic web technologies to make networks ‘self-describing’ so that each component – be it a volt meter on a wind turbine or a thermometer on a weather station – autonomously publishes information about what it is, where it is, and what it does.
Because semantic data can be understood by machines as well as humans, the approach should lead to more efficient automated grid management and better decision-support for human operators. Smart power grids, efficiently supplying a town or city from locally generated electricity and then feeding it into a wider supply network, could therefore be more easily and cost-effectively set up.
“Instead of storing information in a centralised database, the S-TEN approach is for each node, each sensor or device connected to the network, to have its own intelligence,” Schowe-von der Brelie says."
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Google Earth to include Oceans, Historical Imagery
Google Earth Goes Deep With Ocean Simulations NYTimes.com "Two and a half years ago, the software engineers behind Google Earth, the searchable online replica of the planet, were poised to fill an enormous data gap, adding the two-thirds of the globe that is covered by water in reality and was blue, and blank, online.
But until then all of the existing features on Google Earth — mountains, valleys, cities, plains, ice sheets — were built through programming from an elevation of zero up.
“We had this arbitrary distinction that if it was below sea level it didn’t count,” recalled John Hanke, the Internet entrepreneur who co-created the progenitor of Google Earth, called Keyhole, and moved to Google when the company bought his company in 2004.
But until then all of the existing features on Google Earth — mountains, valleys, cities, plains, ice sheets — were built through programming from an elevation of zero up.
“We had this arbitrary distinction that if it was below sea level it didn’t count,” recalled John Hanke, the Internet entrepreneur who co-created the progenitor of Google Earth, called Keyhole, and moved to Google when the company bought his company in 2004.
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