If you have ever wanted to be in two places at once, the answer may be sitting in a Japanese laboratory, muttering, flinching and scowling at passers-by.Geminoid is a modern variant on an old idea, a humanoid robot designed in his creator's image, down to the tiniest of details. The skin tone, the spectacles, and even the lengthy hairs on its head are the same as Hiroshi Ishiguro's, a robotics expert at the Osaka University who built his doppelganger as a stand-in for when he is otherwise engaged. Article continues Implanted beneath Geminoid's skin are 50 sensors and motors that can be controlled by simple movements Dr Ishiguro makes. He can see through its "eyes", talk through its internal speaker and shrug or scowl if prodded and poked. Compressed air forced through its body make Geminoid's chest rise and fall as if breathing."At first, you may feel strange about the android," Dr Ishiguro told Reuters. "However, once you are drawn into a conversation, you will forget every difference and feel totally comfortable to speak with it and look it in the eyes."Dr Ishiguro believes robots like Geminoid will in future allow people to be where they cannot be. Speaking through Geminoid, he says, has become natural, an extension of himself.
Geminoid is a modern variant on an old idea, a humanoid robot designed in his creator's image, down to the tiniest of details. The skin tone, the spectacles, and even the lengthy hairs on its head are the same as Hiroshi Ishiguro's, a robotics expert at the Osaka University who built his doppelganger as a stand-in for when he is otherwise engaged.
Article continues Implanted beneath Geminoid's skin are 50 sensors and motors that can be controlled by simple movements Dr Ishiguro makes. He can see through its "eyes", talk through its internal speaker and shrug or scowl if prodded and poked. Compressed air forced through its body make Geminoid's chest rise and fall as if breathing.
"At first, you may feel strange about the android," Dr Ishiguro told Reuters. "However, once you are drawn into a conversation, you will forget every difference and feel totally comfortable to speak with it and look it in the eyes."
Dr Ishiguro believes robots like Geminoid will in future allow people to be where they cannot be. Speaking through Geminoid, he says, has become natural, an extension of himself.
"It's the statue, man, The Statue."
mind you the inventor was a bit 'robotic', it's all relative, as einstein said to the bishop, or was it the actress?
fun times ahead...
are you happy to see me, or is that your clone? ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Industry caught in carbon `smokescreen' Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on "carbon credit" projects that yield few if any environmental benefits. A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place. Others are meanwhile making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and in some cases for clean-ups that they would have made anyway.
Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on "carbon credit" projects that yield few if any environmental benefits.
A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place.
Others are meanwhile making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and in some cases for clean-ups that they would have made anyway.
There was an example posted here yesterday. The following news bit looks ironic, as well:
Russian Energy Giant to Bundle Carbon Credits With Gas Sales Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has made handsome profits selling natural gas to Europe. Now the company is positioning itself to make even more money, this time from the effluents from all that gas it sells to Europe. Gazprom announced Tuesday that it is selling carbon dioxide emissions credits that companies in the European Union need in order to burn Gazprom's fuel. The company is already testing the market for an innovative combination sale of fuel-and-emissions credits in countries that have undertaken to limit the release of gases that scientists say are warming the earth.
Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has made handsome profits selling natural gas to Europe.
Now the company is positioning itself to make even more money, this time from the effluents from all that gas it sells to Europe. Gazprom announced Tuesday that it is selling carbon dioxide emissions credits that companies in the European Union need in order to burn Gazprom's fuel.
The company is already testing the market for an innovative combination sale of fuel-and-emissions credits in countries that have undertaken to limit the release of gases that scientists say are warming the earth.
A couple of other climate-related headlines:
[Skeptic's] Film on Global Warming Is Challenged
China to Force Rain Ahead of Olympics
We Can Have Green Conservatism - And We Should [For] the last 36 years, I have watched the pro-regulation, pro-litigation, pro-taxation liberals label themselves as the only Americans who care about the environment. The leftwing machine would have you believe that to care about clean air and water, biodiversity, and the future of the Earth you have to both buy in to their catastrophic scenarios and sign on to their command-and-control bureaucratic liberal agenda, including dramatic increases in government power and draconian policies that will devastate our economy, as the only solution to environmental challenges. The time has come to define a fundamentally different approach to a healthy environment and a healthy economy. The time has come for the development of Green Conservatism as an alternative to big bureaucracy and big litigation liberal environmentalism.
[For] the last 36 years, I have watched the pro-regulation, pro-litigation, pro-taxation liberals label themselves as the only Americans who care about the environment.
The leftwing machine would have you believe that to care about clean air and water, biodiversity, and the future of the Earth you have to both buy in to their catastrophic scenarios and sign on to their command-and-control bureaucratic liberal agenda, including dramatic increases in government power and draconian policies that will devastate our economy, as the only solution to environmental challenges.
The time has come to define a fundamentally different approach to a healthy environment and a healthy economy. The time has come for the development of Green Conservatism as an alternative to big bureaucracy and big litigation liberal environmentalism.
So what is Green Conservatism? Here are its basic values: 1. Green Conservatism favors clean air and clean water. 2. Green Conservatism understands biodiversity as a positive good. 3. Green Conservatism favors minimizing carbon loading in the atmosphere as a positive public value. 4. Green Conservatism is pro-science, pro-technology and pro-innovation. 5. Green Conservatism believes that green prosperity and green development are integral to the successful future of the human race. 6. Green Conservatism believes that economic growth and environmental health are compatible in both the developed and developing world. 7. Green Conservatism believes that we can realize more positive environmental outcomes faster by shifting tax code incentives and shifting market behavior than is possible from litigation and regulation.
On the other hand - at least it signals the authoritarian right is willing to consider the idea that climate matters.
That's a big clunky shift of the Overton window in the right direction. Especially if it means they spend even a little less time ranting about terrrra, Islamoblogoleftofascists, and Bill Clinton.
(But perhaps I'm just being cynical.)
Bayernglück -- that's German for the good fortune usually enjoyed by Bayern Munich when a game, or a season, is on the line. But in last weekend's loss to Stuttgart, Munich ran out of luck -- to many fans' delight. With nineteen Bundesliga titles to their name, Bayern Munich are used to lording it over the rest of the league. Munich haters often refer to their new stadium, the Allianzarena as the "arrogance arena," and Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer once dismissed the UEFA Cup as a competition for losers. But the UEFA Cup -- and not, as is customary, the Champions League -- is precisely where Bayern would be if the season ended today. Five points behind third-place Stuttgart, once-mighty Munich will struggle to salvage anything from this season. And the prospect of seeing the Bundesliga's titan drop into the ranks of the also-rans for the first time in more than a decade has many fans rubbing their hands with glee. The tabloid Bild newspaper described the team as "idiots" and "losers in lederhosen" after their desultory performance in Stuttgart. And the BZ newspaper wrote: "They used to brag that they were stronger than ox. But now they're the ones getting gored."
With nineteen Bundesliga titles to their name, Bayern Munich are used to lording it over the rest of the league. Munich haters often refer to their new stadium, the Allianzarena as the "arrogance arena," and Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer once dismissed the UEFA Cup as a competition for losers.
But the UEFA Cup -- and not, as is customary, the Champions League -- is precisely where Bayern would be if the season ended today. Five points behind third-place Stuttgart, once-mighty Munich will struggle to salvage anything from this season.
And the prospect of seeing the Bundesliga's titan drop into the ranks of the also-rans for the first time in more than a decade has many fans rubbing their hands with glee.
The tabloid Bild newspaper described the team as "idiots" and "losers in lederhosen" after their desultory performance in Stuttgart. And the BZ newspaper wrote: "They used to brag that they were stronger than ox. But now they're the ones getting gored."
I'm sure we'd all drink a Kolsch to the (likely only temporary) decline of the richest club in Germany.
It will take our minds off the pain and suffering of watching the FC Köln struggle to remain in the 2nd league.
Na dann - prost! The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
I was lucky enough to be watching FC Köln the year they came in 10th in Bundesliga 1. It's a sad sight to see them mired down in B2...
Maths enthusiasts are being challenged to answer a sample question from Chinese university entrance tests. The tests are set for prospective science undergraduates. The UK's Royal Society of Chemistry is offering a £500 prize to one lucky but bright person who answers the question below correctly. But a maths professor in England, William Shaw, has said the emphasis in mathematics teaching varies from country to country and the RSC's attack is "nonsense"
The tests are set for prospective science undergraduates.
The UK's Royal Society of Chemistry is offering a £500 prize to one lucky but bright person who answers the question below correctly.
But a maths professor in England, William Shaw, has said the emphasis in mathematics teaching varies from country to country and the RSC's attack is "nonsense"
They mean a right prism.
"UK chemistry departments are often world-renowned for their creativity..."
Is that so? That's the first time I hear about it, but BBC and all, it must be true. Too bad RSC (or BBC) messed up the translation for the math problem.
The RSC is running the contest in a completely idiotic way. No age or educational level limits, and no protection against cheating, copying, plagiarism or submitting a solution composed by someone else. Maybe they do believe the problem is so hard there will be very few entrants and none of these problems? Maybe nobody on the board of the RSC can do the problem? "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
I'm guessing that these people are thinking something like: "OMG, look at that crazy thing, all those lines! No one could possible understand that question! The lines, the lines!!!! And planes too!! Whhaaahahah."
I'm not saying they do it in a clever way or the best way by any means but I think that is where the motivation comes from for this kind of gimmick. Ad astra per aspera
It will backfire, anyway. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
"We must halt the decline of chemistry in the UK! I know! Let's illustrate the issue with a geometry problem!"
You're right. Something about this plan - I can't quite put my finger on it - doesn't seem to work, for some reason.
There is a need for a serious Arab organization of a strict and active administration, a huge budget, an ability to take rapid action, and teams that work 'round the clock. There is a need for a new Arab organization that is not paralyzed by bureaucracy or stricken by corruption. This required new organization should be a central body with local branch offices in a number of Arab cities. There is a need for a serious Arab organization that does not practice politics, or compose poetry in praise of Arab solidarity. It should not be involved in illiteracy programs, education problems, or environmental disasters. It should not talk about reforms, women's rights, or the right to use peaceful nuclear technology. Its members should not give lectures on globalization. [...] There is a need for a serious Arab organization of a huge budget. Its only task would be to effectively play the role of a burial society, as the dead in our region are many... The first item on its agenda should be setting up coffin factories throughout the Arab region - which extends from the ocean to the Gulf. These factories should employ the latest technology to double their productivity, as the demand is high. This is not an easy task. So, the second item must be to set up an unlimited number of morgues to receive the dead bodies waiting for their families to recognize them or waiting for the coffins to arrive. [...] There is a need for an active Arab body with a huge budget to bury the victims of confused wars and seditions of different kinds. It shall be responsible for bidding farewell to those countries on whose unity we used to wager, and to bury the Arabs, or some of them, with all their dreams.
There is a need for a serious Arab organization that does not practice politics, or compose poetry in praise of Arab solidarity. It should not be involved in illiteracy programs, education problems, or environmental disasters. It should not talk about reforms, women's rights, or the right to use peaceful nuclear technology. Its members should not give lectures on globalization. [...]
There is a need for a serious Arab organization of a huge budget. Its only task would be to effectively play the role of a burial society, as the dead in our region are many...
The first item on its agenda should be setting up coffin factories throughout the Arab region - which extends from the ocean to the Gulf. These factories should employ the latest technology to double their productivity, as the demand is high.
This is not an easy task. So, the second item must be to set up an unlimited number of morgues to receive the dead bodies waiting for their families to recognize them or waiting for the coffins to arrive. [...]
There is a need for an active Arab body with a huge budget to bury the victims of confused wars and seditions of different kinds. It shall be responsible for bidding farewell to those countries on whose unity we used to wager, and to bury the Arabs, or some of them, with all their dreams.
