Category: Uncategorized

Rust, enemy of Civilization

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and other dramatic natural disasters can leave mounds of wreckage in a matter of seconds. Rust is different. It is insidious and slow-moving. It takes years for it to discolor buildings, thin steel pipelines and tankers carrying oil, and weaken bridges to the point of spontaneous collapse. Rust, the oxidation that turns aluminum white, copper green and steel brown, “is costlier than all other natural disasters combined,” amounting in the US alone to $437B a year, which approaches 3% of our nation’s GDP. By comparison, the damage done to property by hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and Andrew was, in 2012 $, $128B, $50B and $44B, respectively.

Fighting for the user

longer term, this will be an AI arm race of sales bots battling user bots.

Comcast cancellation is just the beginning for AirPaper, whose stated mission is to make bureaucracy “surprisingly pleasant.” Next the startup wants to tackle San Francisco parking permit and business tax registration, as well as the visa application process for visiting China.

Becoming a disney character

Our posthuman future made cute by disney.

Disney is teaming up with Open Bionics to provide royalty-free use of various character hands for children who’ve lost a limb! Open Bionics is thrilled to announce the next generation of bionic hands for young amputees. From the Marvel Universe, hot out of Tony Stark’s workshop, the Iron Man hand. Now kids can get excited about their prosthetics. They won’t have to do boring physical therapy, they’ll train to become heroes. They’re not just getting medical devices, they’re getting bionic hands inspired by their favorite characters. The Walt Disney Company is generously donating the time of its creative teams and providing royalty free licenses. More designs coming soon!”

Robot abuse

a drunk man in Japan was arrested for kicking a humanoid robot that was stationed as a greeter at a SoftBank store. Weng is advocating for special robot laws to address the unique nature of human-robot interactions. He argues that humans perceive highly intelligent, social robots like Pepper (which can read human emotions) differently than normal machines—maybe more like pets—and so the inappropriate treatment of robots by humans should be handled with this in mind.

Sleep Aid

It’s late, and you’re still awake. Allow us to help with Sleep Aid, a new series devoted to curing insomnia with the dullest, most soporific prose available in the public domain. Tonight’s prescription: “How Mechanical Rubber Goods Are Made,” first published in the Scientific American Supplement on February 13, 1892.

Robot Personhood

A drunk man in Japan was arrested for kicking a humanoid robot that was stationed as a greeter at a SoftBank store. The man was angry at the attitude of one of the store clerks. The “Pepper robot” now moves more slowly, and its internal computer system may have been damaged. Whether a robot can be legally “injured” or not is debatable, and raises the question of what exactly robot laws should look like. Weng has proposed 2 special regulations for robots. First, a “Humanoid Morality Act” would define a proper relationship between humans and robots, including the use of coercive power to constrain unethical applications. Second, a “Robot Safety Governance Act” would extend current machine safety regulations to protect the safety of both humans and robots.