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Dec 9, 2021

Could Russian Combat Robots Achieve Victory Without Heavy Casualties?

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

As Russia ramps up preparations for a possible assault on Ukraine, President Biden has ruled out sending U.S. troops, but an invasion would still face serious resistance and Ukraine’s defense minister promising a ‘bloody massacre’ if Russia invades. While Ukraine is heavily outmatched by Russian forces, the threat of heavy casualties is one which Russian cannot ignore. This is why uncrewed systems – remote-controlled robot warriors – could play an important part where the fighting is heaviest.

Soviet Russia shrugged off mass casualties, with Stalin remarking, “One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” During World War II – the Great Patriotic War to Russians – the Soviet Union lost more than 8 million members of its armed forces, 20 times as many as the United States. Names like Stalingrad became legendary for bloody battles and tough resistance regardless of casualties.

Modern Russia is very different. Unlike Stalin, President Putin cannot ignore public opinion, and his media machine will hide or deny Russian casualties in foreign operations. Mercenaries are increasingly used to keep conflict at arm’s length, as the loss of contractors does not play so badly in the motherland.

Dec 9, 2021

Study Pinpoints Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Impact Happening In Spring To Early Summer Of 66 Million Years Ago

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, biological, existential risks, food

According to a news release by The University of Manchester, a groundbreaking study published in the journal Scientific Reports provides new evidence that helps us to understand the asteroid impact that brought an end to 75 percent of life on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs, at the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition 66 million years ago.

This project has been a huge undertaking but well worth it. For so many years we’ve collected and processed the data, and now we have compelling evidence that changes how we think of the KPg event, but can simultaneously help us better prepare for future ecological and environmental hazards.

Time of year plays an important role in many biological functions— reproduction, available food sources, feeding strategies, host-parasite interactions, seasonal dormancy, breeding patterns, to name a few. It is hence no surprise that the time of year for a global-scale disaster can play a big role in how harshly it impacts life. The seasonal timing of the Chicxulub impact has therefore been a critical question for the story of the end-Cretaceous extinction. Until now the answer to that question has remained unclear.

Dec 9, 2021

A Synthetic Humanoid Robot Might Soon Fly Thanks to Iron-Man Jetpacks

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

And it looks a little creepy.

Roboticists at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) strapped a fully functioning jetpack onto their humanoid robot, called iRonCub, a report from IEEE Spectrum reveals.

Continue reading “A Synthetic Humanoid Robot Might Soon Fly Thanks to Iron-Man Jetpacks” »

Dec 9, 2021

China’s New Hypersonic Aircraft Is Based on a Rejected NASA Design

Posted by in categories: government, transportation

And it can go faster than five times the speed of sound.

A team of researchers in China has built and tested a prototype hypersonic flight engine based on a design that was scrapped by NASA over 20 years ago, according to a report from the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Continue reading “China’s New Hypersonic Aircraft Is Based on a Rejected NASA Design” »

Dec 9, 2021

The RV Attachment for Cybertruck Now Has $100 Million Worth in Pre-Orders

Posted by in category: transportation

And the company is still building prototypes.

As we patiently wait for the Cybertruck to be rolled out, a Recreational Vehicle (RV) attachment designed to convert Tesla’s electric pickup into a camper vehicle has caught the attention of the public. Unveiled earlier this year, the RV attachment called Cyberlandr has gathered over 2,000 pre-orders worth $100 million, its makers Stream It Inc., claim.

Earlier in May, we had reported that the Cyberlandr had bagged over 1,000 pre-orders in the initial 15 days of its launch. These were still early days and excitement about the new product was high. However, like the Cybertruck, this unofficial accompaniment has also continued to retain customer interest and managed to double its orders before the end of the year.

Continue reading “The RV Attachment for Cybertruck Now Has $100 Million Worth in Pre-Orders” »

Dec 9, 2021

DARPA Is Working on A New Wireless Tech to Charge Drone Swarms Seamlessly

Posted by in categories: drones, energy

And it can be used on any aircraft that uses electric propulsion.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has funded a company called Electric Sky to build a prototype for a wireless charger for its drone swarms.

The concept of wireless power has been around for many years now, and innovators have used different techniques such as lasers and microwaves, to name a few. The most common complaint of these techniques, however, is that the charging gets weaker as the distance between the transmitter and the receiver increases. Seattle-based Electric Sky has proposed a solution that addresses this issue.

Continue reading “DARPA Is Working on A New Wireless Tech to Charge Drone Swarms Seamlessly” »

Dec 9, 2021

It’s not quite the metaverse, but Meta is launching its virtual world

Posted by in category: futurism

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Dec 9, 2021

The Most Realistic Humanoid Robot Yet (Ameca Robot)

Posted by in categories: business, media & arts, robotics/AI

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Previous GPT-3 Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te5rOTcE4J4

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Dec 9, 2021

With Cyber-Spirituality on the Rise in Silicon Valley, Will the Rest of the World Eventually Embrace It, Too?

Posted by in categories: internet, singularity

I was recently interviewed by Magda Gacyk, San Francisco-based correspondent for Wyborcza, the most prestigious daily newspaper in Poland (akin to New York Times in the U.S.) and her article, that can be loosely translated “Prophecies of the Tech Spirituality: A New Gospel of Silicon Valley,” appeared in the last Saturday issue of November. Here’s our conversation…

#CyberSpirituality #SiliconValley #Singularity #Metaverse #Theogenesis #Cybergods #Cybertheism


“I do believe we are in the midst of a transition — intimated by the Internet — towards a more collective thinking, where the individual…

Continue reading “With Cyber-Spirituality on the Rise in Silicon Valley, Will the Rest of the World Eventually Embrace It, Too?” »

Dec 9, 2021

We Asked a NASA Expert: How Did Perseverance Mars Rover Pick Its Landing Spot? [Video]

Posted by in category: alien life

How did NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover pick its exact landing spot? Believe it or not, the Mars rover decided precisely where to land just moments before it touched down. It’s thanks to the work of engineers like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Swati Mohan and new technology called Terrain…


Mars rover pick its exact landing spot? Believe it or not, the Mars rover decided precisely where to land just moments before it touched down. It’s thanks to the work of engineers like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Swati Mohan and new technology called Terrain Relative Navigation.

When NASA decides to send a rover to Mars, a whole group of experts gets together to figure out where it needs to go for the best science for that mission. Perseverance’s mission was to find the signs of past life on Mars. So, all the experts got together and picked Jezero crater.

Continue reading “We Asked a NASA Expert: How Did Perseverance Mars Rover Pick Its Landing Spot? [Video]” »