H+ Weekly - Issue #29
ISSUE #29
On OpenAI, Santa's reindeers got replaced by robots, NASA's Robonauts, exoskeletons, robots, gene editing and more!
More than a human
Is the future of music a chip in your brain?
Stephen Witt imagines a world in which you have a brain chip that is able to deliver the perfect music for your current mood.
Full metal jacket
The Economist checks how the current exoskeletons look like and what are their capabilities.
Artificial Intelligence
Inside OpenAI: Will Transparency Protect Us From Artificial Intelligence Run Amok?
An interview with Andrej Karpatny, an AI researcher at OpenAI, where he answers the questions on what is OpenAI, what makes it different and what is its goal.
Should AI be Open?
Scott Alexander debates in his essay if making an advanced AI an open source project is a good idea at all.
Mapping Approaches to AI Safety
Here's a handy map of different approaches to AI safety.
Machines that learn like people
Current machine learning training phase requires showing the computer millions of example data sets. Comparing to how humans learn, they are far behind us. Now a group of researchers from MIT prove that a machine-learning system based on their model could in the same way as humans do.
AI researchers develop 'Darwin,' a neuromorphic chip based on spiking neural networks
Researchers from Zhejiang University and Hangzhou Dianzi University in Hangzhou, China successfully developed the Darwin Neural Processing Unit (NPU), a neuromorphic hardware co-processor based on spiking neural networks, fabricated by standard CMOS technology.
Your Algorithmic Self Meets Super-Intelligent AI
Or how the personalized systems can lead to the development of a personal learning machines, which could be our avatars in the digital world, our algorithmic selfs.
Robotics
Happy Holidays from Boston Dynamics
Even Santa's reindeers can't be safe in the age of robots.
Japanese Robot Annoys People Until They Talk To It
“Talking Ally”, a robot made by researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology’s Interactions and Communication Design lab, can follow a human’s gaze and respond accordingly. For example, it can make a fuss if the person stops talking to it.
Drone that can fly through the air and under water
Meet Naviator - a drone that can fly and swim.
Up Close with NASA's "Robonauts," Future Mars Explorers
It might turn out that the first humanoid creature exploring Mars won't be humans, but NASA's Robonauts. For me, it looks like Boba Fett.
Drone Racing Takes Off
PopSci on the rising popularity of drone racing and how it get where it is today.
This Robot Will Make You Dinner Moley Robotics is developing a robotic kitchen that can prepare a meal from start to finish—cleanup included.
New Ink Opens the Door to 3-D-Printed Radar
Reserchers developed a new way of making a 3D printed radar using special ink that can be tuned to generate or detect radio waves of specific frequencies.
Are Tweeting Drones On The Way? Twitter Patent Tips Off Potential Future Of Selfies
Apparently, Twitter filed a patent for a tweeting drone.
2016 will be the dawn of the drone age
I don't think the dawn of drone age is near. They might get less press attention in 2016, but they won't be gone.
Self-driving Acura, Built In A Garage
The guy who first hacked the iPhone made a self-driving car from his Acura in his garage.
The Secret History of World War II-Era Drones
Drones are not so novel invention as some might think so. Some of the first unmanned flying machines were built during the World War II or even earlier. Good history lesson from Wired.
Biotechnology
Scientists Support Research On Gene Editing Of Human Embryos
tl;dr - you can play with human embryos, but don't use them to establish pregnancy.
3-D Mini-Brains Created for Biotech Experiments
Researchers from Brown University have created a simple and inexpensive way to grow tiny balls of living neurons that form networks and are electrically active, that can be used in drug testing, neural tissue transplants and brain experiments instead of using animals.
DNA Manufacturing Enters the Age of Mass Production
IEEE Spectrum visits Twist Bioscience - a synthetic-biology startups adopt technologies from the computer industry to mass produce DNA.
Virtual Worlds
Uncanny Valley
A sci-fi short movie presenting the dark side of the virtual reality, where the VR worlds are more attractive to some people than the real worlds. Or at least they think so.
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