An in depth look at the growing use of robotics and technology in war. You will be surprised. Shocked may be more like it. Also, a look at the use of these technologies spreading into law enforcement and elsewhere.

Click here to access this fascinating, amazing and thought provoking video. You really need to watch it to understand what’s going on in the world today.

Click on the book title Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century by P.W. Singer for more information.

Transhumanists advocate the improvement of human capacities through advanced technology…

Click here to read the special report by Michael Anissimov found on the Lifeboat Foundation website.

Click here for more on transhumanism.

Engineers at the MIT Humans and Automation Lab are developing unmanned drones similar to the ones used by the CIA–only a lot smaller. WSJ’s Siobhan Gorman reports…

Click here to read the complete Wall Street Journal report.

Click here for more information on drones.

The idea, known as Project M, is almost a guerrilla effort within NASA, cooked up a year ago by Stephen J. Altemus, the chief engineer at Johnson…

Click here to read the entire New York Times article.

Click here for more information on robots in space.

SCHEMA is a conversational humanoid robot at Waseda University in Japan with some pretty serious skills. As you’ll see in the new video they have posted (which is embedded below), SCHEMA is able to participate in a three person conversation without losing the plot, and is perfectly capable of understanding which speaker is which and what has been said by whom. It’s an impressive performance, to say the very least.

via SCHEMA robot shows off its conversation management skills in a group setting — Engadget.

It’s the first humanoid robot ever bound for space, a $2.5 million mechanical and electrical marvel that NASA hopes one day will assist flesh-and-bone astronauts in orbit.

Imagine, its creators say, a future where Robonaut could take over space station cleaning duties; spend hours outside in the extreme heat and cold, patiently holding tools for spacewalking astronauts; and handle emergencies like toxic leaks or fires.

Why, Robonaut’s descendants could even scout out asteroids, Mars and other worlds in the decades ahead, paving the way for humans.

The adventure begins Wednesday afternoon, with the planned final launch of Discovery and Robonaut’s six human crewmates. Mission managers gave the green light Monday for the new launch date; shuttle gas leaks had to be repaired before the countdown could begin and forced a two-day delay.

"While it might be just a single step for this robot, it’s really a giant leap forward for tinmankind," said Rob Ambrose, acting chief of Johnson Space Center’s automation, robotics and simulation division in Houston.

For now, R2 – a collaboration between NASA and General Motors – exists only from the waist up. It measures 3 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 330 pounds. Each arm is 2 feet 8 inches long.

via Robot’s space debut ‘giant leap for tinmankind’.

The past few weeks have been a flurry of activity for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. With all of the recent activity, and with the competition just having celebrated its third “birthday,” now seems like a good time for an update…

Click here to see the entire report.

Click here for more information on moon exploration.

ISAAC ASIMOV would probably have been horrified at the experiments under way in a robotics lab in Slovenia. There, a powerful robot has been hitting people over and over again in a bid to induce anything from mild to unbearable pain – in apparent defiance of the late sci-fi sage’s famed first law of robotics, which states that "a robot may not injure a human being".

But the robo-battering is all in a good cause, insists Borut Povše, who has ethical approval for the work from the University of Ljubljana, where he conducted the research. He has persuaded six male colleagues to let a powerful industrial robot repeatedly strike them on the arm, to assess human-robot pain thresholds.

via Robot arm punches human to obey Asimov’s rules – tech – 13 October 2010 – New Scientist.

Using breath-analysis software and mouth-movement observations, engineers in Japan have taught a robot how to sing. The divabot, an HRP-4 with a creepily realistic tilting head, blinks and opens her mouth as she croons, even mimicking the facial expressions of the human singer.Researchers used a real singer as a model, recording her every move as she sang.

via Video: Japanese Fembot Learns to Sing By Mimicking Pop Stars | Popular Science.

The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and…

Click here to view the complete New York Times report.

Click here for more information on robotics.

Anyone trying to get onto the grounds of the Nevada National Security Site – the installation housing tens of millions of cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste and site of many nuclear weapons tests back when they were militarily fashionable – will now face a new smart layer of security beyond the usual fences, sentry towers, and security cameras. Intruders will first have to get past the Army’s new robotic sentries that now roam the sprawling facilities vigilantly seeking out security threats.

via Video: Nevada Nuclear Site Hires Autonomous Robotic Sentries To Provide Security | Popular Science.

Robots are a major part of the cultural fabric of Japan; they’re performing weddings, buying groceries and keeping people company. A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo is taking this robotic cultural immersion a step further — they’re making animal-robot hybrids. Sort of.

RatCar is a brain-machine interface that uses a rat’s brain signals to control a motorized robot. The rat hangs in the air, and the robot does what the rat’s limbs would do. It’s far from the only brain-robot locomotion contraption, but it’s arguably one of the strangest.

via Meet RatCar, a Japanese Robot Car Controlled By a Rat’s Brain | Popular Science.

If you think you can’t motivate the kids to put down the Sega or whatever it is they’re playing with these days, Japanese robotics manufacturer Sakakibara-Kikai would beg to differ. The company that created the Landwalker bi-pedal exoskeleton has created a five-and-a-quarter-foot exoskeleton just for the kiddies that is sure to captivate even the most technophobic youngster, assuming such a thing exists.

via Video: A Gasoline-Powered Robotic Exoskeleton Designed Just for Kids | Popular Science.

A systematic swarm of flying robots, such as the Swarming Micro Air Vehicle Network (SMAVNET) project that is currently being developed, could be the key to providing support to disaster areas and persons in distress.

The swarms of flying robots are designed to create a communications relay in order to create a working network that can be installed quickly and used in areas where terrain is difficult to navigate.

Developers of the SMAVNET project stress that simplicity and not complexity is key to the success of the swarming communications robots.

via SMAVNET flying robots the future of disaster rescue and communica….

Earlier this morning I received the following email invitation from Singularity University. I’m posting it here because I believe you’ll be interested in seeing it. Perhaps one of you may want to attend SU -

Subject: Invitation: Learn to Hack Bacteria in your Living Room and More

Frank,
A few weeks ago, SU faculty Andrew Hessel gave a private lecture to our Singularity University students showing them how to “hack” bacteria in their living rooms, using simple products they could buy in any store…

More than just a cocktail party trick, the ability to hack bacteria at home demonstrates how much more is known about bacteria and DNA for more effective and personalized healthcare and treatments.

Andrew is co-chair of the Biotech and Bioinformatics track, and an expert in biotech and synthetic biology. Here is an interview with Andrew discussing recent advances and innovations:

http://singularityu.org/videos/2009/12/andrew-hessel-on-the-future-of-synthetic-biology/

Andrew will be working personally with the 50 people who get in to our Executive Program beginning October 14. Interested in working with him and other industry experts one on one?

We understand this is a busy time of year, and schedules get jam-packed. But, we’ve saved three spots for people who apply last minute. We don’t believe in first-come-first serve, as we want to accept only the best candidates…

Want to learn about the latest innovations in six tracks including biotech and artificial intelligence/robotics from industry leaders? And understand how they will impact and benefit your career, company, and life? Contact Kip Stringfellow at kip@singularityu.org to register and for more information.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Executive Program!

Singularity University
This message was sent by: Singularity University, NASA Ames, Moffett Field, CA 94035