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Comment Re:A suggestion (Score 1) 87

Instead of random text, misuse an AI system to create a fake (and wrong) article about something. Keep adding to the library of fake articles. many layers of what looks like valuable training information that actually is misinforming the AI being trained by the robot crawler. This makes it very difficult to automate a process to reject these 'nasty' sites. Get a nerd social network (slashdot/Imgur/even FB) to have us nerds vying to create more and more outrageous articles, sharing them and adding them to peoples malicious libraries. If it goes viral, you could drop the robots in their tracks!

Comment The shoulder linkage seems wrong. (Score 1) 44

I am not convinced this is real just because the author says it is. The motions of the arm look too complex for the mechanism that surrounds the shoulder. Particularly, the hydraulic or pneumatic piston that seems to both lift the arm and extend the forearm. This is a terrible placement (mechanically) for a reliable/useful/accurate linkage. The video is literally incredible and unbelievable.

Comment My Dad tuning Mom out. (Score 4, Funny) 166

My Dad loved classical music and already had a big collection on tape when this came out. He got a Walkman and walked around all day with the headphones on. Every time Mom was about to say something to him she saw the headphones and refrained. It wasn't until weeks later that we kids found out he had no batteries in the Walkman.

Comment We did this in 1967 on the IBM 1620 (Score 5, Informative) 88

The 1620 was an all digital machine built of discrete transistors. As an undergraduate, we wrote programs that caused the machine to alternate between two loops at a variable rate. The computer radiated so many harmonics that this could be heard all across the AM band where no strong station existed. We programmed it to play (mostly) classical music, "Flight of the Bumblebee" was the perennial favorite. Any truly all digital transmitter will generate harmonics outside of the allowable FCC band, so at the very least they need a really good analog bandpass filter on the output.

Comment 20 HP average? (Score 3, Interesting) 164

This has 512 m^2 solar array, incoming sun at directly overhead is roughly 1 kW / m^2, assume solar panel efficiency of 15%. This is a total power of about 76 kW or about 100 HP when the sun is directly overhead. Averaged over a 24 hour day, this is maybe 20-25 HP. 89,000 kg of lithium battery at 200 Wh / kg is 17.8 MWh. This would take 234 hours to charge with the sun directly overhead. That is about 40 days of clear sky charging, assuming you are not running the propeller at the same time. Something is fishy here. Sounds like he charges in port, then runs to the next port on solar plus battery (otherwise there is no need for this large battery / solar cell ratio). Then he repeats. Is my math wrong, or is this story a bit strange?
Mars

4-Billion-Pixel Panorama View From Curiosity Rover 101

A reader points out that there is a great new panorama made from shots from the Curiosity Rover. "Sweep your gaze around Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover is currently exploring, with this 4-billion-pixel panorama stitched together from 295 images. ...The entire image stretches 90,000 by 45,000 pixels and uses pictures taken by the rover's two MastCams. The best way to enjoy it is to go into fullscreen mode and slowly soak up the scenery — from the distant high edges of the crater to the enormous and looming Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual destination."
Technology

Festo's Drone Dragonfly Takes To the Air 45

yyzmcleod writes "Building on the work of last year's bionic creation, the Smart Bird, Festo announced that it will literally launch its latest creation, the BionicOpter, at Hannover Messe in April. With a wingspan of 63 cm and weighing in at 175 grams, the robotic dragonfly mimics all forms of flight as its natural counterpart, including hover, glide and maneuvering in all directions. This is made possible, the company says, by the BionicOpter's ability to move each of its four wings independently, as well as control their amplitude, frequency and angle of attack. Including its actuated head and body, the robot exhibits 13 degrees of freedom, which allows it to rapidly accelerate, decelerate, turn and fly backwards."

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