Air Force Wants Drones to Sense Other Planes’ ‘Intent’

I think the right direction to go in HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) is to design interfaces that understand people, not just interfaces that people understand. Combine that with autonomous agents, and you get the linked story at Wired.com.

"Unmanned aircraft, for all their utility, are fairly simple beasts. They’re good at taking direction, but they’re not so good at processing information on their own. Now the Air Force figures it’s time for drones to get a lot smarter, especially as they take off or land."

Surgery without (human) surgeons?

Next generation surgical robots: Where's the doctor?

I heard that the military is working on autonomous battlefield medics that could initiate treatment without direct instruction from a human operator. The linked story describes a pretty amazing autonomous surgical robot.

"Feasibility studies conducted by Duke University bioengineers have demonstrated that a robot -- without any human assistance -- can locate a man-made, or phantom, lesion in simulated human organs, guide a device to the lesion and take multiple samples during a single session. The researchers believe that as the technology is further developed, autonomous robots could some day perform many more simple surgical tasks."

How many atoms in a vacuum tube?

BBC News - Seven atom transistor sets the pace for future PCs: "Researchers have shown off a transistor made from just seven atoms that could be used to create smaller, more powerful computers."

If robots can marry[1], can they also marry[2]?

Robot Conducts Wedding Ceremony in Tokyo : Discovery News:

Marry[1] - to conduct a wedding ceremony.
Marry[2] - to enter into the formalized relationship of marriage

"Almost everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white gown, but not the wedding conductor, because she was bolted to her chair.

The nuptials at this ceremony were led by 'I-Fairy,' a 4-foot (1.5-meter) tall seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails. Sunday's wedding was the first time a marriage had been led by a robot, according to manufacturer Kokoro Co.

'Please lift the bride's veil,' the robot said in a tinny voice, waving its arms in the air as the newlyweds kissed in front of about 50 guests."

MIT researchers enable self-assembling of chips

MIT researchers enable self-assembling of chips: "Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday released research detailing how molecules in chips can self-assemble, potentially reducing manufacturing costs.

A step on the way to building the "other" von Neumann machines (self-replicating machines). If you're a CS major, you're more likely to think of "von Neumann machine" as a type of computer architecture.

"The researchers have developed a technique in which polymers automatically fall into place to create an integrated circuit, said Caroline Ross, professor of materials science and engineering at MIT and a researcher behind the technology. The researchers designed a template to cause polymers to spontaneously arrange themselves into useful patterns."

Watch out for grey goo.

Living with Robots

Honda has been developing robotics technologies for many years now. This short video explores some of the successes to date as well as challenges to be overcome (largely social rather than technological).

You think MY password is long?

Check out the password at time 1:40... students wouldn't laugh at THAT password.