robots – News Stories About robots - Page 5

Jul 14, 2010 5:36 AM CDT

South Korea Border Robots Ready to Kill

With shrinking population, S. Korea manufactures soldiers

(Newser) - Two killer robots are patrolling the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea—and they belong to the South. The robots, produced at a cost of $330,000, are equipped with surveillance, tracking, firing, and voice recognition capabilities. South Korea is using them as a test run for a...

Robot-Assisted Prostate Surgery Linked to Problems

Oct 14, 2009 6:28 AM CDT

Robot-Assisted Prostate Surgery Linked to Problems

Study finds potential issue with non-invasive surgery option

(Newser) - Men who undergo minimally invasive, robot-assisted prostate surgery were more than twice as likely to suffer from impotence and incontinence a year and a half later, compared to those receiving conventional surgery, a new Harvard study has found. Some 4.7% of those treated with laparoscopic surgery, using remote-controlled techniques,...

Surrogates:
Silly But Suspenseful

movie REVIEW

Sep 25, 2009 10:30 AM CDT

Surrogates: Silly But Suspenseful

Bruce Willis, in weird wig, tops 'smart' sci-fi flick

(Newser) - Critics are lukewarm about Surrogates, the new sci-fi flick starring a surprisingly hirsute Bruce Willis, in which humans command tricked-out robots who do their work and play for them.

It's a "preposterous movie that luxuriates in its own silliness," says Stephanie Zacharek of Salon. There's a "heavy-duty

...

Sims Creator Leaving EA for Think Tank

Apr 9, 2009 7:14 AM CDT

Sims Creator Leaving EA for Think Tank

'Stupid Fun Club' incubator will partner with video-game giant

(Newser) - The creator of The Sims is departing Electronic Arts to focus on "strange products and ideas," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Will Wright plans to work full-time at his Stupid Fun Club think tank, which develops ideas for film, games, and TV. Wright says he has already cooked...

Robots Begin Takeover
of Retail Warehouses

Jan 28, 2009 1:48 PM CST

Robots Begin Takeover of Retail Warehouses

Enslave no one, but do increase efficiency

(Newser) - The age of robots is upon us. Or at least, you might think so if you walked into one of the dozen retail warehouses currently manned by Kiva System’s robotic workers. The bots, which look a bit like a giant orange toaster, zip autonomously around the warehouse, completing orders...

Leave Space to Robots

OPINION

Jan 24, 2009 2:58 AM CST

Leave Space to Robots

President Obama would be well-served by removing costly manned exploration goals

(Newser) - Barack Obama is poised to chart a new direction for America’s exploration of the final frontier, writes the Economist. While George W. Bush supported continuing manned space exploration in the tradition of the previous century, Obama is considering scrapping some of NASA’s planned upgrades to the space shuttle...

I, (Gay) Robot?
Radar Rates
the Androids

Jun 29, 2008 2:44 PM CDT

I, (Gay) Robot? Radar Rates the Androids

Just how fabulous are the robots of the silver screen?

(Newser) - Gay marriage in California and Brokeback Mountain's emergence on the opera scene all point to an America that’s "getting its gay on," writes Evan Mulvihill in Radar—including its androids. Using a 'Homometer' (0: asexual; 1: beer and steak; 5: bisexual; 10: flaming), he takes a look...

Army to Speed High-Tech
Gear Into Combat

Jun 27, 2008 2:33 PM CDT

Army to Speed High-Tech Gear Into Combat

New weapons could hit Iraq, Afghanistan by 2011

(Newser) - The US Army has moved up the timetable for its high-tech weapons program, hoping to get new devices into the field by late 2010, 5 years ahead of its original schedule, Popular Mechanics reports. It’s also shifting focus away from conventional warfare tech like tanks and artillery and toward...

Home Is Where the Robot Is

Jun 21, 2008 5:01 AM CDT

Home Is Where the Robot Is

New breed of metal humanoids can see, touch, and don't mind housework

(Newser) - A kinder, gentler, smarter Frankenstein may soon be mowing your lawn and folding your unmentionables. Manufacturers are developing a new generation of metallic humanoid that will not only carry heavy objects, but pull their weight around the house and at work, the Economist reports. These new-age robots can touch, see,...

Shuttle to Launch
Giant Robot
Into Space

Mar 10, 2008 2:05 PM CDT

Shuttle to Launch Giant Robot Into Space

It's 12 feet tall, and its name is Dextre

(Newser) - When the shuttle Endeavour launches at 2:28am tomorrow, it will carry what has been pure sci-fi until now: a giant space robot. After astronauts assemble it, Canada’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as “Dextre,” will roam the outside of the International Space Station completing repairs considered...

Terrifying Robot Is Ready
to Massage Breasts

Feb 25, 2008 3:08 PM CST

Terrifying Robot Is Ready to Massage Breasts

Business proposal lists many potential customers

(Newser) - The developer of a new robot designed to massage women's breasts is full of ideas for the gadget, reports the Gizmodo blog. Wang Wei of Beijing BUBBY Robot Technologies suggests numerous potential customers for the Breast Massage Robot, including "girls who are reaching or having reached puberty, hope to...

A.I. Will Match Human Brain
in 20 Years

Feb 16, 2008 6:54 PM CST

A.I. Will Match Human Brain in 20 Years

But nanobots in our neurons will make us smarter, too

(Newser) - One engineer and futurist says it’s only a matter of time before machines are as smart as people, and people are part machine, the BBC reports. Ray Kurzweil claims that artificial intelligence will produce human-level smarts and even emotions by 2029. Humans, meanwhile, will inject nanobots into their brains...

Robots Battle for Championship

Dec 3, 2007 4:05 PM CST

Robots Battle for Championship

Tokyo's 12th Robo-One Grand Championship match

(Newser) - Robots battled for the title of world champion Saturday at Tokyo's 12th Robo-One Grand Championship match, where amateur-built bipeds competed to stay on their feet. With companies giving up on consumer robotics projects due to high costs, "the future of robotics depends on amateurs," the chairman of the...

Robots, Start Your Engines

Nov 2, 2007 12:30 PM CDT

Robots, Start Your Engines

University and research lab teams to compete on mock city course

(Newser) - Some of the most high-tech vehicles in the world will compete for big money by zipping around a race course tomorrow, all without one low-tech component—a human driver. Eleven robotic vehicles will race in a simulated city environment at a former Air Force base in California, Forbes reports. The...

Feed Me, Seymour! Lab Decodes Floral Intelligence

Oct 30, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

Feed Me, Seymour! Lab Decodes Floral Intelligence

Plant 'brains' may help build better robots

(Newser) - Plants have signaling and response systems that could make major contributions to robotics and communications research. The controversial field of “plant neurobiology” starts from the assumption that plant biology mirrors the human nervous system—and has a lot to teach scientists and engineers, Wired reports. The head of the...

Get Ready for Robot Love

Oct 13, 2007 12:28 PM CDT

Get Ready for Robot Love

Relations with the shinier-sex 'inevitable' according to study

(Newser) - It’s a small step from Roomba to betrothed, says researcher David Levy, whose Ph.D. thesis predicts humans will have sex with and marry robots within half a century. Robots have moved from factories to homes—witness the popularity of Roomba vacuum cleaners—and are becoming more human in...

Robot Toddler Learns to Walk, Talk, Behave Like a Human

Sep 13, 2007 8:14 PM CDT

Robot Toddler Learns to Walk, Talk, Behave Like a Human

"Robots can be loved too," inventor says

(Newser) - Zeno is an energetic toddler learning to walk and talk. He’s also a robot, the brainchild of engineer David Hanson. Hanson's Texas company has been working on lifelike “social robots” for five years and says they are akin to any other artist’s sculpture or painting. “We’...

Kick-Ass Jobs of the Future

Aug 16, 2007 2:47 PM CDT

Kick-Ass Jobs of the Future

(Newser) - Doctors and lawyers are so old-school—CNNMoney lists the movers and shakers of the future:

Disease Mapper: Use satellite technology to track and predict epidemics.
Robot Programmer: Today's robots can analyze blood samples and mix cocktails—if someone shows them how.

Hot Mommas:
Squirrels Use Heat to Scare off Snakes

Aug 14, 2007 4:07 PM CDT

Hot Mommas: Squirrels Use Heat to Scare off Snakes

Rattlers steer clear of hot pieces of tail

(Newser) - Squirrels aren't squirreling out of their ongoing battle with snakes, but they may be turning tail. California ground squirrels are able to intimidate rattlesnakes, researchers have found, by heating their tails 3 degrees; the rattlers perceive infrared waves, and back off. Even more surprising, the squirrels are savvy enough not...

Robots Get Their Own Surge

Aug 13, 2007 4:59 PM CDT

Robots Get Their Own Surge

Military wants 3000 new war-bots ASAP

(Newser) - The military wants more robots, and it wants them fast. The Pentagon is looking to enlist more small, maneuverable 'bots that can look out for insurgents and bombs—1,000 by the end of this year and 2,000 more over the next five years, Wired reports. The military is...