Robotic Future News: 2006-08-27

Peripheral: Space Elevator

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1863755,00.html

The Future

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_future_in_forecasts

Quote

"It is so strange that many people don’t see where this technology is going. Almost no one in the United States is interested in robotics. There are like 6 active robot related websites on the Internet [(mine is probably included)]. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Everyone and their mom with a blue tooth headset on and blackberries more powerful than my “old” computer from 6 year ago. That seems futuristic to me. People with those headsets on look like they are right out of a sci-fi movie.

I think the reason people can’t grasp the fact that robots are a reality and that we are on the brink of an age defining breakthrough (like from iron-age to industrial age to computer age to robot age) is that robots have been over exposed through science-fiction in the media. Since people are accustomed to seeing fake robots on TV and reading about them in sci-fi novels they have subconsciously categorized robots as a fictional invention. Like wizards and dragons, elves, fairies, and even aliens, robots have been put into a part of the mind that holds make-believe and people are having a hard time accepting that they are becoming a reality.

The most common response I hear when I show people a video of Asimo running is “that is computer graphics” or “that’s fake.” But it’s not fake, it is very real. Even more real are the global effects on the economy advanced automated technologies are going to have in the real world, but robots seem to be the farthest thing from American politicians minds these days."

http://www.communistrobot.com

Peripheral: "Market for space odysseys growing astronomically"

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9067-2338974,00.html

"Computer program can beat people at crosswords"

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/computer-program-can-beat-people-at-crosswords/

"Russia plans to launch first flight to the Moon in 2011-2012"

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060831/53358620.html

"The Energia Rocket and Space Corporation plans to explore the Moon in three stages: a Soyuz spacecraft flight to the Moon, the construction of a permanent base on the Moon (from 2010 to 2025), and the industrial exploration of space around the Earth's satellite."

"Upgrading the Cell Nucleus with a Nanocomputer and a Nanobot

Here's a conceptually simple proposal to overcome all biological pathogens except for prions (self-replicating pathological proteins). With the advent of full-scale nanotechnology in the 2020s we will have the potential to replace biology's genetic-information repository in the cell nucleus with a nanoengineered system that would maintain the genetic code and simulate the actions of RNA, the ribosome, and other elements of the computer in biology's assembler. A nano-computer would maintain the genetic code and implement the gene-expression algorithms. A nanobot would then construct the amino-acid sequences for the expressed genes.

There would be significant benefits in adopting such a mechanism. We would eliminate the accumulation of DNA transcription errors, one major source of the aging process (something we'll be able to do long before this scenario, using gene-therapy techniques). We would also be able to defeat biological pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells) by blocking any unwanted replication of genetic information."

Nanotechnology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology

Foresight Nanotech Institute

http://www.foresight.org/

"Why do something about nanotechnology, if you're not working in the field?

Because it matters whether we go down the right path in developing and applying these powerful capabilities. Remarkably, in the U.S. today, the senior national leadership in nanoscale science and technology is in denial about the future of the field. Research is accordingly misdirected, and discussion of legitimate concerns has been distorted by official disinformation and politically motivated attacks. Fresh voices, not tied to the politics of the federal grant process, can help to redirect the field and open an honest dialog about its future."

Japanese build robot iPods on wheels

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34082

Google Offers Free Book Downloads

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=192500520

"If you want to get a good look at what's in store for the future in Health Care, 'The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley Will Reboot Your Doctor' is certainly a 'must read.' It could also give some interested investors[/inventors] some insight into potential investments that could be equal to Wal-Mart or Microsoft. The research is, by far, some of the best I have encountered in such publications. Kessler did his homework which is probably why he was so successful in his fund management."

"For Orthopedic Injuries, a Robot That Follows Patients as They Move"

http://www.advancedimagingpro.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=38&id=3146

Robot Helping Doctors, Nurses Prepare For Childbirth

http://www.10news.com/health/9765429/detail.html

To see how computer-oriented Japan is, just look at the background of one of the leaders' Web sites; it has computer code.
http://www.s-abe.or.jp/

"Schmidhuber writes that his main scientific ambition has been to build an optimal scientist."

"Association for Machine Translation in the Americas Opens Its Conference Doors to Public to Showcase the Wonders of Automated Translation; Machine Translation Making Definite Inroads beyond Just Government Usage"

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060801005957&newsLang=en

Ray Kurzweil "was convinced, that machine translation will soon achieve the same kind of accuracy that is now achieved by optical scanners [(which he invented)], which can convert printed pages into digital units containing the words printed on the page."

"Since this exciting technological development is just around the corner, there is really no need to learn foreign languages."

"The success of the statistical approach can be seen in a recent victory by Google in a computerized translation contest sponsored by the National Institute of Science and Technology. In the statistical approach, the larger number of translation samples a computer can examine, the more smooth and accurate the translation will be. Google has several terabytes of data in many languages."

"We translators are in the same situation. The experts say that good quality
machine translation will be feasible in about five years, and then we'll all be
out of a job."

http://www.homoexcelsior.com/

Harvard Researchers: "Nanowire arrays can detect signals along individual neurons"

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/08.24/99-nanowire.html

Harvard Researchers Identify Brain Cells Used to Categorize Images

http://web.med.harvard.edu/sites/RELEASES/html/8_27Freedman.html

"I've spent over 20 years tracking the technology business for Wall Street, as an analyst and then as an investor.

The only thing I really learned was to find the silicon."

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71654-0.html?
tw=wn_culture_1

"So are there any jobs that won't ever be done by an intelligent machine? How far can this robot replacement trend go?

All the way to the top, it seems."

Maybe I could start a United Nations convention on robots/the singularity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva#International_organizations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Dunant

History

http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/history.html

http://www.biochem.mpg.de/mnphys/

"The impending Singularity in our future is increasingly transforming every institution and aspect of human life."

Link to Visit

http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=5655135&postID=115664322281349683&r=ok

"Brandon Bailey said...
"Shortly before his death in 1970, Howard Scott, Technocracy's founder and long time Director-in-Chief, stated that 'Never in the history of human affairs has mankind been so unprepared for what it has to face.' The saddest part about this lack of preparation is that most people seem not to realize how unprepared they are, nor do they even care.""

Paul said...
"Brandon Bailey deserves a hat tip for his post..."

Anonymous said...
"Concepts such as a technological singularity are largely unknown to the vast majority of the population.
In most people's minds, robots are still an idea from Science Fiction, or the 'semi-distant future', and definatly not something they'll be seeing in the timeframes all here have read about (2020-2050).

It's not that they don't care, they just don't know (i.e. their own curiosities never led them to research the subjects on their own)."

MDude said...
"Maybe videos of robots should be played on that giant screen in New Work, or on popularly watched television stations? "

"Brandon Bailey said...
Technocracy is like the Australia Project. It was fairly well known around 1932, during the Great Depression. I own theaustraliaproject.com but technocracy can be like it. I might become a member.

Technocracy-I have more on it at Robot Future News."

10:10 PM, August 27, 2006

Brandon Bailey said...

"Howard Scott was trying to solve the problem we now face. He was just probably trying too early."

10:12 PM, August 27, 2006

Brandon Bailey said...

“Exponential growth looks like nothing is happening, and then suddenly you get this explosion at the end.”
-Ray Kurzweil

The Law of Accelerating Returns"

10:17 PM, August 27, 2006

Brandon Bailey said...
"I have told several people about robots and I have them on my profile on a Web site. I also tell about the robot revolution on my Netscape profile which has gotten about 7,000 views. Additionally, I supposedly e-mailed the vice president. I might also make some robots and use some of the money made from them to help the displaced people; money will be made by someone either way."

10:22 PM, August 27, 2006

Brandon Bailey said...
"secondlife.com might help."

10:23 PM, August 27, 2006

Brandon Bailey said...
"Writing about robots on netscape.com can really help you spread the word since it has about 13 million visitors a month. Netscape is now a social news portal."

10:25 PM, August 27, 2006

Brandon Bailey said...
"Uncanny Valley is relevant to what Paul said."

"Also, I think robots were developed lopsidedly and that is a reason why people don't know much about them. Robotics researchers have been working on humanoid robots for a long time but mass-produced robotic vacuums just came out a few years ago."