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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Orbital ATK’s unmanned Cygnus cargo ship arrived Tuesday at the International Space Station carrying more than 7,400 pounds (3,400 kilograms) of food, supplies and experiments, the US space agency said. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli and his US colleague Randy Bresnik maneuvered the station’s robotic arm to capture the barrel-shaped capsule, which was bolted onto the space lab at 7:15 am (1215 GMT), NASA said. The cargo ship launched Sunday atop […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China now has more high-performance supercomputers than ever before, again besting the United States in global rankings, a supercomputer tracking organization said. The standing corresponds to China’s growing reputation as the global leader in supercomputers, as the Asian power prepares to launch in June 2018 a prototype exascale computing machine — a “super supercomputer.” Some 202 of the world’s fastest supercomputers are in China — compared with 143 in the US […]
by Ben Simon Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations is set to host the first-ever talks on the use of autonomous weapons, but those hoping for a ban on the machines dubbed killer robots will be disappointed, the ambassador leading the discussions said Friday. More than 100 artificial intelligence entrepreneurs led by Tesla’s Elon Musk in August urged the UN to enforce a global ban on fully-automated weapons, echoing calls from activists […]
by Marc Burleigh Agence France Presse SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AFP) — The World Robotics Olympiad, being held in Costa Rica this weekend, shows human athletes still have little to worry about: sweat and glory do not compute well when relegated to faceless automatons. But the same may not be true for workers, especially those in menial or transport activities where robots are steadily taking over. Think factory assemblers and sorters, or even self-driving cars. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An unmanned cargo ship packed with 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of food and supplies for the astronauts living at the International Space Station blasted off Sunday from Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital ATK’s barrel-shaped Cygnus cargo ship launched atop an Antares rocket at 7:19 am (1219 GMT), a day after a last-second delay due to an unexpected aircraft in the area. “Five, four, three, two, one and we have ignition,” said […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — A massive security breach that hit Equifax has cost the US credit bureau nearly $90 million so far, a figure that is set to rise further, its chief financial officer said on Thursday. The company, which gathers data on consumers to help lenders determine borrowers’ creditworthiness, revealed in September that hackers had stolen the personal details, including names, dates of birth and social security numbers, of nearly 146 million people. In […]
PIRAPORA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has lagged far behind in the shift to solar power, but the biggest facility on the continent now being built in the south-east aims to give the country its place in the sun. The plant in Pirapora, in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, has 1.2 million solar panels, covering the equivalent of more than 1,200 soccer fields. It first began producing power in September, with the second of three phases […]
(AFP) — Richard Browning, founder and chief test pilot of Gravity Industries, has soared into the record books with the brand new Guinness World Records title for the fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine power suit. On a dramatic day at Lagoona Park, Reading, Browning achieved a speed of 32.02 mph (51.53 km/h) on his third and final timed attempt before mistiming a turn and dropping into the lake in celebration of Guinness World […]
SHANGHAI / SUQIAN, Jiangsu Province, China (Reuters) — Bright red, grey and black, they are the robot postmen of the future, and are controlled from a command center 40 kilometers (25 miles) away by e-commerce giant JD.com. Online retailers Alibaba, JD.com and S.F. Express have been investing in drone programs they hope will one day perform so-called last-mile deliveries, especially in hard to reach rural areas. Others, like delivery firm BEST Inc, have begun testing […]
ENGLAND, United Kingdom (AFP) — A number of Guinness World Records fell across the world over the last week. British Inventor and entrepreneur, Richard Browning, soared into the record books when he made the fastest ever speed in a body-controlled jet engine power suit. The founder and chief test pilot of Gravity Industries achieved a speed of 32.02 mph (51.53 km/h) on his third and final timed effort over a lake in Reading, England. World […]
ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters) —Meet ANYmal. ANYmal is an autonomous quadrupedal robot designed to navigate industrial sites, with the eventual aim of inspecting oil and gas sites without human help. The four-legged robot relies on compliant and torque controllable actuators and can run and also climb stairs at up to 45-degree angles. Laser sensors and cameras help ANYmal perceive its environment, and plan its path autonomously, helping it avoid obstacles that suddenly appear in its path. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — It was a sad day for Twitter purists, dismayed that the 140-character limit restricting users on the social media platform to crisp, succinct posts had been doubled to a gaudy 280. And they have been expressing their outrage — how else? — with short tweets and hashtags like #140forlife. “Personally, I enjoyed the challenge of fitting my thoughts into 140 characters!” tweeted Weather Channel meteorologist Maria LaRosa, with the hashtag #lessismore. “Like […]
