Comment: Would allmost say it should be banned everywhere.. (Score 4, Insightful) 115
...as it spits in the face of the original, and awesome, Syndicate games, which were anything but a dumbed down rail-shooter.
Comment: Re:thank god for asian robots (Score 1) 113
I have no opinion about this.
Thanks for the info.
Comment: So, exept from the name.... (Score 5, Insightful) 207
... What exactly does this have to do with the older pentium architechtures?
Comment: Re:Possible use... (Score 1) 412
Don't know if people are STILL using it, but I got hold of a piece of a Milennium Hoffman blotter in 1999 or 2000 at least, which gave me a definately interesting experience. Didn't try to make any spider webs, though.. :)
Comment: Re:Power? (Score 1) 70
It says in the description of the video that this robot is used to test clothing.
It does all sorts of movements that soldiers would do, that's how you test clothing.
It also says this in tfa:
"I also asked Raibert if they could eventually use PETMAN or PETMAN-related technologies in other projects. In other words, are we going to see PETMAN used in applications other than the chemical suit tests?
"You bet," he says. "There are all sorts of things robots like PETMAN could be used for. Any place that has been designed for human access, mobility, or manipulation skills. Places like the Fukushima reactors could be accessed by PETMAN-like robots (or AlphaDogs), without requiring any human exposure to hazardous materials. Perhaps firefighting inside of buildings or facilities designed for human access, like on board ships designed for human crews."
This, of course, will mean another big challenge for his team: Transforming the humanoid from a tethered system into a free standing, self-contained robot. Boston Dynamics, however, has already demonstrated its ability to transition to tether-less machines with its BigDog project."
Comment: Re:Power? (Score 1) 70
They managed to create a suitable internal powerplant for BigDog, one of their other robots, all the way back in 2008, while still having it tethered inn other, later videos of testing inside, so who know, maybe they have a powerplant designed for Petman too, and just prefere to have it stable enough first, before they progress to untethered testing? Or maybe the sound of the powerplant, resembling a swarm of bees, is something that would drive them crazy during testing inside, and they therefore prefers the tethered design? :)
Here's a video of the untethered Bigdog, from the same company:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww
Comment: Re:electrical charge. (Score 1) 91
'before' not being in the past 2 years. 'way before'.
Who says it hasn't?
Comment: Re:electrical charge. (Score 1) 91
if it was a natural phenomenon, it should have happened before elsewhere, and it should have happened again.
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK1g_5x2jBU
Comment: Re:I wonder how many (Score 1) 184
Lucky you... I have the same first and last name as a famous tripple-murderer.
Various "interesting" experiences have thought me to use my middle-name when introducing myself to new people...
Paleontologists Discover World's Horniest Dinosaur 109
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the overcompensatesaurus dept.
from the overcompensatesaurus dept.
Ponca City, We love you writes "The Guardian reports that paleontologists have uncovered the remains of an ancient beast called Kosmoceratops richardsoni that stood 16 feet tall with a 6-foot skull equipped with 15 horns and lived 76 million years ago in the warm, wet swamps of what is now southern Utah. 'These animals are basically over-sized rhinos with a whole lot more horns on their heads. They had huge heads relative to their body size,' says Scott Sampson, a researcher at the Utah Museum of Natural History."
Wine 1.2 Released 427
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the pop-the-cork dept.
from the pop-the-cork dept.
David Gerard writes "Stuck with that one Windows app you can't get rid of? Rejoice — Wine 1.2 is officially released! Apart from running pretty much any Windows application on Unix better than 1.0 (from 2008), major new features include 64-bit support, bi-directional text, and translation into thirty languages. And, of course, DirectX 9 is well-supported and DirectX 10 is getting better. Packages should hit the distros over the weekend, or you can get the source now."
The REX Robotic Exoskeleton 53
Posted
by
kdawson
from the walk-like-a-man dept.
from the walk-like-a-man dept.
ElectricSteve writes "When Robert Irving was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, it was the catalyst for him and his childhood friend, Richard Little, to turn their engineering skills to the task of developing an exoskeleton that was a practical, standing-and-walking alternative to wheelchairs. The result is REX, an exoskeleton made of strong, lightweight materials that is designed to support and hold a person comfortably as he moves. Users strap themselves in to the robotic legs with a number of Velcro and buckled straps that fit around the legs, along with a belt around the waist. While most robotic exoskeletons we've looked at, such as the HAL, augment human motion, this is generally not an option for wheelchair-bound users, so REX is controlled using a joystick that sits at the wearer's waist level." The rig is expected to cost $150K when introduced later this year in New Zealand. Gizmag has an obnoxious timed popover subscription nag, so NoScript is indicated.
Beaver Dam Visible From Space
286
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the dam-big-job dept.
from the dam-big-job dept.
ygslash writes "The
Hoover Dam
no longer holds the title of the world's widest dam.
Satellite photos of northern Alberta, Canada, show that several families
of beavers have apparently
joined forces
to build a dam 850 meters
wide, more than twice as wide as the Hoover Dam."
Iceland Volcano's Ash Grounds European Air Travel 283
Posted
by
timothy
from the stubbornly-refuses-to-attend-climate-summit dept.
from the stubbornly-refuses-to-attend-climate-summit dept.
Ch_Omega writes "From the article at CBSNews: 'An ash-spewing volcano in Iceland emptied the skies of aircraft across much of northern Europe on Thursday, grounding planes on a scale unseen since the 9/11 terror attacks. British air space shut down, silencing the trans-Atlantic hub of Heathrow and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world. Aviation officials said it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again and said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had brought one of the world's most congested airspaces to a standstill.'"
The BBC says "Safety group Eurocontrol said the problem could persist for 48 hours," and the Deccan Herald describes some of the effects on the ground in the volcano's home turf: "In Iceland, hundreds of people are fleeing rising floodwaters as the volcano under the glacier Eyjafjallajokull erupted yesterday again, for a second time in less than a month."
Iceland Volcano Ash Grounds European Air Travel->
Submitted
by
Ch_Omega
Ch_Omega writes "From the article at CBSNews:
"An ash-spewing volcano in Iceland emptied the skies of aircraft across much of northern Europe on Thursday, grounding planes on a scale unseen since the 9/11 terror attacks. British air space shut down, silencing the trans-Atlantic hub of Heathrow and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world.
Aviation officials said it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again and said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had brought one of the world's most congested airspaces to a standstill. "
BBC News, Deccan Herald and Barents Observer has more coverage."
Link to Original Source
"An ash-spewing volcano in Iceland emptied the skies of aircraft across much of northern Europe on Thursday, grounding planes on a scale unseen since the 9/11 terror attacks. British air space shut down, silencing the trans-Atlantic hub of Heathrow and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world.
Aviation officials said it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again and said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had brought one of the world's most congested airspaces to a standstill. "
BBC News, Deccan Herald and Barents Observer has more coverage."
Link to Original Source