UltraVCatastrophe - Slashdot User

Spiraling Skyscraper Farms For a Future Manhattan 403

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 16, 2009 @03:07PM from the biomorphic-structures-are-made-of-people dept.

Mike writes "One of three finalists in this year's Evolo Skyscraper Competition, Eric Vergne's Dystopian Farm project envisions a future New York City interspersed with elegantly spiraling skyscraper farms. The biomorphic structures harness cutting-edge technology to provide the city with its own self-sustaining food source while dynamically altering the fabric of city life."

Packs of Robots Will Hunt Down Uncooperative Humans 395

Posted by Soulskill on Friday October 24, 2008 @07:58PM from the you've-been-warned dept.

Ostracus writes "The latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to 'develop a software/hardware suite that would enable a multi-robot team, together with a human operator, to search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject. The main research task will involve determining the movements of the robot team through the environment to maximize the opportunity to find the subject ... Typical robots for this type of activity are expected to weigh less than 100 Kg and the team would have three to five robots.'" To be fair, they plan to use the Multi-Robot Pursuit System for less nefarious-sounding purposes as well. They note that the robots would "have potential commercialization within search and rescue, fire fighting, reconnaissance, and automated biological, chemical and radiation sensing with mobile platforms."

Comment Dumb article. (Score 1) 1181

by UltraVCatastrophe on Monday March 10, 2008 @05:09PM (#22708062) Attached to: Should Scientists Date People Who Believe Astrology?

I'll sum up here what I said there. - Astrology is not a "spiritual belief". It's an ordinary belief. (Specifically, a misguided superstition). - Hiring on the basis of grades and test scores is not a "ridiculous heuristic". These reflect on students' motivation and inherent aptitude; in the absence of more meaningful data, they're the most useful metrics available. - Obsessive compulsives may harbor strange beliefs, but those beliefs stem from an anxiety disorder. Last time I checked, astrology wasn't mentioned in the DSM-IV. (Perhaps it should be.) To sum up, the article is stupid. Deciding whether to date someone who believes in astrology is a personal decision; there is no "right" or "wrong" choice.

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