Originally shared by Singularity Hub
No Safety Driver Here—Volvo’s New Driverless Truck Cuts the Cab
Oct
11
Monthly Archives: October 2018
Oct
09
When you’re solving a complex problem, try everything.
When you’re solving a complex problem, try everything.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
The 7 Wild Energy Technologies That Just Got a Billion-Dollar Boost
Oct
08
Link includes a video showing the robots in action.
Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh
Link includes a video showing the robots in action. “If fiberglass tubes suddenly started to sprout out of the ground, you might think you had stumbled on some alien invasion. But such tubes are a real thing, woven by newly developed autonomous robots to create large structures such as bridges and temporary shelters—with minimal human input.
Each “Fiberbot” has a winding arm that pulls fiber from a tank on the ground, mixes the materials in a nozzle, and winds the wetted fiber around itself like a silkworm cocooning. Next, the robot turns on an ultraviolet light to cook the fiber into a hard tube. Then, it deflates its body and uses a tiny motor and wheels to inch itself up on top of the hardened fiber, where the process begins again.
The robots can tilt and use different winding patterns to vary the thickness and the direction of the tubes. As they build, the Fiberbots communicate with each other through a computer network to avoid running into each other or other obstacles. Together, they can calculate the most efficient way to build a given structure.”
Oct
07
Books are getting longer.
Books are getting longer.
I wonder how much of that is down to ebooks, which weigh the same and cost the same to produce regardless of length?
I know that as I gain more experience as a writer and take on more challenging stories, it takes me longer to tell them, but there’s also the phenomenon referred to in the article: highly successful authors don’t get edited down, even when they should. Partly because their fans will keep buying the books even if they’re bloated and overwritten.
(I am not a highly successful author, for the avoidance of doubt.)
Oct
07
So this has potential.
So this has potential.
They’re going to start with a writing contest (like Writers of the Future but without the L. Ron), but their ambitions are a lot bigger than that. Have a read.
Oct
06
I will be surprised if this book doesn’t take the top spot in my annual roundup this year; it’s beautiful.
I will be surprised if this book doesn’t take the top spot in my annual roundup this year; it’s beautiful.
For: people who enjoy details about food, don’t mind it being a bit literary and a touch fabulist, and like a gentle, warm, humane tone and witty, wise observation of modern life.
Not for: people who are looking for a gritty techno-thriller heavy on the speculative aspects and the action, or who can’t stand millenial protagonists.
Masha du Toit, I think this would be up your alley.
Oct
06
The project: hook sensors to a car to an AI to a receipt printer, and have it write a road novel as it travels.
The project: hook sensors to a car to an AI to a receipt printer, and have it write a road novel as it travels. It’s tempting to dismiss it as a gimmick, and the output as nonsense. But it might be the beginning of something.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/10/automated-on-the-road/571345/
Oct
05
Large limitation of the study: it’s not cross-cultural (US only).
Large limitation of the study: it’s not cross-cultural (US only).
The interesting finding was that when the stakes are high, people put more weight on the outcome, whereas when they are low, people assess the morality of the action.
That’s a good principle for authors to bear in mind when thinking about how readers will judge their characters.
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
How People Judge Good From Bad
New research sheds light on how people decide whether behavior is moral or immoral.
The research is in PLOS ONE. (full open access)
Oct
05
Only 65% accurate – so far.
Only 65% accurate – so far. But one of the markers they’ve detected is that unreliable sites are more likely to engage in emotional hyperbole, which makes sense.
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
Detecting Fake News, At Its Source
Researchers demonstrated a new system that uses machine learning to determine if a source is accurate or politically biased.
Oct
04
In concept, it’s kind of interactive Twitch.
In concept, it’s kind of interactive Twitch.
Originally shared by Ninja On Rye
Two people send thoughts to a third person to play a game of tetris in a 3-person brainnet proof of concept.
It’s currently low-bandwidth, but as the description below really captures the wow aspect of this research:
Stocco and his colleagues have created a network that allows three individuals to send and receive information directly to their brains. They say the network is easily scalable and limited only by the availability of EEG and TMS devices.