NewScientist.com is reporting today that researchers from Germany and Scotland have built a two-legged robot able to trot at a record setting 3.5 leg-lengths per second, a speed more than twice as fast as the previous best held by a robot from MIT. The foot-tall robot, dubbed RunBot, utilizes a simple sensor system coupled with a neural control program that mimics the way humans walk. The result is a robot with a more natural, efficient gait and the ability to learn to react reflexively […]

Just after six yesterday morning a Pegasus rocket launched from the belly of a Lockheed L-1011 jet flying 7 miles above the Earth carried a historic payload into space. On board the rocket were three ST5 micro-satellites destined to study the Earth's magnetic fields from their extraterrestrial orbits. Built as part of NASA's New Millennium Program, which was created to speed up space exploration through the development cutting-edge technologies, the 55 pound ST5s utilize a tiny antenna that was designed by dozens of computers running […]

BoingBoing.com is reporting that NASA will make history next month when it launches three Space Technology (ST5) satellites into orbit on board a Pegasus XL rocket. It is not the launch itself that is noteworthy, but rather a relatively small, but very important component of the satellites: their antennas. Not much bigger than a quarter and looking a lot like a randomly bent paper clip, the ST5's antenna are actually the result of 80 computers running a "survival of the fittest" evolutionary […]

Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, was a British mathematician, logician, and cryptographer. In 1950 he published a 28-page paper in the British quarterly Mind called "Computing Machinary and Intelligence." The paper is better known by most as "Can Machines Think?", the title it was given when in 1956 it was republished in the much wider-read The World of Mathematics. The significance and continuing influence of the ideas presented by Turing in this seminal work cannot be overstated, and his modest proposal […]

Fresh off their 1st place finish at Darpa's Grand Challenge 2005 and not content to rest on their laurels, the robotics experts from Stanford University have announced their next goal is to develop an autonomous vehicle capable of driving from San Francisco City Hall to downtown Los Angeles, at highway speeds no less! Gizmodo.com has a summary today of an article published last weekend by the Palo Alto Online News revealing this ambitious goal. Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab, spoke […]

It appears as though the Purdue University study I reported on yesterday extolling the virtues of robot pets came too late to save everyone's favorite robo-puppy, the Sony Aibo, and apparently it's not the sole casualty of Sony's bottom line. While there has been no official announcement, careful inspection of Sony's 2005 3rd Quarter Earnings Announcement posted on their corporate site this morning reveals that they've killed the Aibo product line and will be ceasing development of Qrio. […]

Every year New York scientific literary agent and founder of the Third Culture movement John Brockman poses a question to over 100 of the top scientists, philosophers and thinkers alive. The responses, which are usually unexpected, sometimes provocative, and always fascinating, are published on January 1st on the website Edge.org. Psychologist Steven Pinker suggested this year's question: "What is your most dangerous idea?" The responses are online and well worth the read. […]

The Discovery Channel has a story today about researchers from the Meiji University in Japan that have created a robot able to tell the difference between looking at its own image reflected in a mirror and looking at an identical robot. The research, led by Junichi Takeno, is a big advance towards understanding human consciousness and emotions and ultimately creating self aware, emotive robots. […]

Hot on the heels of Honda's Asimo update announced this past Tuesday, Sony today introduced the world to the newest version of their humanoid robot, QRIO. The enhancements to the QRIO include an additional camera mounted in its forehead, mechanical improvements to its arms and hands, and better machine vision algorithms and AI. Like its Honda counterpart, QRIO is now able to recognize faces, colors, and stationary and moving objects. […]

Honda Motor Co. introduced the second-generation Asimo today. While walking and obstacle avoidance were considered highlights of the previous model, the new Asimo includes many advancements that science fiction has groomed us to expect from humanoid robots. The five-year old Asimo can now handle simple office tasks like greeting visitors and showing them to meeting areas, walking with a tray of drinks, and pushing a 10 kg cart. The new model is even capable of running at speeds of up to 3.7 mph. […]