The best channel in the world, Discovery Channel, just brought us the human-machine hybrid, Robo Sapien.

It was part of the Big Science programming the other night.

Truly amazing technology and a glimpse into the future.

It’s a long clip but worth the wait if you are into robotics and what the future will bring.

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File this under way cool and way creepy - we now have artificial intelligence monitoring the Earth from space.

From the article:

The Indonesian volcano Talang on the island of Sumatra had been dormant for centuries when, in April 2005, it suddenly rumbled to life….UN officials… issued a call for help: Volcanologists should begin monitoring Talang at once.  Little did they know, high above Earth, a small satellite was already watching the volcano. No one told it to. EO-1 (short for “Earth Observing 1″) noticed the warning signs and started monitoring Talang on its own.

What’s more, these satellites are able to send instructions to other satellites and intelligent machines, enlisting them to do their bidding.  Meanwhile, the Terminator T-1000 model has already made it as high as governor of California.  Is no one else putting this all together??

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The robot, Big Dog, isn’t really dancing, the title is a little misleading.

The way the legs on this robot move does look like two people bodyless people doing the quick step, even when it’s kicked.



Here is a little more on the Big Dog from Boston Dynamics:

The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth

BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog’s legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight.

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The just freaks me out.

It’s great they made the little female Chucky speak Spanish too, so you can hear her bilingual hate chants at night while she belly crawls across the bear skin rug to slit your throat with a kitchen knife.

Have they not seen what happens when you try to make them more life-like, they come alive at night and murder your entire family. Now this could be just one of my night terrors but be warned.

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This commercial must of cost a few bucks, well worth it.

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This is a fun historical look back at where AT&T came from and where they are going with voice technology.

Interestng idea that is well exicuted and makes the point that you have to keep pushing forward and never stop being innovative.

Here is this post as an audio file using the AT&T Labs Text-To-Speech (TTS) Demo: The New/Old AT&T Audio Version

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S560 NOELLE™ Maternal and Neonatal Birthing Computer Interactive Simulator makes it possible to practice before getting “on-the-job” training.

Click on the image below for the MSN article:

From what I understand they are coming out with a KATIE version that makes no sounds at all.

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This just cracked me up when I saw it. I would have just pointed directly to Transbuddha but I had to take out a few slow bits and add the first sound track that came to mind.

Besides the edits, the movements and fluid motions of these robots are pretty amazing.

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This makes that Duracell Penguin commercial look so yesterday (and it was posted today). Remote controlled roaches, you have to read this one. Japan was worried about upskirt pictures with cell phones. Imagine what a twisted mind could do with remote controlled roaches.

Within a few years, Shimoyama says, electronically controlled insects carrying mini-cameras or other sensory devices could be used for a variety of sensitive missions - like crawling through earthquake rubble to search for victims, or slipping under doors on espionage surveillance.

Originally found on Transbuddha’s IntraWeb Sausage: Fat-Free Links section.

Also check out the Roach Coach we posted on June 09, 2005.

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Transformers, more than meets the eye. Well so is the Saab. Watch the Jet-to-Car animation in this one. It’s been done but this has real purpose in the history of Saab.

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