“Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.”~Jawaharlal Nehru
[via New Scientist] Does free will actually exist? Or are we all just biological robots?In this video, see why modern neuroscience claims free will is an illusion and why psychology experiments suggest we may be better off believing the lie. Controlling our own destiny is so ingrained in modern society that its non-existence is constantly being challenged. [Read More]
Stuff like this?
Why I love science…
Scientists tell us the most amazing things like how they can accurately predict the weather in 1000 years, they tell how how they just know how man came to exist on the plant and heck, for that matter? How our whole universe exploded into being with a big “BANG!”
And yet…
They think they have finally figured out exactly how a bicycle stays upright when moving.
Just now.
Yeah…
[via Science A Go-Go]How a bicycle stays upright while moving has always been something of a mystery to science, with a vague cocktail of gyroscopic effects being the accepted explanation. Now, however, scientists from Cornell University and the Delft University of Technology have determined the complex interplay of design characteristics that make a bike stay upright. The findings, which may catalyze radically new bike designs, are published in Science.
Traditionally, the consensus within the scientific community was that the stability was very closely related to gyroscopic effect and “trail.” Trail (also known as the caster effect) is the distance by which the contact point of the front wheel trails behind the steering axis. The new study shows both these factors to be relatively unimportant.
“It’s all about how bicycle leaning automatically causes steering, which can bring the wheels back under a falling bike,” said Andy Ruina, professor of mechanics at Cornell and a co-author on the paper.
To prove that gyro and caster effects were not needed, the researchers built a riderless bicycle with two small wheels, each matched with a counter-rotating disk to eliminate the gyro effects, and with the front wheel contact point slightly ahead of the steering axis, giving it a negative caster effect. When launched at more than about 5 mph, the research bike – like many bicycles – still balanced itself. If you knock it slightly to one side, it straightens itself back upright.
All up, the researchers found some 25 different factors influence bicycle stability, but Dr Arend Schwab, fromDelft, said the critical factor was mass distribution, especially the location of the centre of mass of the bicycle’s steering mechanism. “For a bicycle to be stable, the steering mechanism has to be unstable; if the bike falls, the steering should fall even more quickly,” he explained.
The researchers add that bike design is rather conservative and there is nothing about the basic schema of the bicycle that has changed since the end of the nineteenth century. “Manufacturers can use our model to make directed modifications to the stability of their bicycles. That may be of particular interest for unusual designs,” concluded Schwab. [Read More]
OK, science…
So tell me what the weather is going to be like a 1000 years from now, again?
Not that the whole idea of autonomous ROBOTS making human skin isn’t creepy enough…
But add the descriptor “skin broth”, describing these robots creations, to the mix?
And that’s a whole other something…
That I don’t need to contemplate.
Ever.
At least not without weeping wildly.
[via Popsci] Back in 2009, we told you about the skin factory concept at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology, where scientists hoped to mass-produce skin at low cost for clinical testing and other uses. Now it’s come online, with robots squeezing pink solution into pipettes and turning out sheets of human flesh. Der Spiegel took a look inside.
The factory can produce 5,000 penny-sized discs of whitish translucent tissue every month. The designers say it can also come in shades of brown. Each disc will cost about $72, a bit more than expected when the project was in its planning stages two years ago. The German newspaper Der Spiegel took a tour of the facility with its director, Heike Walles; check out their coverage here.
Robots and computers control the skin-making process, which takes place in a sterile, climate-controlled setting. The skin broth is closely monitored for any signs of infection and computers guide the lasers and blades that cut swatches of skin. The goal is to pave the way for factory-produced human tissue, complete with blood vessels, that could be used to treat injuries or various medical conditions.As Der Spiegel puts it, Walles believes factories like this one will be the only way to efficiently produce new tissue like bladders, tracheas, cartilage and even human organs. She and others have successfully produced engineered tissue for human transplantation, but the process is hugely expensive and labor-intensive. An automated manufacturing facility could make it cheaper and simpler, she says.
For now, the tissue is being used in animal testing and could even be used for products like cosmetics, but it is still a long way from being transplanted. European Union regulations require several stages of animal testing before it could be used in a clinical setting, Der Spiegel reports.
[Der Spiegel] [Read More]
[Source]
No.
Really?
Who would have seen this coming?
*points to self*
[via io9]The U.S. government isn’t the only one using more robotic weapons in places like Iraq and Afghanistan — the British government is doing it too. But a new study from Britain’s Ministry of Defence warns we could be creating Skynet.
The Guardian got a look at the MoD’s report, called “The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems” — which warns that the increasingly sophisticated and widespread drone aircraft may be launching us on an “incremental and involuntary journey towards a Terminator-like reality.” The report also says we need to figure out what constitutes “acceptable machine behaviour” before it’s too late. And it warns of high casualties inflicted by “killer drones” in Afghanistan and says “feelings are likely to run high as armed systems acquire more autonomy.”
The Guardian also quotes the report as saying:
It is essential that before unmanned systems become ubiquitous (if it is not already too late) … we ensure that, by removing some of the horror, or at least keeping it at a distance, we do not risk losing our controlling humanity and make war more likely.
The report, prepared by the MoD’s internal think tank, comes just days after Pakistan asked the United States to scale back drone attacks in more sensitive regions of the country. [Guardian via Telegraph] [Read More]
And the fact that a major world power’s central defense department is saying this…
Now?
*sniffs*
Yeah.
Makes me a little uncomfortable.
You?
Love is an intense emotion that inspires the most extreme of reactions, I get that. Although I may not agree with the responses involving the matters of the heart, on an intellectual level…?
I understand the mental psychosis that drives people to do certain things.
However in no way do I get THIS on any level whatsoever!
Suicide by crocodile is never the answer, I don’t care what the question is:
[via Telegraph] Man ‘died after wandering into crocodile waters’
A farm worker may have deliberately waded into a crocodile-infested river after a domestic row according to police in South Africa.
David Lubisi, 40, was eaten alive after he entered the Lepelle river following an argument with his girlfriend, detectives believe.
The father-of-three has not been seen for more than a week after allegedly telling a colleague about his plan on April 7.
“Our investigations have revealed that at around 7pm on April 7 he told a co-worker he wanted to walk into the river, which he knew to be infested with crocodiles,” said Sergeant Malesela Makgopa.
“He was last seen heading towards the water and never turned up after that.
“We believe he may [ Suicide by croc is a "may"...Really?] to have been having domestic problems with his girlfriend .”
Police said the local community had been shattered by the apparent tragedy, which happened near the town of Bushbuckbridge close to the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa’s eastern Mpumalanga province.
The country’s Sowetan newspaper today reported that the owner of a neighbouring property reported seeing a crocodile with a human leg protruding from its mouth four days after the incident. [<<< Oh, look. A clue!]
Mr Lubisi’s sister Esther told the newspaper she did not believe here brother waded in deliberately and must have been pushed into the river.
Today Sergeant Makgopa said detectives had so far been unable to rule out foul play as the missing man’s body had not been found.
But the officer added that detectives currently had no reason to suspect anyone else was involved.
The investigation was continuing today. [Read More]
