Science, Space, & Robotics - Page 428
The latest and most important Science, Space, & Robotics news - Page 428.
Elon Musk says AI is more dangerous than North Korea
Elon Musk is known for his views on artificial intelligence. In January 2015, Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and dozens of artificial intelligence experts signed an open letter on artificial intelligence calling for research on the societal impacts of AI. The letter affirmed the potentials of AI but called for a detailed research on how to prevent potential dangers.
Now, Musk decided to raise awareness again by tweeting that AI is a bigger risk than North Korea. If you were following the news lately, you are aware that the tensions with North Korea are rising again.
Read also: Musk says Zuckerberg has limited understanding of AI
Continue reading: Elon Musk says AI is more dangerous than North Korea (full post)
So, I broke an AI system made by NVIDIA at SIGGRAPH 2017
SIGGRAPH 2017 - NVIDIA had a lot to show at SIGGRAPH 2017 this year, with Quadro P6000 systems that were editing 8K video in real-time, to multiple different demonstrations of artificial intelligence and deep learning systems.
One of the AI demonstrations was an AI system called Isaac, who was a Pixar-style robot that you played dominoes against. NVIDIA had a sealed off room that you stepped into, with 3 x systems all powered with high-end Quadro P6000 graphics cards. One of the systems was powering a HTC Vive headset, while the other two were GPU grunt for the AI system, Isaac.
In the VR world, you stand in a class room, across the table from Isaac. Isaac is there to play dominoes against, with NVIDIA building their AI system to detect your moves in the game, and then countering them. If you placed a domino down and it had a single dot, Isaac would respond by working out what he's seeing (a domino with a single dot) and then reaching for one of his dominoes, and placing it next to yours - prompting you for your next move.
Continue reading: So, I broke an AI system made by NVIDIA at SIGGRAPH 2017 (full post)
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy first launch planned for November
SpaceX is currently using the Falcon 9 rocket for the company's launches, but the bigger Falcon Heavy should take those launches over soon. Elon Musk first mentioned the Falcon Heavy rocket in a September 2005 news update. The rocket was scheduled to fly in 2014, then 2015, but there have been delays, and now, the company is aiming for the second half of this year.
SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk explained last year that developing the Falcon Heavy proved to be much more difficult than they previously thought, but it seems that the company is on track. Back in May SpaceX conducted the first Falcon Heavy static fire test which was a success.
Elon Musk has now announced that the company plans the first Falcon Heavy launch for November.
Continue reading: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy first launch planned for November (full post)
Musk says Zuckerberg has limited understanding of AI
During a Facebook Live open interview with users, Mark Zuckerberg commented on artificial intelligence, saying people who warn of "doomsday scenarios" regarding AI are "pretty irresponsible."
Elon Musk doesn't feel the same since in the past, he warned about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence and now, he said that he talked to Zuckerberg about AI and that his "understanding of the subject is limited."
Musk also added that AI is improving at a "double exponential rate," by which he meant that "AI hardware & software are both exponential."
Continue reading: Musk says Zuckerberg has limited understanding of AI (full post)
Google launches VC firm that will back AI startups
Google is pushing more and more into the world of artificial intelligence, announcing a new venture capital firm, Gradient Ventures, that will provide funds and "technical mentorship" to AI startups.
AI startups will be able to talk directly with technical experts at Google, something that includes the minds of Ray Kurzweil, Matias Duarte, and X lab boss Astro Teller. Gradient Ventures is already home to four teams, with Algorithmia a community creating a marketplace for AI-based algorithms and models.
Aurima is making an alternative sensing approach and AI modeling, while Cape is virtualizing drone hardware that lets people fly drones remotely. Lastly, there's Cogniac that is writing software that helps people build convolutional neural networks.
Continue reading: Google launches VC firm that will back AI startups (full post)
Toyota spends $100 million on AI, robotics startups
Toyota has just announced its new Toyota AI Ventures initiative, which is a new venture capital subsidiary that will eye down tech companies that are working on AI. The new fund has already received a $100 million injection of funds from the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), which is an AI/robotics/autonomous car-focused initiative the Japanese carmaker started in 2015.
Toyota AI Ventures will focus its investments directly into AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, as well as data and cloud technology. It w ill also offer companies that it invests in both mentorship, and support at its HQ in Silicon Valley. TRI VP Jim Adler said in a statement: "One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is knowing if they're building the right product for the right market. We can help them navigate that uncertainty, and we're committed to doing so in a founder-friendly way because their success is our success".
This new venture will be a little different, with TRI not just waiting for pitches from investors, but it will look for, and support companies that are on the path towards solving something Toyota is interested in. TRI has already funded 3 startups, with Silicon Valley-based Nauto, a company that designs systems for companies that monitors their driver and road environments to stop accidents or bad driving.
Continue reading: Toyota spends $100 million on AI, robotics startups (full post)
US military working on 'Matrix' like chip for your brain
One day we could all be The One, if the US military has its way with us, that is. The US military has revealed its $65 million funding for a Matrix-like project that sees them working on a 'brain chip' that would let you plug yourself into a computer.
The new system would give soldiers supersenses, and could double as treatment for the blind, those with paralysis, and speech disorders. DARPA officials said that their goal was "developing an implantable system able to provide precision communication between the brain and the digital world". DARPA has selected five recipients for its funding for the Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) program, which started earlier this year.
DARPA's multi-million grants will be going to Brown University, Columbia University, The Seeing and Hearing Foundation, the John B. Pierce Laboratory, Paradromics Inc and the University of California, Berkeley, with a DARPA official adding: "These organizations have formed teams to develop the fundamental research and component technologies required to pursue the NESD vision of a high-resolution neural interface and integrate them to create and demonstrate working systems able to support potential future therapies for sensory restoration".
Continue reading: US military working on 'Matrix' like chip for your brain (full post)
China's new 200-day simulation: preparing for Mars?
In its race towards competing with the US and Russia in becoming a space superpower, China has started its new 200-day simulation of living on another planet.
Four students from Beijing University have started a new 200-day isolation experiment called Lunar Palace 365, where they will live on the resources that they would have if they were on the Moon, or Mars. The students will have to generate life-giving oxygen from plants, recycle their own urine into drinkable water, and being conservative with their supplies.
The biggest test of all, will be the psychological side of being isolated from the world. In this world of instant gratification from social media, what will people do with 200 days away from smartphones, their friends and family, and the world at large? The test will show how they will react to not having sunlight for 200 days, which will effect both their physical and mental health.
Continue reading: China's new 200-day simulation: preparing for Mars? (full post)
Chinese heavy-lift carrier rocket fails in flight
China's launch of the heavy-lift carrier rocket Long March-5 Y2, carrying its heaviest ever satellite, has failed on Sunday, China's official news agency Xinhua said.
The rocket lifted off at 7:23 PM local time, but 40 minutes after the launch, the state-run Xinhua news agency announced that the launch was a failure, without providing any further details.
"Anomaly was detected during its flight, and further investigation will be carried out," stated the agency.
Continue reading: Chinese heavy-lift carrier rocket fails in flight (full post)
Enjoy the photos of another historic SpaceX launch
Back in March, SpaceX successfully launched and landed an already used Falcon 9 rocket, which was the first time in history that an already used rocket was launched again.
This weekend, the company marked the second reflight of a Falcon 9 first stage. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the BulgariaSat-1 satellite into orbit - the first geostationary communications satellite in Bulgaria's history.
Now, the company has published images of this historic launch.
Continue reading: Enjoy the photos of another historic SpaceX launch (full post)