Free Republic

A novel missile-like air vehicle called Roadrunner, with high degrees of modularity and autonomy, and that can be readily reused, has been unveiled by US defense contractor Anduril. There is already a version, the Roadrunner-M, with a high-explosive warhead that can be used as a low-cost loitering anti-air interceptor with the ability to return home for refueling and reuse if it isn't expended in the course of its mission. This is just one potential application for this twin-jet-powered platform that boasts high subsonic speed and takes off and lands vertically. Anduril formally announced Roadrunner and Roadrunner-M today, but the company's...

The aftermath of the pandemic-era tech boom has taken another San Francisco victim. Autonomous trucking software company Embark Trucks is laying off 230 workers and moving toward a total shutdown, the firm announced Friday, less than 16 months after it went public at a $5.2 billion valuation. Friday’s layoff round represented about 70% of the company, according to an email to employees from CEO Alex Rodrigues. Workers will receive severance pay through June 2, health benefits through the end of August and help figuring out visas, if needed, Rodrigues said. Embark is also shuttering offices in southern California and Houston....

Self-driving cars, like the human drivers that preceded them, need to see what's around them to avoid obstacles and drive safely. The most sophisticated autonomous vehicles typically use lidar, a spinning radar-type device that acts as the eyes of the car. Lidar provides constant information about the distance to objects so the car can decide what actions are safe to take. But these eyes, it turns out, can be tricked. New research reveals that expertly timed lasers shined at an approaching lidar system can create a blind spot in front of the vehicle large enough to completely hide moving pedestrians...

If autonomous weapons are the future of warfare, then the United States has no choice but to grapple with their complexities. he congressionally appointed National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence recently concluded that “we can expect the large-scale proliferation of AI-enabled capabilities.” The recent Libya conflict seems to validate that conclusion about artificial intelligence (AI), with soldiers loyal to Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar employing a Turkish-made Kargu-2 drone that “hunted down and remotely engaged” retreating forces, according to a United Nations report. It’s not clear whether the Kargu-2 employed its autonomous capabilities, but the Turkish government acknowledged it can field...

A semitruck completed an 80-mile route in Arizona with no human on board and no human intervention during the trip using technology developed by TuSimple, the company said Wednesday. The nighttime trip earlier this month started at a railyard in Tucson, Arizona and ended at a distribution center in Phoenix with approval and supervision from the Arizona Department of Transportation and law enforcement. A lead vehicle scouted the route for unexpected obstacles about five miles ahead of the autonomous semi, and a trailing vehicle following about one-half mile behind the truck was prepared to intervene if necessary, along with several...

FedEx on Wednesday launched a new initiative that will test autonomous truck routes between Dallas and Houston. FedEx said it is collaborating with Aurora, an autonomous technology developer, and PACCAR, a medium-and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturer, to launch the testing program, of which the pilot began on Wednesday. The companies will use Aurora’s autonomous driving technology in PACCAR’s Autonomous Vehicle Platform within FedEx trucking operations, according to FedEx.

Definitions. No single, universally accepted definition of LAWS is used in international discussions. However, Department of Defense Directive 3000.09, which establishes U.S. policy on autonomy in weapons systems, defines LAWS as “weapon system[s] that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.” This definition’s principal characteristic is the role of the human operator with regard to target selection and engagement decisions. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, however, have grounded their definition of LAWS on different characteristics, in particular the technological sophistication of the weapon system, such that LAWS are considered to be...

A video report from Minneapolis, Minnesota, shows a “volatile” autonomous zone set up by a “militant-style group” around the George Floyd memorial, residents of the community stated. The video shows the journalist being confronted by two people dressed in all black who directed him to leave. “Barricades have been set up by protesters and supporters of the movement,” NewsNation Now journalist Brian Entin reported from the scene and two men approached him from behind. “They don’t allow anyone in, not even the police.

The Portland family at the center of the “Red House” controversy reportedly has a second home located only 2 miles away, according to property records. The house, located on Mississippi Avenue and owned by the Kinney family since the 1950s, has been the focus of protests after the family was evicted following a protracted legal battle over foreclosure. The Kinney family has continued legal challenges to their eviction, and they have stayed at a second home during the protests that's located less than 2 miles from the “Red House,” OPB reported. When OPB reporters visited the home, the Kinneys’ son...

Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) of Portland, Oregon, promised Tuesday that police would remove radical left-wing protesters from an area they had occupied in the city: “There will be no autonomous zone in Portland.” As Breitbart News reported, anti-eviction protesters attacked police officers on Tuesday and set up an “autonomous zone” at the “Red House” Tuesday, setting up barricades.

An “autonomous zone” erected near George Floyd Square in south Minneapolis delayed an emergency response to a beating of a small business owner, according to a report. KSTP reports: The barricaded zone is a one-block radius from the intersection of Chicago Avenue South and East 38th Street, flanked on the north and south by 37th and 39th streets and on the east and west by Elliot and Columbus avenues. The owner of Mill City Auto Body, who asked to only be identified by his first name, Dan, was knocked unconscious during an assault and robbery at his business on Aug....

SEATTLE — On June 8, Seattle police frantically loaded what they could from the east precinct onto trucks and cars. Within hours, they boarded up and abandoned the station. That night, left-wing protesters from Black Lives Matter and Antifa declared ownership of the six-block neighborhood in the middle of the Pacific Northwest’s largest city. They named their new territory the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” or CHAZ. No laws or rules applied here except for one: “No cops allowed.” During five undercover days and nights in the zone, I witnessed a continuing experiment in anarchy, chaos and brute-force criminality. In order...

Welcome to the CHAZ, the newly named Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, where most everything was free Tuesday. Free snacks at the No-Cop Co-op. Free gas masks from some guy’s sedan. Free speech at the speaker’s circle, where anyone could say their piece. A free documentary movie - Ava DuVernay’s “13th” - showing after dark. A Free Capitol Hill, according to no shortage of spray paint on building facades. And perhaps most important to demonstrators, the neighborhood core was free of uniformed police. **SNIP** A man passed out flyers calling for a Thursday meeting to help answer the question now lingering...

From article: A witness to the Ethiopian Airlines crash says smoke was coming from the rear of the plane before it hit the ground, killing 157 people on board. Tamrat Abera tells The Associated Press the plane rotated twice before crashing and exploding. Smoke rose high into the sky.

The Boeing 737 MAX, the type of plane involved in a deadly crash in Ethiopia over the weekend, is still airworthy and the Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue a notice to the international aviation community later Monday, a person familiar with the matter said. "The FAA continuously assesses and oversees the safety performance of U.S. commercial aircraft," the FAA said in a statement. "If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action." Aviation officials in China and Indonesia ordered domestic airlines to ground their fleets of the popular Boeing single-aisle planes after...

A man has revealed how running two minutes late for the doomed Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight saved his life. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed six minutes after departing Addi Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday morning killing all 157 people on board.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s aviation regulator said on Monday it had ordered Chinese airlines to suspend their Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft operations by 6 p.m. (5.00 a.m. ET) following a deadly crash of a 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines. An Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 bound for Nairobi crashed minutes after take-off on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. It was the second crash of the 737 MAX, the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrowbody jet that first entered service in 2017. In October, a 737 MAX flown by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air flying from...

The Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new plane only registered in November, disappeared from the radar six minutes into the flight. Immediate comparisons have been drawn with Lion Air flight 610, which crashed just over four months ago, killing 189 people. Flight data showed erratic climbs and descents before the plane, also a MAX 8, came down 12 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta. More than 300 Boeing 737-MAX planes are in operation and more than 5,000 have been ordered worldwide since 2017. It is the latest iteration of the 737, the world’s bestselling plane, ever more capable of flying...

An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia's capital on Sunday morning, killing all 157 on board, authorities said, as grieving families rushed to airports in Addis Ababa and the destination, Nairobi. More than 30 nationalities are among the dead. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash of the Boeing 737-8 MAX plane, which was new and had been delivered to the airline in November. The pilot sent out a distress call and was given clearance to return, the airline's CEO told reporters. The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, widely considered the best-managed airline in Africa, calls itself...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet to Nairobi crashed early on Sunday with 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard, the airline said, and there were no survivors, according to the state broadcaster. The flight left Bole airport in Addis Ababa at 8.38 am local time, before losing contact with the control tower just a few minutes later at 8.44 am. “There are no survivors onboard the flight, which carried passengers from 33 countries,” said state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, quoting an unidentified source at the airline. Flight ET 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, 62...