Free Republic

Robots can develop prejudices like “racism and sexism” all on their own, a shocking new study has found. Artificial intelligence experts performed thousands of simulations on robot brains, revealing how they split off into groups and treat “outsiders” differently. Computer scientists and psychologists from Cardiff University and MIT teamed up to test how robots identify each other.

LONDON — A veteran anti-war campaigner known for his unapologetically socialist views has won a landslide victory to lead Britain's opposition Labour Party — an outcome that delighted supporters and dismayed others who never imagined he could be elected. The overwhelming support for far-left lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn, 66, was one of the biggest shake-ups in British politics in decades. His win Saturday marks a sharp left turn for his party — and will significantly challenge the tone of mainstream British politics, which is now dominated by Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives. "It's certainly the most high-profile position an overt socialist...

Public release date: 3-Feb-2004 Contact: Dr Derek Ward-Thompson derek.ward-thompson@astro.cf.ac.uk 029-2087-5314 Cardiff University Astronomers unravel a mystery of the Dark Ages Undergraduates' work blames comet for 6th-century "nuclear winter" Scientists at Cardiff University, UK, believe they have discovered the cause of crop failures and summer frosts some 1,500 years ago – a comet colliding with Earth. The team has been studying evidence from tree rings, which suggests that the Earth underwent a series of very cold summers around 536-540 AD, indicating an effect rather like a nuclear winter. The scientists in the School of Physics and Astronomy believe this was caused...