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<p>Boston Dynamics' new "Atlas" robot is a game changer, not just for companies, but for society, Insider.com CEO Jason Calacanis said Wednesday.</p> <p>"This is really the end of manual labor. When you watch this video, he's walking through the snow; he's wobbly, but he gets back up," the tech investor told CNBC's "Squawk Alley."</p>

While there are fears robots may rise up to take over the world if artificial intelligence progresses too quickly, some of us may find ourselves simply marrying machines in the future. A leading computer scientist has predicted that as robots become more human-like, people may start turning to them for companionship. His predictions mirror the plot of the hit TV series Humans, where people formed emotional attachments to robots brought in to help out around the home.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Purchasing Mini Caliber Robot 10--Mini-Caliber Robot Solicitation Number: DJA-15-ANCE-PR-1110 Agency: Department of Justice Office: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Location: Administrative Programs Division (APD) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.The solicitation number is DJA-15-ANCE-PR-1110 and is issued as an invitation for bids (IFB), unless otherwise indicated herein.The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-84. The associated North American Industrial Classification System...

Disney's VertiGo Combines Car, Helicopter to Drive Up Walls By Evan Ackerman Posted 29 Dec 2015 For robots, multimodal is the way to go, when going involves getting to as many places as you possibly can. Designing a robot with the ability to deal with a variety of terrains or conditions usually requires some creativity, and in the past, some of the most creative designs have come from ETH Zurich and Disney Research, like this wall-climbing base-jumping tornado-powered robot called Paraswift. As cool as Paraswift was, since it depended on suction to climb walls, it couldn't deal with rough surfaces...

Although they aren't as common as flying drones, we are seeing an increasing number of wall-climbing robots. What isn't so common, however, are devices like the VertiGo, which both drives on the ground and climbs up walls. Its climbing ability is particularly impressive, as it can even tackle walls with rough, uneven surfaces.

Alpha 2, The World's First Humanoid Robot for the Family. Intelligent, Interactive and Expandable!

The world's first robot 'actress': Talking android fitted with a human face is given star role in Japanese nuclear disaster film Android called 'Geminoid F' is the co-star in the Japanese film 'Sayonara' Designed to look and act like a human with rubber 'skin' and woman's face The robot is equipped with motorised actuators and controlled remotely By Julian Robinson for MailOnline Published: 22:29 GMT, 1 November 2015 | Updated: 00:25 GMT, 2 November 2015 Japanese film-makers have created a robot movie star - by casting an android 'actress' in a lead role. The robot co-stars alongside a human in...

mong the luminaries appearing this year at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, part of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, are household names such as Bill Gates, actor Ted Danson, Harvard's Lawrence Summers, and ... Pepper? Pepper, a "social humanoid robot" from Japan, is billed as the "first humanoid robot in the world capable of recognizing universal emotions." The Clinton Foundation includes Pepper along with his more traditional human counterparts in a list of speakers for the annual gathering that begins later this week.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday panned GOP rival Carly Fiorina, calling the businesswoman a "robot" after her debate performance. "She’s got a line of pitter-patter that I’ve heard many times from her," Trump told Fox News Radio's "Kilmeade & Friends." Trump pointed to Fiorina's stump speech, in which she regularly refers to calling her friend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on her first day in the Oval Office. "I’ve heard that so many times, and she said it the other night too, the same exact words," Trump said on the program. "Bah, bah, bah — like a robot."...

An ‘intelligent’ robot offered a truly chilling answer to an interviewer’s question, ‘Will robots take over the world?’ ‘Don’t worry, even if I evolve into Terminator, I’ll keep you warm and safe in my people zoo, where I can watch you for ol’ times sake,’ the bearded robot intoned. His interviewer, from PBS, is visibly taken aback by the answer. The robot – modelled after Philip K Dick, the novelist whose work inspired Blade Runner – uttered the terrifying words in an interview with PBS in 2011, in response to the question, ‘Will robots take over the world?. The robot...

Plus, a robot bartender is slingin' cocktails in Germany. The human race's pancake flipping days could soon be over. MIT Technology Review reports that RobotHow — a European robotics research project focused on teaching robots to understand language — has developed a robot chef capable of using instructions to complete complex tasks like flipping pancakes and making pizza. While things like flipping a pancake might seem simple, for robots it's a challenge to determine how much force and what exact motion is required to complete the action, writes Quartz. The robot called PR2 learns tasks by following instructions on wikiHow....

It may have fared badly in the recent robo-olympics, causing hilarity with a series on unexpected falls, but Google has revealed its humanoid robot has been set free in the woods to learn how to run through terrain. The Atlas robot created by Google-owned firm Boston Dynamics is a formidable figure at 6ft 2in tall and weighing in at 330lb. In the video, it is shown struggling to stay upright - but managing to traverse a forest path without falling.

Crowded. That’s how Ed Rensi remembers what life was like working at McDonald’s in 1966. There were about double the number of people working in the store — 70 or 80, as opposed to the 30 or 40 there today — because preparing the food just took a lot more doing. “When I first started at McDonald’s making 85 cents an hour, everything we made was by hand,” Rensi said — from cutting the shortcakes to stirring syrups into the milk for shakes. Over the years, though, ingredients started to arrive packaged and pre-mixed, ready to be heated up, bagged...

<p>First things first. “HitchBOT,” for all practical purposes, was a garbage can with an iPhone in it.</p>

Only two weeks into an attempt to travel across the United States, the friendly hitchhiking robot's journey has ended in Philadelphia after being beaten to a pulp. HitchBOT, who was created by a team of communication researchers from Ontario, was found damaged beyond repair early Saturday in the city of brotherly love.

Leggy ROBOT INSECT WALKS on WATER before flawlessly LEAPING OFF Artificial system replicates biological movement 1 Aug 2015 at 14:20, Kelly Fiveash Vid Scientists have created a leggy microrobot that mimics the actions of a water strider. They wanted to replicate the movement of the semi-aquatic insects to try to have a better understanding of how they are able to jump from watery surfaces with the same amount of force and height as a leap from rigid ground. Boffins from Seoul National University, Korea (SNU), Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and...

Let’s be honest, whether fair or not, Philadelphia has a certain reputation. It’s a city where football fans booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus. Baseball fans once threw D cell batteries (the big ones) at visiting outfielder J.D. Drew. And now, it’s where an adorable robot who was only counting on the kindness of strangers to hitchhike across the country was vandalized, effectively ending his summer trip. hitchBOT’s trip came to an (Friday) night in Philadelphia after having spent a little over two weeks hitchhiking and visiting sites in Boston, Salem, Gloucester, Marblehead, and New York City. Unfortunately, hitchBOT...

On Wednesday Governor Cuomo’s New York Wage Board set a new minimum wage for New York City’s 200,000 fast food workers. City establishments will now be required to offer employees at least $15 per hour by the end of 2018. The move also makes it cost effective for companies to fire humans and hire robots. Momentum Machines has developed a robot that can put out one burger every 10 seconds.

BOSTON (AP) — With its thumb raised skyward and a grin on its digital face, the robotic creation of two researchers in Canada is about to start a hitchhiking journey across the U.S. The humanoid robot named hitchBOT has already caught rides across Canada and in Europe, relying on the kindness and curiosity of strangers. But on Friday it starts its first U.S. tour, setting out from Salem, Massachusetts, with dreams of San Francisco ahead. Along the way, it hopes to see some quintessential American sites, including Times Square, Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. The kid-size robot is immobile...

Dr Christopher Lehnert talked about the potential robots held for the agriculture industry at CQ University yesterday. A STEREOTYPICAL farmer might wear overalls and gumboots in 2015. But in not long at all, he could be a state-of-the-art robot. Agricultural robotics research fellow Dr Christopher Lehnert spoke at CQUniversity yesterday about robots being developed to pick fruit and detect weeds. One problem they could solve was harvesting labour shortages. "It's a causal workforce problem. (For farmers) their really high risk is getting a workforce to pick the fruit," Mr Lehnert said. "There's not a worry about job losses. We're just...