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http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/01/german-researchers-build-terminator-robot-hand/ Because this is a wired.com article, it must be link only, per Free Republic rules.

n the 'Terminator' universe, Skynet was built as a Global Digital Defense Network, an artificial intelligence that could command all computerized military hardware. The military installed Skynet because it would remove human error and guarantee faster, more efficient reaction time. It also guaranteed nuclear armageddon when it gained self-awareness and forced the surviving humans into slave labor. So that part was bad. But the first thing, the network command of all computerized hardware, that was a good thing, right? Hey, guess what, everybody! That first thing is starting to happen, and its name is RoboEarth! And just in case you're...

Autonomous military robots that will fight future wars must be programmed to live by a strict warrior code, or the world risks untold atrocities at their steely hands. The stark warning, which includes discussion of a "Terminator" style scenario in which robots turn on their masters is part of a hefty report funded for the US Navy High Tech and secretive office of Naval Research

The cameras used for a documentary on polar bears were designed to be as unobtrusive and resilient as possible. Polar Bear: Spy on The Ice used hi-tech "spy cams" to get as close as possible to the bears during summer in the Arctic islands of Svalbard. But while they were built to withstand temperatures as low as -40C, in the end most could not cope with the curiosity displayed by their subjects. Polar Bear: Spy on The Ice is broadcast on BBC One at 2000 GMT on Wednesday 29 December - or afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

<p>Among the number of plant closings announced in the United States this week: A printing plant in Greenburg, Ind., costing 220 jobs; a tomato processing plant in Westover, Md., with 103 people fired; an office-supply facility in Mattoon, Ill., with 129 jobs lost.</p>

Modern warfare relies increasingly on robotics for intelligence gathering and increasingly for strike capabilities, but the decision-making capacity still rests solely in the hands of human commanders. But British defense company BAE systems is testing a way to turn over battlefield decisions over to robot troops as well. ALADDIN (Autonomous Learning Agents for Decentralised Data and Information Networks) is BAE’s response to the overload of sensors and data now confronting battlefield commanders who now have UAV observations, soldier-based sensors, satellite data, and reams of other intelligence washing over them in such volumes that, as Air Force Lt. Gen. David A....

Robots are a major part of the cultural fabric of Japan; they’re performing weddings, buying groceries and keeping people company. A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo is taking this robotic cultural immersion a step further — they’re making animal-robot hybrids. Sort of. RatCar is a brain-machine interface that uses a rat’s brain signals to control a motorized robot. The rat hangs in the air, and the robot does what the rat’s limbs would do. It’s far from the only brain-robot locomotion contraption, but it’s arguably one of the strangest.

Well, this isn't good. A robot at the Italian Institute of Technology led by Dr. Petar Kormushev has taught itself how to use a bow and arrow. It only took him eight shots to start hitting the bullseye every time. And I don't know about you, but I'm not sure that seven shots is enough time for me to run away.

Participating in sports or playing an instrument may seem like a normal part of a teenager’s busy schedule, but for Gabby Gutierrez it’s a wonderful reminder of life. A sophomore at White Oak High School, Gabby juggles participation in soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball and playing clarinet for the band. The 15-year-old says she is appreciative of every moment — and owes a lot of thanks to a special robot that helped save her life. Several months ago, she discovered a frightening and potentially fatal medical condition after returning from a volleyball match. Gabby noticed a lingering sore throat that she...

It sounds like something straight out of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. But, in a chilling echo of the computer Hal from the iconic film, scientists have developed robots that are able to deceive humans and even hide from their enemies. An experiment by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology is believed to be the first detailed examination of robot deception. The team developed computer algorithms that would let a robot ‘decide’ whether it should deceive a human or another robot and gave it strategies to give it the best chance of not being found out. Read more:...

The Terminator-style technology uses artificial intelligence and could be the next big thing in military training. "People train on static pop up targets or targets that move predictably on rails," Alex Brooks from Marathon Robotics, based in Redfern, told Nine News.

Hollywood and robotics researchers have long struggled with the "uncanny valley," where a movie character or robot falls into the unsettling gap between human and not-quite-human. One psychologist likes to demonstrate this by holding up a plastic baby doll and asking audiences if they think it's alive. They say no. Then she takes out a saw and starts cutting the doll's head off, but quickly stops upon seeing the uncomfortable audience reactions.

Even as the U.S. begrudgingly watches it own 21st century Moon-landing aspirations fade into the sunset, other nations are more than happy to pick up the slack. We've already covered China and India's lunar ambitions extensively. Now another Asian superpower is thirsting for the resources buried on Earth's largest natural satellite. According to a report in Japanese publication NODE, JAXA, Japan's space program, is looking to pour $2.2B USD into plans to put an army of robots (peaceful robots, of course) on the Moon.

Unsuccessful in its latest bid to plug the oil leak off the Louisiana coast, BP on Sunday announced a new attempt to place a "containment cap" atop the gushing well one mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Robert Dudley, managing director of BP, said Sunday on CNN that the new remedy, which could take up to seven more days to take effect, is not a sure thing, and wouldn't capture all the leaking oil even if it works.

For the first time, microscopic robots made from DNA molecules can walk, follow instructions and work together to assemble simple products on an atomic-scale assembly line, mimicking the machinery of living cells, two independent research teams announced Wednesday. These experimental devices, described in the journal Nature, are advances in DNA nanotechnology, in which bioengineers are using the molecules of the genetic code as nuts, bolts, girders and other building materials, on a scale measured in billionths of a meter. The effort, which combines synthetic chemistry, enzymology, structural nanotechnology and computer science, takes advantage of the unique physical properties of DNA...

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO – Underwater robots positioned a giant 100-ton concrete-and-steel box over a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday as workers prepared to drop the device to the seafloor in a first-of-its-kind attempt to stop oil gushing into the sea. A spokesman for oil giant BP PLC, which is in charge of the cleanup, said the box was suspended about 200 feet above the main leak Friday and was being moved into position, though it could be Saturday before that happens. Several undersea cameras attached to the robots were making sure...

Japanese professor Hiroshi Ishiguro yesterday unveiled a female android that can laugh and smile as it mimics a person's expressions. Using a motion-capture system, the robot, called Geminoid TMF, can move its rubber face to imitate a smile, a toothy grin, and a grim look with furrowed brows. Prof Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University, developed the android with a team of researchers together with Japan's robot maker Kokoro. Geminoid TMF was modelled on a young Japanese woman, who was present at the unveiling today. 'I felt like I had a twin sister,' the woman said afterwards. The developers said...

When the Air Force recently mapped out a game plan to 2047, its report contained a big surprise: Fewer pilots and more robotic planes acting on their own. Will the airman-centric service accept a future with fewer cockpits? And are we ready for UAVs that can fire their weapons without human permission.Like its waterfowl namesake, the Heron unmanned aerial vehicle has the excellent vision of a hunter. Today, the 27-foot-long Israeli UAV is making a rare flight over the United States, using a high-definition video camera to track a speedboat buzzing across the Patuxent River in Maryland. The camera shares...

President Barack Obama reversed a Bush administration effort to try another moon landing with the ultimate goal of putting a man on Mars, arguing amidst a budget crisis that NASA should scale back its lunar landing efforts. However, that doesn't rule out sending robots on extraterrestrial vacations -- and bringing some meatbag human friends along for the ride. The Obama administration based its decisions on NASA's 2009 report from its Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, better known as the Augustine Commission report.

In a dangerous legacy of the world's deadliest conflict, 150,000 World War Two-era sea mines litter the Baltic Sea. The danger these bombs pose to a proposed gas pipeline has prompted Russia to hire the British firm Bactec International to clear the sea of unexploded ordnance. And for Bactec, that means it's time to bring out the robots. Bactec, which previously worked clearing mines from around the Falkland Islands, will use a specially designed robot to scour the ocean floor in search of the 70 bombs blocking the path of the pipeline. When the robot finds a mine, a surface...