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Regulate armed robots before it's too late
Unmanned machines now carry out more and more military and police missions; soon these robots will be allowed to make autonomous life-and-death decisions: when to shoot — and at whom; a philosopher argues that we should be more mindful of the ethical implications of this trend
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New design allows for using less steel in concrete beams
NC State researchers discover how to use 30 percent less reinforcing steel in the manufacture of the concrete beams; the success of the project is already drawing interest from the concrete industry
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New anti-crime approach: vigilant windows
Windows are coated with special polymer which contains nanoparticles that convert light into fluorescent radiation; this radiation is channeled to the edges of the window where it is detected by sensors; when a person approaches the window, the sensors wirelessly relay this currency information to a computer program, which alerts security officials of the potential intruder
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Beads behavior may help in avalanche prediction
Scientists blame the seeming impossibility of predicting the next big avalanche or earthquake on the inherent unpredictability of complex systems; a unique experiment, however, suggests that this idea may be wrong
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New reactor design solves waste, weapon proliferation problems
A new nuclear reactor design — called Traveling-Wave reactor — is noteworthy for three things: it comes from a privately funded research company, not the government; it would run on what is now waste, thus reducing dramatically the nuclear waste and weapon proliferation problems; and it could theoretically run for a couple of hundred years without refueling
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Economists: copyright and patent laws killing innovation, hurting economy
Two Washington University researchers argue that innovation is key to reviving the economy; trouble is, the current patent/copyright system discourages and prevents inventions from entering the marketplace
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Economists: Markets outperform patents in promoting intellectual discovery
Researchers say that the problem with patents is that they give the prize to the winner only; whoever comes in second or third walks away empty-handed; allowing people to benefit even if they only tackle a part of a problem might well lead to more collaboration, and to the faster development of an ultimate solution to the whole problem
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DARPA, U.S. Army looking for social computing technology
Here is the Pentagonese for social network technology: “new technologies to rapidly create theoretically-informed, data-driven models of complex human, social, cultural, and behavioral dynamics that are instantiated in near-realtime simulations”
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Researchers develop plutonium which is good for power but not for weapons
Israeli researcher finds that adding the rare-earth isotope Americium-241 in due proportion during reprocessing “declaws” plutonium, making suitable for power generation but not for weapons
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Ejector-seat ambulance design
U.K. design students produce a novel concept: an ambulance with ejector seats; when paramedics arrive on the scene of the disaster, they and their equipment are “hurled” toward the victims to ensure faster treatment
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Designing the world's first purpose-built law enforcement vehicle
Yellow Jackets researchers help an Atlanta-based start-up design the world’s first vehicle designed specifically to meet the patrol needs of law enforcement agencies
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U.S. military is looking for all-in-one triggering device
At present, soldiers wishing to blow something up usually have to assemble firing circuits, electronics, detonators, and main charges in the field — or, at any rate, lash them together with gaffer tape and so forth prior to parachuting, submarining, or helicoptering into action; Pentagon research arm want a better way of triggering an explosive
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Consumer-driven face recognition changes public debate
New photo programs from Apple and Google include revolutionary face-spotting technology; trouble is, Google’s Picasa would allow tagged photos from all its Picasa users to create a global database matching photos to e-mail addresses
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Military robotics moves forward
The trend toward autonomous military systems is about to reach a new — and important — phase: machines that do not only aim and shoot, but which also make the decision when and at what target to shoot
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German high-tech sector holds up
Turnover in German-made IT, telecommunications, and digital consumer electronics will hold steady at about €145 billion — still, the German high-tech industry would perform worse than the global high-tech sector as a whole, which is expected to boost sales about 3 percent to €2.416 trillion
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More headlines
The long view
U.S. Should Build Capacity to Rapidly Detect and Respond to AI Developments
It is imperative to improve near real-time observation and tracking of progress in artificial intelligence (AI), its adoption, and its impacts on the workforce, and to widely share this information to better inform and equip workers and policymakers.
AI Fact Checks Can Increase Belief in False Headlines
Many tech companies and start-ups have touted the potential of automated fact-checking services powered by artificial intelligence to stem the rising tide of online misinformation, but a new study has found that AI-fact checking can, in some cases, actually increase belief in false headlines.