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Westworld: Second season of epic sci-fi robot show ends run

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A look back at the second season of Westworld, which recently ended its run on HBO

There are so many amazing stills from Westworld that it was difficult to choose one as the featured image for this article. 

In the end, I chose what I think is the creepiest, but there are just so many creepy and bothersome things in Westworld, that I can only point you to the other images in this article and let you decide if I made a good choice or not.

And certainly I would suggest you watch the show if you’ve ever been a fan of TV.

Westworld is by far the most terrific television series ever. Maybe that’s an exaggeration but I haven’t watched much TV in years because nothing else intrigued me enough to spend as much time as I have watching this show and a few others as part of my job here at Robotics and Automation News.  [Read more…] about Westworld: Second season of epic sci-fi robot show ends run

Westworld set to return for second series as trailer is released

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There’s something nasty at the heart of Westworld, but then, you probably already knew that. 

The massively popular, much-discussed US television science fiction drama series is being scheduled for a second run, starting in April, with a trailer already released (see video below).

In preparation, we thought we’d dust off the box set of the first series and watch all 10 episodes in one go so we can tell you something about it.  [Read more…] about Westworld set to return for second series as trailer is released

Spare humans: Top 10 humanoids and androids from sci-fi films

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Humanoid robots have been central characters in many movies from the very beginning of the film industry, and have regularly featured prominently throughout this time. And they have never – or at least rarely – failed to kindle a certain kind of feeling that combines fascination with a slightly unsettling sense of fear.

Now it seems there will be an increase in the number of films featuring human-like robots. Two major films in two years – Subservience, starring Megan Fox, last year, and Companion, starring Sophie Thatcher, this year – might not represent a deluge, but we think this is a sign of things to come.

What I mean is that I believe there will be many more films featuring humanoid robots and androids from now on, mainly because we as a society are increasingly having to deal with artificial intelligence which lives inside computers but communicates with us all the time, as well as actual AI machines in the our three-dimensional physical world that move and talk and walk and drive us around – often referred to as “embodied artificial intelligence”. [Read more…] about Spare humans: Top 10 humanoids and androids from sci-fi films

Elon Musk and his Tesla Bot: Will humanoid robots take over the world like all of science fiction predicts?

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Arguably the world’s most visionary entrepreneur, Elon Musk, is rarely out of the news, whether it’s because of his super-duper Tesla electric cars or because of his achievements in aerospace, which include rockets and spacecraft built by his SpaceX company docking with and supplying the International Space Station.

In recent days, Musk has been in the news because of his reported comments about humanoid robots. According to Reuters and hundreds of other reputable news outlets, Musk believes humanoid robots will be an even bigger business than his Tesla car company, which at one stage was estimated to be the most valuable automaker in the world.

Musk unveiled his proposed humanoid robot – given the name “Tesla Bot” or “Optimus” for now – at a 3-hour stage presentation, which has been uploaded to YouTube. The machine is also mentioned on the Tesla company website. [Read more…] about Elon Musk and his Tesla Bot: Will humanoid robots take over the world like all of science fiction predicts?

Beam me up, Scotty. Or send me a foldable smartphone

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If you’re among the millions of people who watched the sci-fi TV show Westworld and saw the folding smartphones used by some of the characters, you probably immediately thought, “I want one of those.”

That’s what we thought anyway.

And whereas the old, 1960s Star Trek showed off tablet computers and other technologies many decades before they were beamed into our collective – and possibly holographic – reality, nowadays, things happen slightly faster.

[Read more…] about Beam me up, Scotty. Or send me a foldable smartphone

Farming lands in the robotic age while humanoid robot makers adopt 3D technology

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In the latest issue of Sensor Readings magazine, we feature the latest and most advanced technologies for what’s being called “precision agriculture”. 

Farming is said to have started around 15,000 years ago and provided the foundation on which human civilizations were built.

As recently as 50 to 100 years ago, most modern nation-states were agrarian, generating the majority of their gross domestic product from the agricultural sector.  [Read more…] about Farming lands in the robotic age while humanoid robot makers adopt 3D technology

Biology and robotics enter into an unholy union to bring forth nightmare creatures from the very depths of hell

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The worlds of biology and robotics are increasingly merging and the end result will inevitably be the creation of hellish creatures that will be called “androids”, “cyborgs” or even simply “robots”. 

And with the growing capabilities of additive manufacturing or 3D printing which use sophisticated materials and techniques, the knowledge and the tools will be more widely available to create these creatures more easily than ever before.

In a recent development, a brand new, combined biomedical engineering and robotics centre was opened in Australia.  [Read more…] about Biology and robotics enter into an unholy union to bring forth nightmare creatures from the very depths of hell

Briefing – Products and Markets: Humanoid robots struggle to find a place in today’s society

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Humanoids are probably the type of robots that the general public finds most fascinating. 

Yes, industrial robotic arms have their own attractions – the way they move so precisely and can work endlessly – but humanoids, for obvious reasons, possess the ultimate allure.

And if they take the form of your favourite person in the world – perhaps that film star you’ve had a crush on all your life – well, you’re practically in heaven.  [Read more…] about Briefing – Products and Markets: Humanoid robots struggle to find a place in today’s society

Terrifying cyborgs move one step closer to taking over the world

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If you’re old enough to remember the cyborgs from the early series of science fiction series Doctor Who, you would probably agree that the Cybermen were without question the most terrifying villains to ever show their horrifying faces on our television screens. Ever. 

But what’s happening today in the real world is even more scary than that. It’s just that we seem to have become accustomed to being shocked and traumatised.

The Cybermen were probably made mostly of metal and plastic or some sort of inorganic material – as in, they were not made of flesh and bone as we know them.  [Read more…] about Terrifying cyborgs move one step closer to taking over the world

Nobody’s perfect: Future relationships with humanoid robots

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The concept of creating the perfect companion has probably been a central theme in works of science fiction since the beginning of science fiction. 

Although Frankenstein’s monster is not everyone’s idea of the perfect companion, Mary Shelley wrote the novel before 1818, when it was first published.

That’s at least 200 years since someone described a mad scientist who creates a human-like being in a lab using means other than natural procreation. [Read more…] about Nobody’s perfect: Future relationships with humanoid robots