Hasta La Gadget!

See that guy? He’s for real. He’s also from Pittsburgh. A team of wizards from Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center is presently building a new “human-scale” robot in order to compete in DARPA‘s Robotics Challenge. Part of its charm revolves around the rubberized tracks on its feet as well as on the extremities of each of its four limbs — not surprisingly, these are engineered to help it maneuver in some pretty sticky situations.

According to the institution, it’ll move much link a tank, but it’ll also be able to chug along on the treads of just two limbs when needed, such as when it must use one or more limbs to open a valve, or to operate power tools. Oh, and in case you’re curious, CMU has affirmed that it’ll “be able to perform complex, physically challenging tasks through supervised autonomy,” which sounds precisely like the kind of vague description an ill-willed robot would explain to its master before completely taking over his / her life. Just sayin’.

Filed under: Robots

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Via: Technabob, Geekosystem

Source: Carnegie Mellon

IBM‘s infamous Watson supercomputer is making its way to the classroom after appearing on Jeopardy! a while back. IBM announced today that they’ll be building another Watson supercomputer and will be giving it to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to be the first university to receive a Watson supercomputer. Other universities are planned to get one in the future.

Rensselaer will receive the Watson system thanks to a grant that allows the university to invest more resources to research and development of big data, analytics, and cognitive computing. However, in return, IBM is asking the university to send its findings their way so that they can improve Watson even more.

Rensselaer’s private Watson supercomputer will have 15 terabytes of storage, which is actually more than even the Jeopardy! version had. Plus, the room that Watson will be stored in will allow 20 people at a time to work inside, including faculty, graduate students, and a few undergraduate students.

So what will the supercomputer be used for at the university? Artificial intelligence researchers at Rensselaer want to improve Watson’s mathematical ability and help it figure out the meaning of newer words. They also want to improve the computer’s ability to analyze all of the images, videos, and emails floating around on the internet, something that will prove to be no easy task for the folks at the university.

IBM’s Watson heading to its first university is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Despite warnings to the contrary, Cyberdyne, SkyNet and Demon Seed are technological terrors that currently exist. No matter, as we’ve now got someone leading the fightback — Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn. He’s part of a team of scientists, engineers and philosophers at Cambridge University’s newly-minted Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. Aping the plot of beloved ’70s TV series Doomwatch, the unit will investigate the fringes of science fact, including biotechnology, artificial intelligence and climate change. He’ll be joined by Huw Price and Baron Martin Rees, who we hope will travel around the country in a minivan and fight ghosts, just like these guys.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: Today (Twitter)

Source: Cambridge University, CSER

Microsoft’s given Xbox love to PC-buying students recently, and it’s just announced that it’ll carry on that tradition with Office 365 University, by offering a special four-year, $80 subscription to higher-education students. For that sum, you’ll get four years of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access if you’re seeking a sheepskin scroll, which Redmond says works out to $1.67 per month. Also included are 60 Skype world minutes per month and 27GB of Premium SkyDrive storage, along with free upgrades and the ability to install on two separate computers, to boot. That should take some of the sting out of those scholarly expenses if you need a copy, so check the source to see how to grab it.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

Microsoft launches four-year, $80 Office 365 University subscription for students originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During the month of August, we published 14 back to school guides, covering product categories ranging from cameras and printers, to smartphones and ultraportables. With each post, we offered a selection of gadget must-haves, but we also gave you an opportunity to enter our massive back to school giveaway, including 15 identical bags stuffed to the brim (and far beyond) with some of the hottest devices of the season. You want these gadgets, and we want to help! The contest runs through noon (ET) on Friday, September 7th, so there’s still plenty of time to enter — simply leave a comment at each of our category pages, along with the giveaway post, to secure 15 chances to win. And to make things even easier, we’re including links to all of our posts just below. Good luck, and have a fantastic semester!

• Engadget’s back to school 2012 sweepstakes: win one of 15 gadget-filled bags!
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: smartphones
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: ultraportables
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: e-readers
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: mainstream laptops
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: gaming
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: HDTV
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: digital cameras
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: portable audio
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: accessories
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: docks and clocks
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: bags and cases
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: printers
• Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: fun stuff!

Continue reading There are just four days left to enter our back to school sweepstakes with nearly $50,000 in prizes!

Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile

There are just four days left to enter our back to school sweepstakes with nearly $50,000 in prizes! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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