Credit: @Gil_Meneses
Only last Friday, staff at an Washington DC were saying hello to their new security robot. It… didn’t work out quite as planned.
Our D.C. office building got a security robot. It drowned itself.
We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots. pic.twitter.com/rGLTAWZMjn
— Bilal (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017
If you need a storage container and you’re an Alien fan with cash to splash, this is the answer. It’s a motion-controlled replica of a Xenomorph egg that opens up to emit a green glow as you stash or retrieve your items. Unfortunately that probably won’t include spare change given it costs $250.
[Spotted by: Laughing Squid]
“Kangaroo” by Peter Firminger is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Volvo has confirmed its self-driving car is baffled by kangaroos because they bounce.
The company is working on autonomous vehicles with a planned 2020 release. Because of the markets it plans to target, it’s including a system to detect large animals such as deer and elk, which can be calamitous for animal and driver alike in the event of a collision. That policy began in Volvo’s native Sweden where stray moose pose a risk.
Unfortunately the technology has thrown up some headaches in Australia where detecting kangaroos will be key part of the safety features for drivers, particularly on rural roads.
The big problem is that the system uses the ground as one of the key reference points for judging distance and in turn the anticipated time until a collision, which informs the best cause of evasive action.
Unfortunately, as Volvo Australia’s David Pickett told ABC, kangaroo bounces mess that up. “When it’s in the air, it actually looks like it’s further away, then it lands and it looks closer.”
It’s not a trivial problem as an Australian insurer estimates vehicles collide with kangaroos 16,000 times a year.
Volvo says that although it’s definitely a critical problem, it doesn’t anticipate it delaying a 2020 release.
These days you can’t move for videos attempting to blend unconventional objects or pit them against red hot lava balls. But way back in 2009, Youtuber Jogwheel was microwaving inappropriate objects for (potentially perilous) research. Now the people behind a slow motion video channel have decided to replicate one of his more spectacular experiments…
Many Game Of Thrones viewers have commented on the obvious adoration (or lust) that Tormund has for Brienne, with all manner of screencaps, GIFs and musical tributes. Now actor Kristofer Hivju has created a video giving his take on the whole affair…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfGioJvPvM0
To mark the opening of a British Library exhibition on magic and Harry Potter, Bloombsbury is publishing two related books. One is titled Harry Potter: A History Of Magic – The Book Of The Exhibition and is themed on the magic-related subjects taught at Hogwarts:
Each chapter showcases a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and other collections around the world, beside exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrations from the Harry Potter archive. There’s also a specially commissioned essay for each subject area by an expert, writer or cultural commentator, inspired by the contents of the exhibition – absorbing, insightful and unexpected contributions from Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake – who offer a personal perspective on their magical theme.Readers will be able to pore over ancient spell books, amazing illuminated scrolls that reveal the secret of the elixir of life, vials of dragon’s blood, mandrake roots, painted centaurs and a genuine witch’s broomstick, in a book that shows J.K. Rowling’s magical inventions alongside their cultural and historical forebears.This is the ultimate gift for Harry Potter fans, curious minds, big imaginations, bibliophiles and readers around the world who missed out on the chance to see the exhibition in person.
An irresistible romp through the history of magic, from alchemy to unicorns, ancient witchcraft to Harry’s Hogwarts – packed with unseen sketches and manuscript pagesfrom J.K. Rowling, magical illustrations from Jim Kay and weird, wonderful and inspiring artefacts that have been magically released from the archives at the British Library.
This great video covers how the technologies used to simulate or enhance color in movies has changed over the past 116 years. [Warning: May spoil the magic of The Wizard Of Oz.]
[Via: I Heart Chaos]
Childrens author Dick King-Smith shared this example of how the right frame rate can mess with our visual perception.
When the GIF frames per second match your leg speed. pic.twitter.com/dB6IVnU8mp
— Dick King-Smith HQ (@DickKingSmith) July 18, 2017