[MIRRORING VIA AKIHABARANEWS.COM BECAUSE WE CAN]
The Lovechild of Blade Runner and Inception
We’ve all marveled (some drool) at the incredible cityscapes of the world’s largest city, our home: Tokyo.
The contiguous urbanization, beginning at Tokyo Bay, crawls westward and disappears beneath the sky, farther than we can see – not only by distance, but also due to the basic curvature of the earth. It’s just that vast. Continue reading »
[MIRRORING VIA AKIHABARANEWS.COM BECAUSE WE CAN]
Hoeing an Increasingly Tough Row
Japanese farmers do not have it very easy. Naturally, it’s a lot of really hard work, much of which, even in 2014, is hardcore manual labor; the bulk of Japanese farming remains only partially mechanized (if at all). Hours are long. Profit margins are slim. With the possible exception of personal pride, the upsides are minimal, and effectively nothing looks to be getting better.
Here in Japan, as is the case in the United States, for example, although farming and ranching are generally considered honorable professions, understandably, almost nobody wants to do them. Moreover, the fact of the matter is that Japanese agriculture is massively propped up by government support and aggressively protective trade policies, i.e., in an open market, Japanese farmers, already an extreme minority, would vanish.
Oh, and another thing:
According to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (PDF – Japanese/日本語), approximately 60% of those actively farming here in Japan are over 65 years old, and only 10% are under 50. Push out 30 years, and even with continued subsidies and such, farmers are going to literally vanish. Continue reading »
• • •
To celebrate the reboot of Carl Sagan’s seminal ‘Cosmos,’ we now present a repost from May 8, 2012. This classic is one of the most popular Anthrobotic.com posts of all time – and I’m allowed to call it a classic because I’m the only only one with admin access around here. It’s also one of the few Anthrobotic posts to include a ham-handed, homemade infographic.
The question then at hand has finally been answered, and so congratulations to Dr. Tyson. Learn more about the new show, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, by clicking on those words that were right before these words right here.
-The Janitor
• • •
A Showdown to Fill Big Shoes
In 1996, after he gave so much of his life to us, we lost one of the most excellent humans who ever lived - Dr. Carl Sagan. Without him, the Western world has longed for a go-to science ambassador and suffered the lack of a charismatic, broadly appealing leader, communicator, and popularizer.
Try as they might, with commendable and hopefully continuing effort, Stephen Hawking, Ray Kurzweil, Brian Greene, and Bill Nye just don’t have the juice to truly inspire those who aren’t, well, fairly dorky to begin with.
But Now, Contenders Have Emerged!
Among many accomplished and respectable practitioners and promoters of science and scientific thought, the field has narrowed, and it is now clear that there are but two: Continue reading »
We’re Going to Make Sweet Love to Robots Pretty Soon – REVISITED!
…AGAIN
This right here is a re-post/re-share of the seminal Anthrobotic work:
“Okay, Let’s Talk about Making Sex with Robots”
It’s Valentine’s Day, so yeah. You get it.
To quote:
“I’m not even sure how to make the first move here. Anyone covering sex and robots knows how hard it is; brevity is a challenge, and, if you’re not careful, you can definitely go too deep. The topic is relentlessly penetrated by innuendo and double entendre, and one can go on and on for hours – just pounding away. So, I’m going to keep it as short, sweet, and casual as possible. Also, I don’t want to chafe or make myself seem to be overcompensating for some kind of impotence, so I’ll keep this a friendly piece with some benefits on the side. I hope you’ll be satisfied.
And I hope I can get off the pun train soon.”
And then it goes all over the robot sex and the why and the implications.
Teledildonics, which yeah, is totally what it sounds like, is discussed.
Dildo is used a bunch of times. Never “Robot Dildo,” though. Sadly.
It’s pretty awesome.
• • •
[MIRRORING VIA AKIHABARANEWS.COM BECAUSE WE CAN]
From AkihabaraNews.com: Contributor Sean P. Bullock is a materials manufacturing professional, robotics nerd-enthusiast, citizen scholar, and manager of the unofficial DARPA Robotics Challenge Facebook page.
From Anthrobotic.com: Sean can’t write for shit, but he bribed us.
NO! Actually factually, many moons ago he somehow perchanced across some Anthrobotic Technosnark©®™, decided it wasn’t entirely baseless smartassery, and began clicking the Like and Share buttons. When Anthrobotic’s Chief of Hamfistery was Stockholm Syndromed by AkihabaraNews, Sean’s support was directly acknowledged.
Then, one day in December, whilst waxing dorky at considerable length on DARPA robots & such, it was suggested that he write up 500 words for possible publication. He was all like “About what?” …to which was replied “Dude. Are you even in this conversation right now?”
Sean’s robotics article, which is quite good and closer to about 800 words, was published at AkihabaraNews in both English and French. It’s been read nearly 3000 times. Nice, nice. You may enjoy it here as well:
• • •
Robots in 2014: Will They Finally Bring Me a Beer?!
A number of people have asked what I am most looking forward to and excited about regarding the robotics industry in 2014. And of course, there are the most two most obvious golden nuggets: the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals later this year, and Google’s purchase of a diverse range of high-profile robotics companies (including the Japan-based DRC Trials winners, SCHAFT Robotics, and American firm Boston Dynamics); it seems to hold the promise of…what, nobody really knows yet. But something really cool, I’m sure. There’s also the fact that the super-secret Google X Robotics lab will be headed by Android wonder boy, Andy Ruben. These things excite me very much… VERY much.
However, in addition to the most visible and flashy robotics projects, there is a burgeoning world of robotics development out there set to spark the imaginations of another generation of nerd and engineering culture and beyond. This year, we will see some truly amazing things – things the media have barely touched on, and not all of it revolves around Google. Continue reading »
![Retiring USS Enterprise and the X-47B Shall Never Find Romance [FLASHBACK]](http://anthrobotic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ENTERPRISE.BYE-BYE.X-47B-e1354853962346.png)
![Japanese Technology from the Future Friday [via the All-New AkihabaraNews]](http://anthrobotic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/JTFF.NEW_.AKI_.BIGGY_.anthrobotic-e1376669387729.png)
![Japanese Technology from the Future Friday [via Akihabara News]](http://anthrobotic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/JTFF.AKIBA_.ANTHROBOTIC-e1368805129484.png)