30/07/2015

Why we should welcome 'killer robots', not ban them

The open letter signed by more than 12,000 prominent people calling for a ban on artificially intelligent killer robots, connected to arguments for a UN ban on the same, is misguided and perhaps even reckless.

Online loans likely to lead to the payday debt spiral

Resorting to the mobile phone for a quick injection of cash is on the rise as more online lenders join the market, a trend likely to lead more Australians into a spiral of debt, says QUT poverty researcher Professor Greg ...

Drones being honed to help farmers grow better crops

Farmers will be using drones in the near future to monitor and improve their crops to help feed a hungry world, say Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists who are now developing the technology.

It's alive, it's alive!

On June 3, 2015, more than a month before New Horizons, flying faster than speeding bullet, reached its rendezvous with the Pluto system, an astronomer at the Southwest Research Institute who is also a space artist posted ...

New Horizons data hint at underground ocean

Pluto wears its heart on its sleeve, and that has scientists gleaning intriguing new facts about its geology and climate. Recent data from NASA's New Horizons probe—which passed within 7,800 miles of the surface on July ...

As power grows, so does generosity

The saying "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is so pervasive it's taken as fact.

Sol-gel capacitor dielectric offers record-high energy storage

Using a hybrid silica sol-gel material and self-assembled monolayers of a common fatty acid, researchers have developed a new capacitor dielectric material that provides an electrical energy storage capacity rivaling certain ...

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