Robots Come to Life

Teams of researchers are hoping to give life to a six-foot, 330-pound humanoid robot at the the Robotics Challenge in Homestead, Fla. on Dec. 20 and 21.

The teams are expected to enable the robot -- and others -- to autonomously walk, use human tools and drive a car.

The event is sponsored by DARPA, or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense that focuses on advanced research.

DARPA said the program at the Homestead Miami Speedway, is aimed at developing robots capable of working hand-in-hand with humans during natural or man-made disasters.

"Think of the nuclear plants that were damaged during the tsunami in Japan," said David Conner, a senior research scientist with TORC Robotics, whose team is includes with roboticists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, better known as Virginia Tech. 

"If they could have gone in and opened some valves to vent some of the hydrogen, they could have avoided an explosion. If we could have sent a robot in to do that task, it wouldn't have put humans in danger. That's the motivating goal in this project.

Teams from around the world will be competing to build the best software for humanoid robots, like Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robot. (Image: Boston Dynamics)

"We're working to raise the realm of what's possible," he added.

The test is part of a multi-year competition that's divided into three phases. The Florida event is the second phase. The final phase is set for late in 2014. The winner will receive a $2 million prize.

"Robots right now, for the most part, are either on stationary bases working on repetitive tasks or working in a lab," said Gill Pratt, a DARPA program manager. "We're trying to move to task-level autonomy. Instead of saying, 'Move ahead a tenth of an inch,' we'd say, 'Move forward and open that door.' During a disaster, communications could be very poor. 

The robot needs more smarts to be able to do things on its own."  Robots have yet to reach that level of development. In fact, to date they are far from it.

However, Peter Neuhaus, a research scientist and member of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition team, said that at the close of the current challenge next year, the vision of having a robot work in a disaster area will be much closer.

The event includes teams from NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Drexel University and Virginia Tech. They are charged with having their robot complete eight different tasks.

What Have We Done?

Oglala Lakota Tribe

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Near Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:  

 $9,728 per capita income

United States:   

$27, 334 per capital income

“When I was a boy the Sioux owned the world.  The sun rose and set in their lands.  They sent 10,000 horsemen to battle.   Where are the warriors today?  Who slew them?  Where are our lands?  Who owns them?”   

Sitting Bull circa 1831-1890

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:   

48.3% poverty rate

United States:   

13.8% poverty rate

“We preferred hunting to life of idleness on the reservation, where we were driven against our will.  We preferred our own way of living…  All we wanted was peace and to be left alone.”  Crazy Horse circa 1842-1877

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:

66.6% life expectancy

United States:   

76.5% life expectancy

“In 1868 men came and brought us papers.  We could not read them and they did not tell us truly what was in them…  When I reached Washington THE GREAT FATHER EXPLAINED TO ME…  that the interpreters had deceived me.  All I want is right and justice.”   

Red Cloud circa 1822-1909

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:   

18.4%/1000 infant mortality

United States:   

6.8%/1000 infant mortality

“Out of the Indian approach to existence THERE CAME A GREAT FREEDOM, an intense and absorbing love for nature…  enriching faith in a supreme power; and principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guide to mundane relations.”  

Luther Standing Bear circa 1868-1939

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:   

121.3%/100,000 liver disease deaths

United States:   

9.7%/100,000 liver disease deaths

“Perhaps you have noticed that even in the very lightest breeze you can hear the voice of the cottonwood tree; THIS WE UNDERSTAND IS ITS PRAYER TO THE GREAT SPIRIT, for not only men, but all things and all beings pray to Him continually in differing ways.”  

Black Elk  circa 1865-1950

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:   

37.2%/100,000 suicides         

United States:   

10.9%/100,000 suicides

SOURCE:  National Geographic Magazine 2011/2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a College professor, I start the first day of every class by asking my students this question. Needless to say, they do not know how to answer it, even though they have previously had psychology and philosophy courses prior to the Junior/Senior classes that I typically teach.

 

So, if students do not know how to answer this question right away, then my next question is, do the rest of us know how to answer this question right away or would it require some reflection?

 

Or, does anyone really care?

 

I am sure that it has different meaning for different people but would it also have different meanings for different cultures?

 

Does being human mean some different in Christianity than it does for Muslims or people of the Jewish faith or agnostics for that matter?

 

Do we need to prove that we exist in order to answer this question? 

 

And, while you are pondering this one, let me explain: I am talking about "I think therefore I am," but is this life "real" or is this life a metaphor for the life that we will all be experiencing after death?

 

If this life therefore is not real, does it matter that we exist and furthermore, does being human have any meaning at all?

 

 

• Are we human because we oftentimes do not practice what we preach?
• Are we human because we can skillfully put down the thoughts and comments of others?
• Are we human because we are arrogant or wealthy although I see the two as mutually exclusive myself?
• Are we human because we have faith and hypocritically live out that faith in our daily lives?
• Are we human because we are a racist and have found clever ways to hide why we feel that way?
• Are we human because we have cheated on our spouses?
• Are we human because we like to engage in wars all over the globe so that we can prove we are better than others, or stronger... while really wanting to impose our way of life on them?
• Are we human because we cannot accept cultural diversity as the new norm?

What are your thoughts

as to what it means to be human?

 

Goodbye 26

Taking on the NRA

A week ago today, 26 lives were taken by a lone gunman in Newtown, CT. This was an event more horrific than others because 20 of those lives were innocent young boys and girls between the ages of 6-10.  The 6 adults are gone because they tried to protect the children.

For the last week and not really meaning to sound callous, we, the American public, have been inundated by the media with redundant news reporting of this unimaginable event; however, none of that reporting will change these events nor will it bring these children back to their parents; although, that is exactly what we all would like to happen.

For the last week, a Nation has shed tears as well mourn the loss of these children who are now safe as they can be, cradled in the loving arms of their Creator.

I understand the need to ask questions and the need for closure, but we need to move on and let those who need to mourn do so in private.

The second amendment (passed in 1791) to the US Constitution, giving us (Americans) the right to bear arms, states:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary

to the security of a free State, the right of

the people to keep and bear Arms, shall

not be infringed.

Definition of militia (n)

mi·li·tia   [ mə líshə ]   

soldiers who are also civilians: an army of soldiers who are civilians but take military training and can serve full-time during emergencies

reserve military force: a reserve army that is not part of the regular armed forces but can be called up in an emergency

unauthorized quasi-military group: an unauthorized group of people who arm themselves and conduct quasi-military training

Synonyms: paramilitaries, reservists, local militia, mercenaries, territorial army, soldiers, guerrillas, soldiers of fortune, legionnaires.

We have debated and will continue to debate the true meaning of this amendment regarding whether or not our truth, decades later, accurately reflects the intent of our Founding Fathers.

We continue to believe that Americans have the right (as Americans) to protect themselves and their families from harm.

And, we continue to believe that our local police, our military (if necessary), our National Guard (if necessary) are directly tasked with the responsibility of protecting those to whom they have been sworn to serve.  However, these forces cannot be everywhere, at all times or 24/7.

So, what are we to do?

Should we reach out to our well regulated militia and/or to each other because we have the right to bear arms?

Should we pass laws regulating the sale of firearms; and, is that Constitutional?

The NRA (National Rifle Association) is the most powerful lobby in Washington, DC and according to CBS This Morning spent a total of 17 billion dollars on lobby efforts to influence the Congress and Senate to protect our full understanding of the 2^nd Amendment. 

This is a lot of money…

Is there really anything that we can do that will prevent something like this from happening in the future?

There is not – no matter how bad I want it to be yes and no matter how many committees or task forces are set-up to study the issue.

The one absolute that exists in America is

the fact that one can get anything that

one desires as long as one has enough

money to pay for it.  This absolute, my

friends, cannot be legislated away. 

No matter how much we want

to take on the NRA…

Gun Control - Reloaded

 

"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (1961) is a folk song. The first three verses were written by Pete Seeger in 1955, and published in Sing Out! magazine.[1] Additional verses were added by Joe Hickerson in May 1960, who turned it into a circular song.[2] Its rhetorical "where?" and meditation on death place the song in the ubi sunt tradition.[3]In 2010, the New Statesman listed it as one of the "Top 20 Political Songs".[4]

Seeger found inspiration for the song in October 1955, while on a plane bound for a concert in Ohio. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army."[5] These lines were taken from the traditional Cossacks folk song "Tovchu, tovchu mak", referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1934), which Seeger had read "at least a year or two before".[3]

A Violent Society Have We Become

by Alex Hutchins

From 2000 to 2008, of the 129, 741 homicides perpetrated in the United States, 66% used some type of firearm, such as: handguns, rifles, and shotguns with 51% of those murders being committed with handguns.  The remaining 34% were attributed to knives, blunt objects, person weapons with knives accounting for 13% of that total.

Data Source:US Census 2011 

From the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that 30,000 citizens die annual from guns and that for every death 2 victims are wounded.  While the media usually informs the public of the high profile killings by handguns like:  Virginia Tech students in April 2007 or the Northern Illinois University students in February 2008 or most recently Treyvon Martin in Florida a few weeks ago, most of these 30,000 annual deaths never appear in mainstream media.  What is so hideous about handgun violence and death are the countless family members and relatives whose lives have been forever changed.

Interesting Comparisons

Between 1955 and 1975, the Vietnam War killed over 58,000 American soldiers – less than the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average two-year period.⁴

^4. U.S. Department of Defense, Statistical Information Analysis Division, Personnel & Military Casualty Statistics, U.S. Military Casualties in Southeast Asia: Vietnam Conflict – Casualty Summary As of May 16, 2008, at http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/vietnam.pdf (last visited Feb. 10, 2012); WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2009, supra note 1.

In the first seven years of the U.S.-Iraq War, over 4,400 American soldiers were killed. Almost as many civilians are killed with guns in the U.S., however, every seven weeks.5

^5. U.S. Department of Defense, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) U.S. Casualty Status, Fatalities as of: March 12, 2012, 10 a.m. EST, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf (last visited Feb. 10, 2012); WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2009, supra note 1.

 We Were Just Wondering

1. Is this the Democracy that we want the rest of the world to emulate? 
2. Is this the Democracy over which we have fought wars? 
3. Is this the legacy that we want to leave to our children?