Terminators getting closer everyday to launch...

Yall are a buncha sell-outs! Sillicon (pronounced silly-con) lovers!

Don't come crawling back to us living people when the fool thing eats your foot while you sleep.

 

Replace the knife with a laser pointer and you have one heck of a cat toy.

 

Navy spy "fish" could be operational next year




The Virginian-Pilot
© December 12, 2014
VIRGINIA BEACH

It looks like a fish, sort of.

It swims like one too, if you squint.

It's even named after a fish - OK, a Disney one.

The Navy is hoping that'll be enough to get the little swimmer into enemy territory undetected to patrol and protect U.S. ships and ports from harm.

Project Silent Nemo is under way this week at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, where a team of civilian engineers and military officers are testing the capabilities of a 5-foot, 100-pound experimental robot that's designed to look and swim like a bluefin tuna.

The robotic fish glided through the harbor Thursday as sailors took turns controlling it with a joystick. It can also be programmed to swim on its own. The robot's black dorsal fin poked above water as its tail wiggled back and forth, propelling it almost silently just below the surface.

Nemo was developed by the Office of Naval Research and is being tested by the chief of naval operation's Rapid Innovation Cell - a group of junior Navy and Marine Corps officers tasked with putting emerging technologies to use for the military. The same group has been playing around with 3D printers, augmented-reality glasses and about 10 other breakthrough gadgets.

The idea of deploying robots that mimic the biological traits of living creatures isn't new, but until recently, it existed mostly in the realm of science fiction. The Navy says Silent Nemo - also known as GhostSwimmer - could be operational within the next year.

"This is an attempt to take thousands of years of evolution - what has been perfected since the dawn of time - and try to incorporate that into a mechanical device," said Jerry Lademan, a 27-year-old Marine captain who's leading the project. The idea is to "essentially reverse-engineer what nature has already done."

Typical unmanned underwater vehicles are torpedo-shaped and propeller-driven. The natural swimming motion of a fish makes far less noise and is more difficult to detect with sonar devices.

"The first time I saw it, I thought it was a living fish," Lademan said. "It looks alive. It's crazy."

The Navy envisions deploying a fleet of robotic fish to patrol harbors or swim into hostile territory. Nemo could be used to search for sea mines or inspect ship hulls for damage - two critical tasks that often put humans in harm's way.

For now, the fish is just a prototype, content to swim quietly through friendly waters.

Navy spy "fish" could be operational next year | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

 

Technology should be there to make our lives safer and easier, not to do our work for us. It seems 50% understand this:

People ‘horrified’ by self-driving cars, says survey, as trials begin - News - Gadgets and Tech - The Independent

Yet, it seems that it is full speed ahead whether or not people want it. Does that make economic sense? I foresee a day when you won't be allowed to drive your car by yourself anymore.

The new prototype of Google's self-driving car
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Look how cute it is... As it drives you to your DOOM.

 

I was reading the news in Hackaday.com when I came upon this awesome article: Remotely Controlling Automobiles Via Insecure Dongles | Hackaday

In a nutshell for those who do not wish to read a short article, There are a bunch of plug-in OBD II devices for your car that perform various functions. The newer your car, the more systems are dependent on the computer to control them, like the throttle, for instance. Think Toyota Prius and the runaway cars.

The guys testing the device in the article were surprised to find the device could be hacked so easily by a straw-man cell tower. !?! You mean like the dozens found around Washington, DC?!? Yes, indeedy, if you think your car is too old to hack (don't bug us about your 88 Ford Escort, we understand it's resistance to hackers), because you don't have an ultra-modern vehicle with a bluetooth system connected to the CAN bus, think again.

If you use Progressive Insurance's snap shot device, think again. It can be hacked and give undesirables access to your car's inner computer workings. Now we know what all of the fake cell towers are for.

 

How to Hack a Car: Phreaked Out (Episode 2) - YouTube

More good information on this.

 

Redesigned Atlas robot can walk tether-free