UNL wins 3 million grant to expand robot-based curriculum

Posted on September 4, 2007

UNL wins 3 million grant to expand robot-based curriculum: “The idea of using small robots to help teach children the science and math at the core of engineering and technology has attracted a 3 million grant.”

At first I thought they were using robots to teach children, which would be awesome (and frightening to children) at the same time, but upon further reading, I see that they are using humans to teach children to build robots. Which I guess is even cooler. I suppose making children cry isn’t the best way to get them to learn (at least, the government won’t give me a grant to research my theory…) Come to think of it, I wish I could have built a robot in school. I guess as a side effect the kids learn math and science and engineering. But mostly I want to build a robot. Some day….

Something to Do

Posted on March 4, 2007

Hey internet I recommend you go to NASA’s website and check out these images of Saturn sent back to Earth from the Cassini-Huygens space probe sent back in ‘97 to check out Saturn, see what kind of crazy shit is going on out there. These images are awesome, in the literal definition of the word, not the “these cheese crackers are awesome” definition. The first image (”Blinding Saturn”) is currently my desktop on my Mac. Be sure to check out the full resolution pictures, for full pixel on pixel action.

Old Glory Robot Insurance

Posted on January 31, 2007

Sarah told me about this one so I had to see it. If Sam Waterston sponsor it, it seems worthwhile to me.

Single of the Week: Polysics

Posted on January 1, 2007

Ah Japan. A country of wonders it is. And thanks to iTunes’ browse feature, I can find weird Japanese music with the click of a button. And that’s how I found this little gem by Polysics: “Poly-farm“, from the album “Hey! Bob! My Friend!” (The names are half the fun of listening to Japanese pop and rock). This group would fall in the “noise rock” category that in Japan is led by Melt-Banana. But this particular song uses silly synth scifi computer noises juxtaposed with raunchy guitars. Which is why I love it. Brilliant!

Oh, and Happy New Years.

Two Neat Things Today

Posted on July 29, 2006

While perusing my RSS reader today I happened upon two stories that I thought were so cool I had to share them here. Both of these come from the Weblogs, Inc. family of blogs. First off, via Slashfood, the Japanese (who will some day invent the robots that will conquer mankind and make us their servants. Silence!) have invented a robot that tastes wine. The smart little guy can detect over thirty types of grapes as well as blends. From the Slashfood post:

In size it is about twice as large as a 3-litre wine box and consists of a microcomputer and an optical sensing instrument. For analysis, a 5 millilitre sample of wine is poured into a tray in front of the machine. Light emitting diodes then fire infrared light at the sample and the reflected light is sensed by an array of photodiodes.

By identifying the wavelengths of infrared light that have been absorbed by the sample, NEC says the wine-bot can correctly identify the unique organic components of 30 popular wines within 30 seconds.

As we all know, robots need alcohol to function normally. Otherwise they fall into disrepair and delirium. Please note that the robot pictured is not the winebot, but a different robot pouring a glass of wine. I just like robots.

The other story of the day comes from Autoblog, about a German company that specializes in customization. For one customer, they installed a 17″ iMac between the front seats, sitting on the transmission tunnel. The Mac user on the go can control the iMac with a wireless keyboard and mouse, or, presumably, a Front Row remote. While I’ve always been more of a BMW guy, I could fully rock a CLS, particularly with an iMac inside. I guess I’ll be making a call to Mattes Interieurtechnik. Even though I’m not sure how to pronounce that. F’ing Krauts.

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