The robot polar bears are part of the zoo’s holiday exhibit, and it’s unclear if they’ll be around after the season is over. Let’s face it, though. These would have to be some damn good robot bears to convince me to see them over live polar bears.

PETA is encouraging the zoo to keep developing the animatronic animals, but listen PETA, hear me out. Sure, you’re trying to keep animals out of captivity. You’re also promoting the creation of an advanced, highly mobile robot bear army.

I encourage you to rethink your position. [Inhabitots via Inhabitat]

Amy Hopper, the play’s director, cast one autonomous, military-grade flying robot and five smaller remote-control devices as fairies in Shakespeare’s comedy. “To see them flying, spinning and bouncing through the air just adds to the magic and mystery of the world Shakespeare created,” she explained.

But the drama department isn’t the only one interested in the robotic thespians. Researchers in the school’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering are studying how the audience reacts to the robots for application in robotic search-and-rescue missions.

“It’s now possible for these unmanned aerial vehicles to be used for evacuation or crowd control,” explained Robin Murphy, one of the researchers. “But what’s missing is an understanding of what makes a person trust or fear the robot.” Murphy and others in the department are now poring over the data they collected during the play’s run which ended earlier this week. [PopSci and PhysOrg]

You might remember that Jackson had once planned a 15m mecha with a moving face that shot lasers, but it never got built.

From the eBay Listing:

The original 3D scan data of Michael Jackson. It also includes the colour map from this scan in either CPV or UV maps. This data was collected using the same equipment that creates the data used to create video games and or CGI avatars to make him speak, laugh, sing or dance.

I must emphasise that the sale of this scan data is subject to the purchaser agreeing to clear the proper rights with the MJ Estate before it is publicly used in a promotional or commercial manner.

I bet you need to emphasise that. Even if the data isn’t a hoax (and I’m sceptical), I can’t see the Jackson Estate letting this fly without a lawsuit. We’ll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, an MJ fan found the auction and created this animation using only the 2D shots shown above. It’s all pretty creepy… just let the man rest in peace.

[Huffington Post via Techie.com.ph]

A spillover from last week’s Cyborg-a-thon, Wired has put together a list of the top 10 cyborg videos. But not everything is about fusing man with machine.

As you can see in the sample videos above, sometimes we choose to make bionic monkeys and insects. Truly, it’s the weirdest of the weird sciences. Check out Wired for the complete list. [Wired]

[Hizook via Engadget]

Tokyo company HiBot is developing a robot to transfer the dangerous duties of high-voltage wire inspection from meat-based humans to metal-based robots, in a move intended not just to decrease the likelihood of flash-frying technicians, but to make the inspection process — vital, now that many countries’ electrical infrastructures have components approaching 100 years old — more efficient.

The HiBot Exliner, pictured above and set to deploy in Japan, is the second such robot, and the most ambitious: While the LineScout, pictured at top and currently in trials in Canada, only inspects one line at a time, the Expliner will cover four. And unlike their human counterparts, Exliner and LineScout don’t even care if the lines are left active while they’re doing their respective things, because they ain’t got nothin’ to lose, y’know? Also: because they’re properly insulated. [IEEE via Make]

The first HUBO robot innocently rode a Segway. The HUBO 2 looks like he’s ready to turn into a killer ninja-bot as he practices tai chi, hones his swordsmanship has a drink when he’s finished.

We are so screwed. [Crunchgear]

Remember handwriting? We have all but abandoned it, but the torch is being taken up by robots like Kuka, who has been put to work writing out copies of the Martin Luther bible. [BotJunkie]

Developed by Aberystwyth University and the University of Cambridge, Adam the robot was the first machine to independently discover new knowledge.

Using artificial intelligence, Adam hypothesised that certain genes in baker’s yeast code for specific enzymes which catalyse biochemical reactions in yeast. The robot then devised experiments to test these predictions, ran the experiments using laboratory robotics, interpreted the results and repeated the cycle.

The results of the experiment were later replicated and confirmed by a team of human scientists. So, it appears that computers are not only doing our calculations, but they have begun thinking for us as well. [Scientific Blogging and Gizmodo]

Are you lactose intolerant? Do you have frequent heartburn or constipation? Perhaps one day your defective digestion system could be replaced with a more advanced version of the Cloaca machine. This thing simulates actual human digestion and, in the end, produces a turd you would be proud of. [Cloaca via Gizmodo]

Dishwashers have been around for decades, but we still have to physically put the dishes into the machine. This is completely unacceptable. Panasonic’s robot takes care of the entire cleaning process from start to finish. [Gizmodo]

Seriously, what don’t smartphones do for us these days? At the most basic level, these phones are how we communicate, how we entertain ourselves and how we gather information. Thanks to apps, smartphones are taking on even greater roles — like helping us keep our girlfriends happy without actually having to do any work. Girlfriend Keeper sends automatic texts and emails to your significant other depending on the intensity of your relationship. [Girlfriend Keeper]

If you are tired of your co-workers being promoted over you, just wait until a robot becomes your new boss. JAST or the “Teamworkbot” has the ability to observe and mimic human behaviour. As you will see in this video, JAST already knows how to complete the task, so it observes the human’s actions, anticipates his next move and dresses him down when he gets it wrong. [Gizmodo]

I’m pretty sure that allowing robots to take a critical role in surgery qualifies as crossing a Rubicon with respect to our level of trust in machines. The Da VInci robot enables a surgeon sitting at a console to control movements and equipment with greater precision — resulting in a procedure that is minimally invasive. [Wikipedia]

It’s only a matter of time before technology becomes advanced enough to allow lazy parents to turn over the duties of child-rearing to robots. In fact, it’s already happening in Japan where robots like Tmsuk babysit kids in shopping centres thanks to RFID badges. They even have robot teachers like Saya that terrify elementary schoolchildren into doing their work.

The Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) was developed by MIT to help drivers navigate, bitch about their driving when necessary and keep them company on long trips.

“When it merges knowledge about the city with an understanding of the driver’s priorities and needs, AIDA can make important inferences,” explains Assaf Biderman, associate director of the SENSEable City Lab. “Within a week AIDA will have figured out your home and work location. Soon afterwards the system will be able to direct you to your preferred grocery store, suggesting a route that avoids a street fair-induced traffic jam. On the way AIDA might recommend a stop to fill up your tank, upon noticing that you are getting low on gas,” says Biderman. “AIDA can also give you feedback on your driving, helping you achieve more energy efficiency and safer behaviour.”

[MIT via Gizmodo]

While the AIDA robot helps you navigate, there are plenty of engineers working on cars that do all of the driving for you. Chevy’s “Boss” Tahoe is one of the higher profile projects that have come out in recent years, winning the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007 after successfully navigating a 100km course littered with obstacles. [Technology Review]

There are no details about what led to the stand-off. The whole thing started after the police of Avon, Colorado, received a call at 4pm, reporting that a man with a hostage was hiding in a barricaded house. After a few hours, and learning that the man had no hostages but fearing a potential shooting, the Jefferson County Bomb Squad sent a robot only armed with cameras, a microphone and speakers. A negotiator at the other side was able to convince the man to stand down, and get out of the house without a single bullet being fired.

You can insert a punchline here, but this time I’m just happy that a potential tragedy ended well thanks to a bit of technology. [Post Independent via The Register]

You would think that a 2m-tall robot would be into basketball, but apparently soccer is his game. He can also walk, turn, twist and take a bow. Hmm… I think I have the perfect application for this technology…

[Impress via Newlaunches Image via Giant Balloon Rental]