Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Jul 23, 2018 •
The Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund is now in its third round, with applications closing this week, which seems like a good time to celebrate some of the great journalism that’s been enabled by the fund. It’s the first independent journalism fund dedicated to furthering coverage of the science-related issues that impact New Zealanders. Dr Rebecca Priestley, winner … Read More
Guest Author • Feb 21, 2018 •
David Tuffley, Griffith University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. We have all heard the dire predictions about robots coming to steal our jobs. Some would even have us believe these silicon bogeymen are coming to kill us. It plays straight into people’s darkest fears about technology. When … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 26, 2018 •
Peter Hancock, University of Central Florida This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Imagine you are about to go on vacation. You have been looking forward to it for some time. But your robotic personal assistant has other ideas. It calmly explains to you that it will be cheaper, safer and … Read More
Robert Hickson • Dec 07, 2017 •
Robotic combat is becoming a thing. In TV studios, not the battlefield. A tiresome thing, the hi-tech equivalent of Monster Truck shows. MegaBots promotes itself as “the future of sports“. (I think they forgot the (TM) in that tag line.) But they have a way to go to be more that dudes driving dumbbots. Its … Read More
Guest Author • Oct 09, 2017 •
By Cherie Lacey, Victoria University of Wellington and Catherine Caudwell, Victoria University of Wellington (pictured) Following several delays, a new range of social domestic robots is expected to enter the market at the end of this year. They are no ordinary bots. Designed to provide companionship and care, they recognise faces and voices of close family and … Read More
Robert Hickson • Aug 31, 2017 •
We are getting used to seeing sleek, industrial robots. (I’m looking at you Air NZ). And previously I’ve noted some animal-inspired machines. From these and other technological developments we can tend to expect the future to be shiny, hard-edged and efficient. A different approach is being explored with “Blossom” (and others), a DIY soft robot … Read More
Guest Author • Aug 30, 2017 •
By Prof Michael Winikoff, University of Otago Self-driving cars, personal assistants, cleaning robots, smart homes – these are just some examples of autonomous systems. With many such systems already in use or under development, a key question concerns trust. My central argument is that having trustworthy, well-working systems is not enough. To enable trust, the design of autonomous systems … Read More
Robert Hickson • Mar 02, 2017 •
Seeing Boston Dynamics’ latest robot “Handle” got me thinking about the diversity of other autonomous (or nearly so) robots that have appeared over the last few years. I’ve previously noted the prediction of a robotic “Cambrian explosion”. We aren’t at that stage yet, but it is interesting to look at the variety “out” there. Though mostly … Read More
Robert Hickson • Feb 10, 2017 •
Here’s a sci-fi scenario that may become reality: genetically modified cyborgs susceptible to mind control. That’s the plan for a collaboration between engineering R&D firm Draper and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. They are focusing on dragonflies, and using optogenetics so that their movements can be controlled by light. The techniques and technologies are there, … Read More
John Kerr • Jan 30, 2017 •
What does the future hold in store for New Zealand science? What are the big issues our small, isolated country will face in a world of accelerating change? Over last two weeks we’ve seen some excellent commentary from New Zealand researchers contributing to our Sciblogs Horizon Scan special series. We asked experts across the spectrum of New Zealand science to … Read More