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Technology of the New Era


Ghost ships, planes and trains cross the globe
The oceans, skies and railroads of the planet will be filled with autonomous ships, planes and trains transporting cargo without any people on board, as driverless car technology spreads to other industries. It will improve safety and efficiency. And children will no longer grow up wanting to be train drivers. "Planes carrying people will probably continue to be piloted by humans," Professor Walsh said. "But after several decades of safe flights by cargo planes, the debate will begin whether humans should still be airline pilots."

Rolls-Royce predicts robotic ships will be on the water by 2020
 
Out of Russia - with inventor Dahir Semenov's sales pitch. Interesting aspects highlighted.

Gyroscopic transport

TEXT: Published August 9, 2017 - "To those who are professionals who study issues in urban transport, I want to say the following. Due to the fact that this invention will necessarily appear on the roads of different cities around the world, I do not have the slightest doubt that this mode of transportation will supersede buses, trams, and trolleybuses in the cities of the future.

"The second level of this mode of transportation has huge potential to provide an efficient, economical, safe, environmentally friendly, comfortable, and maneuverable conveyance that is independent of the general traffic flows on arterial roads. That is because the lane separator between lanes satisfies all of the requirements for the creation of this mode of transportation. It will inevitably take its rightful place as a modern urban form of transportation. It is just simply too tempting to be able to travel without traffic jams at any time of the day or night.

"I can imagine that someone would like to ask me if I am personally ready to undertake the introduction of this type of transport in practice, that is to say, to see the project through all stages from the design and construction of the first prototype to the testing and certification of the industrial product. And I can answer that I am not only ready, but I consider it my direct duty as the creator of the idea and patent owner (the person with the formal right to realize the invention) to produce second- and third-level gyroscopic transport. I've been developing this idea for two years now, and I'm prepared to bring it to fruition in practice.

"First, we will finish designing the entire model range of cars and transit stations. And then, if everything goes according to the plan, in 2020 tens of thousands of fans from different countries around the world attending one of the big international sports competitions will be able to see and even ride for free the most luxurious urban gyro monorail trains, the transport of the future.

"I propose that the gyroscopes in these cars will be initially powered by flywheels that are wound-up in the morning. They will continue to be powered throughout the day from the energy supplied by solar panels that are mounted on the roofs of the cars. My hope is that this will be the most important transport event of the next two decades.

"I can say without exaggeration that this mode of transportation is compatible with the human habitat, with the spaces in which city dwellers recreate. It can pass alongside parks, squares, and pedestrian paths, and in some cases it can even ride alongside people strolling down wide boulevards. After all, it is absolutely safe in both ecological and physical terms. It cannot cause serious injury. The most it would do if it hit a person who is standing on the monorail would be to push him out of its way. In a word, Anna Karenina would not have been able to commit suicide if she threw herself in front of a gyro monorail, no matter how much she wanted to. [Ha-ha :cool: ]

"Therefore, we should classify this vehicle as a mode of friendly transport. It is a vehicle that is always nearby and is never late. It makes no audible noise, and when you travel on it, you will be able to relax in one of its comfortable seats.

"Finally, a few words about the commercial side of the proposal. Dahir Insaat considers the gyro monorail to be a priority business project. Starting today I am ready to accept offers to license this mode of transportation. I am prepared to sell everything from a manufacturing license to the exclusive right to operate this vehicle in specified countries. Respectfully yours, Dahir Semenov."
 
The Future of Living: Self-Sustaining Villages | James Ehrlich | TEDxKlagenfurt
TEXT: Published on July 6, 2017 - "Smart house inside of the dumb neighborhood does not make sense! James explains in his talk how to build regenerative communities that produce more organic food, clean water, renewable energy and mitigate waste.

"James Ehrlich is the Founder of ReGen Villages, a Stanford University spin-off company, which aims to develop the “Tesla of Ecovillages“ with an infrastructure that creates a surplus energy, water, and organic food. As a Senior Technologist at Stanford University, Senior Fellow at Opus Novum consortium at NASA Ames Research Center and an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Stanford Peace Innovation Lab at the Center for Design Research he is indeed an expert in the area of sustainable development."
 
For those deep into the R&D aspect. :cool:

Human-like Emotional Responses in a Simplified Independent Core Observer Model System

LINK: Human-like Emotional Responses in a Simplified Independent Core Observer Model System
TEXT: "Abstract. Most artificial general intelligence (AGI) system developers have been focused upon intelligence (the ability to achieve goals, perform tasks or solve problems) rather than motivation (*why* the system does what it does). As a result, most AGIs have an unhuman-like, and arguably dangerous, top-down hierarchical goal structure as the sole driver of their choices and actions.

"On the other hand, the independent core observer model (ICOM) was specifically designed to have a human-like 'emotional' motivational system. We report here on the most recent versions of and experiments upon our latest ICOM -based systems.

"We have moved from a partial implementation of the abstruse and overly complex Wilcox model of emotions to a more complete implementation of the simpler Plutchik model. We have seen responses that, at first glance, were surprising and seemingly illogical – but which mirror human responses and which make total sense when considered more fully in the context of surviving in the real world. For example, in 'isolation studies', we find that any input, even pain, is preferred over having no input at all. We believe that the fact that the system generates such unexpected but 'humanlike' behavior to be a very good sign that we are successfully capturing the essence of the only known operational motivational system."
 
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