It is nearly time for one of astronomy's top annual sights – the Perseid meteor shower. This year is a bit special, says Abigail Beall

Lightning strikes near Earth give rise to electromagnetic waves called “whistlers” that can carry energy high enough above our planet to pose a risk to satellites and astronauts

Radio astronomers teamed up with SpaceX to find a promising solution for helping expensive telescopes avoid interference from thousands of Starlink satellites

Space missions are extremely hard. Things going wrong should be expected, so having a sensible plan B is crucial

See the world's best space images from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 award

Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who has worked on the JWST, catalogues the science behind its most stunning images in her new book, Webb's Universe. Here's her pick of the telescope’s best shots

Smart TVs from Samsung and LG monitor what you are watching even when you are using the screens to display a feed from a connected laptop or video game console

Two of the three science Nobel prizes in 2024 have been won by people working in AI, but does this mean that AI models are now vital for science?

That’s not his deal, you guys.

Mike Tyson has not fought professionally since suffering a stoppage defeat to Kevin McBride in 2005.

The end to this bloody stalemate must come with negotiation, and Putin should not wait until Trump is in the White House, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

To restore the rule of law, Trump's Department of Justice must investigate those who subverted our constitutional order.

Every stock trader should consider a virtual private network to safeguard their trading, according to tech guru Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson.

Getting virus alerts on your iPhone? Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson helps you learn how to handle fake scam alerts and boost security.

The annual Perseids meteor shower is expected to continue through September. Astronomers say it's one of the brightest and most visible meteor showers of the year.

The annual Perseid meteor shower is set to peak on Sunday night into early Monday morning, giving stargazers the chance to see hundreds of meteors.

The Orionids meteor shower peaks on Monday, but will continue to light up the sky through Nov. 22, as debris from Halley's Comet enters Earth's atmosphere.

Medical clowns, who play with children in hospitals, may help them be discharged sooner by reducing their heart rates

A flurry of studies has found microplastics in nearly every organ in the human body, from the brain to the testicles. But very few have revealed whether these tiny bits of plastic impact our health

Mosquito larvae die after consuming hemp leaves because they react strongly to the cannabidiol in the foliage. The discovery might lead to the development of a new pesticide to control mosquito numbers

Social media commentators claimed Jill Biden refused to look at Vice President Harris as they were seated together at Arlington Cemetery for a Veterans' Day Remembrance.

More than 20 people are believed to have died in one South African province after consuming food from local shops. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the majority of deaths have been children aged between six and nine. “The first uniform approach across the province was to adopt a mechanism of... Continue Reading

Atlantic Canadians say the region has room to grow, but is facing a shrinking labour pool

Jesse Watters takes a look at the administration that President-elect Trump is assembling and how they're planning on changing Washington on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

Boston Dynamics is the master of dropping amazing robot videos with no warning, and last week, we got a surprise look at the new electric Atlas going “hands on” with a practical factory task.

This video is notable because it’s the first real look we’ve had at the new Atlas doing something useful—or doing anything at all, really, as the introductory video from back in April (the first time we saw the robot) was less than a minute long. And the amount of progress that Boston Dynamics has made is immediately obvious, with the video showing a blend of autonomous perception, full body motion, and manipulation in a practical task.

We sent over some quick questions as soon as we saw the video, and we’ve got some extra detail from Scott Kuindersma, senior director of Robotics Research at Boston Dynamics.

If you haven’t seen this video yet, what kind of robotics person are you, and also here you go:

Atlas is autonomously moving engine covers between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing dolly. The robot receives as input a list of bin locations to move parts between.

Atlas uses a machine learning (ML) vision model to detect and localize the environment fixtures and individual bins [0:36]. The robot uses a specialized grasping policy and continuously estimates the state of manipulated objects to achieve the task.

There are no prescribed or teleoperated movements; all motions are generated autonomously online. The robot is able to detect and react to changes in the environment (e.g., moving fixtures) and action failures (e.g., failure to insert the cover, tripping, environment collisions [1:24]) using a combination of vision, force, and proprioceptive sensors.

Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed that this task is very similar to what we saw hydraulic Atlas (Atlas classic?) working on just before it retired. We probably don’t need to read too much into the differences between how each robot performs that task, but it’s an interesting comparison to make.

For more details, here’s our Q&A with Kuindersma:

How many takes did this take?

Kuindersma: We ran this sequence a couple times that day, but typically we’re always filming as we continue developing and testing Atlas. Today we’re able to run that engine cover demo with high reliability, and we’re working to expand the scope and duration of tasks like these.

Is this a task that humans currently do?

Kuindersma: Yes.

What kind of world knowledge does Atlas have while doing this task?

Kuindersma: The robot has access to a CAD model of the engine cover that is used for object pose prediction from RGB images. Fixtures are represented more abstractly using a learned keypoint prediction model. The robot builds a map of the workcell at startup which is updated on the fly when changes are detected (e.g., moving fixture).

Does Atlas’s torso have a front or back in a meaningful way when it comes to how it operates?

Kuindersma: Its head/torso/pelvis/legs do have “forward” and “backward” directions, but the robot is able to rotate all of these relative to one another. The robot always knows which way is which, but sometimes the humans watching lose track.

Are the head and torso capable of unlimited rotation?

Kuindersma: Yes, many of Atlas’s joints are continuous.

How long did it take you folks to get used to the way Atlas moves?

Kuindersma: Atlas’s motions still surprise and delight the team.

OSHA recommends against squatting because it can lead to workplace injuries. How does Atlas feel about that?

Kuindersma: As might be evident by some of Atlas’s other motions, the kinds of behaviors that might be injurious for humans might be perfectly fine for robots.

Can you describe exactly what process Atlas goes through at 1:22?

Kuindersma: The engine cover gets caught on the fabric bins and triggers a learned failure detector on the robot. Right now this transitions into a general-purpose recovery controller, which results in a somewhat jarring motion (we will improve this). After recovery, the robot retries the insertion using visual feedback to estimate the state of both the part and fixture.

Were there other costume options you considered before going with the hot dog?

Kuindersma: Yes, but marketing wants to save them for next year.

How many important sensors does the hot dog costume occlude?

Kuindersma: None. The robot is using cameras in the head, proprioceptive sensors, IMU, and force sensors in the wrists and feet. We did have to cut the costume at the top so the head could still spin around.

Why are pickles always causing problems?

Kuindersma: Because pickles are pesky, polarizing pests.

<a href="https://mtverify.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">먹튀검증</a> 전문가들이 꼼꼼하게 검증한 사이트만을 소개합니다. 안심하고 베팅하세요. 먹튀검증소: https://mtverify.com/

Kelly Clarkson filled in for Cowell as he recuperates from back surgery.

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Archbishop of Canterbury's position is now untenable, according to the Bishop of Newcastle who joined the growing calls for Justin Welby to resign.

Justin Welby's resignation as the Archbishop of Canterbury came after days of mounting pressure following a damning report into the cover-up of horrific abuse.

From women bishops to same-sex marriage, Justin Welby spent his eleven years as head of the Church of England brokering compromises between deeply divided factions in the Anglican church. 

The huge four-storey walls of the Lightroom in London are showing ‘Vogue: Inventing the Runway'.

Integrating genetic data with historic and archaeological data can enrich or correct popular narratives.

On this timeline Russia is nearly a decade and a half behind SpaceX.

A younger rival may have learned how to sabotage those showers by disrupting water flow.

AI search engine embraces 2024 US election with live tracker and chatbot info hub.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) stated that “the Biden administration demonstrated incompetence in managing the migrant crisis,” President Joe Biden “had the unilateral ability to issue an executive order restricting migration at the border, and he waited two-and-a-half years,” because the order “was unpopular among far-left elites who have outsized power over the policymaking and messaging of the Democratic Party.” Torres said, “[O]n the subject of immigration, there was genuine political malpractice. Since 2022, there has been an unprecedented wave of migration, whose impact was felt, not only at the border, but in cities like New York, where the shelter system and our municipal finances were completely overwhelmed. … Despite clear signs of popular discontent, it took the Biden administration two-and-a-half years to issue an executive order restricting migration at the border, and by then it was too late. The Republicans had won the issue, had weaponized it against us. And when the President issued the executive order, polling revealed that it was popular among the American people, among people from every racial category, blacks and whites, Latinos and Asians. So, if it was effective at reducing migration at the border and if it was

The post Dem Rep. Torres: Biden Showed ‘Incompetence’ on Immigration Because He Catered to ‘Far-Left Elites’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) said Tuesday on CNN's "OutFront" that he was "shocked" President-elect Donald Trump picked Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense.

The post Dem Rep. Goldman: ‘Shocked’ Trump Picked an Unqualified Fox News Host to Head Pentagon appeared first on Breitbart.

Toronto police say they have arrested 23 people after close to 100 shots were fired outside a recording studio in Toronto’s west end on Monday night – though no one was injured. 

1. Netflix's The Great Indian Kapil Show: Navjot Singh Sidhu is back after 5 years of exit, Archana Puran Singh says, 'He’s taken over my...'  Firstpost
2. Did you know! Navjot Singh Sidhu was ousted from The Kapil Sharma Show for this reason  The Times of India
3. Navjot Singh Sidhu makes a roaring comeback; Archana Puran Singh worried about her The Great Indian Kapil Show throne  Hindustan Times
4. The Great Kapil Sharma Show: Navjot Sidhu shares his fast-track fatherhood plan. Kapil’s response is too f  The Economic Times
5. Navjot Singh Sidhu shares BTS pics from The Great Indian Kapil's show set with Archana Puran Singh and...  Moneycontrol

It's a little rogue-lite, it's a bit '90s arcade, and it's surprisingly deep.

The Hindu’s First Day First Show newsletter brings you news and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming