London — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.  Pressure on Welby had been building since Thursday, when release of the inquiry's findings kindled anger about a lack of accountability at the highest reaches of the church. Helen-Ann Hartley, the bishop of Newcastle, said Monday that his position was "untenable" after some members of the church's national assembly started a petition calling on Welby to step down because he had "lost the confidence of his clergy."  "I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honored to serve," Welby said in a statement.  The strongest outcry came from the victims of John Smyth, a prominent attorney who abused teenage boys and young men at Christian summer camps in Britain, Zimbabwe and South Africa over five decades. Andrew Morse, who was repeatedly beaten by Smyth over a period of five years, said that resigning was a chance for Welby to start repairing the damage caused by the church's handling of historical abuse cases more broadly.  "I believe that now is an opportunity for him to resign,'' Morse told the BBC before Welby stepped down. "I say opportunity in the sense that this would be an opportunity for him to stand with the victims of the Smyth abuse and all victims that have not been treated properly by the Church of England in their own abuse cases."  Welby's resignation comes against the backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England. A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse found that deference to the authority of priests, taboos surrounding the discussion of sexuality and a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make the Church of England Church of England "a place where abusers could hide." 

Joe Biden pledged a peaceful transfer of power Thursday after Donald Trump's decisive US election win, while the Republican showed his intent to ditch the outgoing president's policies by suggesting he would talk to Vladimir Putin.

Just before the teach-in, the school’s Jewish provost called him and asked if he wanted extra security.

Church of England head Justin Welby resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal

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to write a handover guidelines document

Extending across seven provinces and two autonomous regions, the Yellow River Ecological Corridor (YREC) comprises the second largest river basin in the People's Republic of China (PRC) with a population of 120 million. The basin is critical for food security yet faces complex ecological and environmental challenges. The region suffers from severe water scarcity, impacts from climate change and environmentally unsustainable development.

This brief shows how mainstreaming blue finance hinges on developing a solid regulatory framework that drives investment toward bankable marine-based projects and analyzes how to expand the sector in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

All living creatures use only the left or right-handed forms of certain molecules, and now we might understand why

Archaeologists say a mysterious language inscribed on a 2000-year-old metal hand may be related to Basque, but linguists aren't convinced

Title: Frequent Hand-Washing Tough on Those With Eczema
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM

Title: FDA Warns About Hand Sanitizers in Food-Like Packaging
Category: Health News
Created: 8/27/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/28/2020 12:00:00 AM

Josh demands justice for Jorts. Chris is deployed to the circus wars. And Kelley assures us that Fang sniper is real. We'll see you in 2022. Don't butter your cats!

The post RPG Cast – Episode 612: “He Must Have Put Skill Points Into Broom Handle” appeared first on RPGamer.

Got an email about this. Looks cool. Is free. “I’ll write about that,” I thought. “I’ll write about that for Rock Paper Shotgun, a place that semi-regularly posts articles about cool and free games.” So here we are. If you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, assuming the only reason I’d open an article in a superfluous and straightforward manner is because I’m about to deliver some sort of third sentence twist, you’re completely wrong! There’s no twist at all. I’m simply going to deliver some information about the game in a neutral tone. You can find VED: Purification, a free prologue demo to RPG VED, here.

Read more

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 has been out for a little while already, what with me giving its multiplayer largely a thumbs up. Still, it's an ever-evolving thing and Activision have announced the game's first seasonal drop. It's a hefty one with a lot of additions, so I'll try my best to break down the good stuff. TLDR: there's some new maps for multiplayer and zombies, new modes, and a few extra bits. I'm mildly excited for more. More in this case is good.

Read more

After 25 years in orbit, the Chandra X-ray Observatory is under threat. We need to protect this monument to human ingenuity, argues Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

ICRA@40: 23–26 September 2024, ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

IROS 2024: 14–18 October 2024, ABU DHABI, UAE

ICSR 2024: 23–26 October 2024, ODENSE, DENMARK

Cybathlon 2024: 25–27 October 2024, ZURICH

Enjoy today’s videos!

The National Science Foundation Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity Engineering Research Center (HAND ERC) was announced in August 2024. Funded for up to 10 years and $52 million, the HAND ERC is led by Northwestern University, with core members Texas A&M, Florida A&M, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT, and support from Wisconsin-Madison, Syracuse, and an innovation ecosystem consisting of companies, national labs, and civic and advocacy organizations. HAND will develop versatile, easy-to-use dexterous robot end effectors (hands).

[ HAND ]

The Environmental Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, in partnership with Wilderness International (and some help from DJI and Audi), is using drones to sample DNA from the tops of trees in the Peruvian rainforest. Somehow, the treetops are where 60 to 90 percent of biodiversity is found, and these drones can help researchers determine what the heck is going on up there.

[ ERL ]

Thanks, Steffen!

1X introduces NEO Beta, “the pre-production build of our home humanoid.”

“Our priority is safety,” said Bernt Børnich, CEO at 1X. “Safety is the cornerstone that allows us to confidently introduce NEO Beta into homes, where it will gather essential feedback and demonstrate its capabilities in real-world settings. This year, we are deploying a limited number of NEO units in selected homes for research and development purposes. Doing so means we are taking another step toward achieving our mission.”

[ 1X ]

We love MangDang’s fun and affordable approach to robotics with Mini Pupper. The next generation of the little legged robot has just launched on Kickstarter, featuring new and updated robots that make it easy to explore embodied AI.

The Kickstarter is already fully funded after just a day or two, but there are still plenty of robots up for grabs.

[ Kickstarter ]

Quadrupeds in space can use their legs to reorient themselves. Or, if you throw one off a roof, it can learn to land on its feet.

To be presented at CoRL 2024.

[ ARL ]

HEBI Robotics, which apparently was once headquartered inside a Pittsburgh public bus, has imbued a table with actuators and a mind of its own.

[ HEBI Robotics ]

Carcinization is a concept in evolutionary biology where a crustacean that isn’t a crab eventually becomes a crab. So why not do the same thing with robots? Crab robots solve all problems!

[ KAIST ]

Waymo is smart, but also humans are really, really dumb sometimes.

[ Waymo ]

The Robotics Department of the University of Michigan created an interactive community art project. The group that led the creation believed that while roboticists typically take on critical and impactful problems in transportation, medicine, mobility, logistics, and manufacturing, there are many opportunities to find play and amusement. The final piece is a grid of art boxes, produced by different members of our robotics community, which offer an eight-inch-square view into their own work with robotics.

[ Michigan Robotics ]

I appreciate that UBTECH’s humanoid is doing an actual job, but why would you use a humanoid for this?

[ UBTECH ]

I’m sure most actuators go through some form of life-cycle testing. But if you really want to test an electric motor, put it into a BattleBot and see what happens.

[ Hardcore Robotics ]

Yes, but have you tried fighting a BattleBot?

[ AgileX ]

In this video, we present collaboration aerial grasping and transportation using multiple quadrotors with cable-suspended payloads. Grasping using a suspended gripper requires accurate tracking of the electromagnet to ensure a successful grasp while switching between different slack and taut modes. In this work, we grasp the payload using a hybrid control approach that switches between a quadrotor position control and a payload position control based on cable slackness. Finally, we use two quadrotors with suspended electromagnet systems to collaboratively grasp and pick up a larger payload for transportation.

[ Hybrid Robotics ]

I had not realized that the floretizing of broccoli was so violent.

[ Oxipital ]

While the RoboCup was held over a month ago, we still wanted to make a small summary of our results, the most memorable moments, and of course an homage to everyone who is involved with the B-Human team: the team members, the sponsors, and the fans at home. Thank you so much for making B-Human the team it is!

[ B-Human ]

When we think of grasping robots, we think of manipulators of some sort on the ends of arms of some sort. Because of course we do—that’s how (most of us) are built, and that’s the mindset with which we have consequently optimized the world around us. But one of the great things about robots is that they don’t have to be constrained by our constraints, and at ICRA@40 in Rotterdam this week, we saw a novel new Thing: a robotic hand that can detach from its arm and then crawl around to grasp objects that would be otherwise out of reach, designed by roboticists from EPFL in Switzerland.

Fundamentally, robot hands and crawling robots share a lot of similarities, including a body along with some wiggly bits that stick out and do stuff. But most robotic hands are designed to grasp rather than crawl, and as far as I’m aware, no robotic hands have been designed to do both of those things at the same time. Since both capabilities are important, you don’t necessarily want to stick with a traditional grasping-focused hand design. The researchers employed a genetic algorithm and simulation to test a bunch of different configurations in order to optimize for the ability to hold things and to move.

You’ll notice that the fingers bend backwards as well as forwards, which effectively doubles the ways in which the hand (or, “Handcrawler”) can grasp objects. And it’s a little bit hard to tell from the video, but the Handcrawler attaches to the wrist using magnets for alignment along with a screw that extends to lock the hand into place.

“Although you see it in scary movies, I think we’re the first to introduce this idea to robotics.” —Xiao Gao, EPFL

The whole system is controlled manually in the video, but lead author Xiao Gao tells us that they already have an autonomous version (with external localization) working in the lab. In fact, they’ve managed to run an entire grasping sequence autonomously, with the Handcrawler detaching from the arm, crawling to a location the arm can’t reach, picking up an object, and then returning and reattaching itself to the arm again.

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.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

Humanoids 2024: 22–24 November 2024, NANCY, FRANCE

Enjoy today’s videos!

Just when I thought quadrupeds couldn’t impress me anymore...

[ Unitree Robotics ]

Researchers at Meta FAIR are releasing several new research artifacts that advance robotics and support our goal of reaching advanced machine intelligence (AMI). These include Meta Sparsh, the first general-purpose encoder for vision-based tactile sensing that works across many tactile sensors and many tasks; Meta Digit 360, an artificial fingertip-based tactile sensor that delivers detailed touch data with human-level precision and touch-sensing; and Meta Digit Plexus, a standardized platform for robotic sensor connections and interactions that enables seamless data collection, control and analysis over a single cable.

[ Meta ]

The first bimanual Torso created at Clone includes an actuated elbow, cervical spine (neck), and anthropomorphic shoulders with the sternoclavicular, acromioclavicular, scapulothoracic and glenohumeral joints. The valve matrix fits compactly inside the ribcage. Bimanual manipulation training is in progress.

[ Clone Inc. ]

Equipped with a new behavior architecture, Nadia navigates and traverses many types of doors autonomously. Nadia also demonstrates robustness to failed grasps and door opening attempts by automatically retrying and continuing. We present the robot with pull and push doors, four types of opening mechanisms, and even spring-loaded door closers. A deep neural network and door plane estimator allow Nadia to identify and track the doors.

[ Paper preprint by authors from Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition ]

Thanks, Duncan!

In this study, we integrate the musculoskeletal humanoid Musashi with the wire-driven robot CubiX, capable of connecting to the environment, to form CubiXMusashi. This combination addresses the shortcomings of traditional musculoskeletal humanoids and enables movements beyond the capabilities of other humanoids. CubiXMusashi connects to the environment with wires and drives by winding them, successfully achieving movements such as pull-up, rising from a lying pose, and mid-air kicking, which are difficult for Musashi alone.

[ CubiXMusashi, JSK Robotics Laboratory, University of Tokyo ]

Thanks, Shintaro!

An old boardwalk seems like a nightmare for any robot with flat feet.

[ Agility Robotics ]

This paper presents a novel learning-based control framework that uses keyframing to incorporate high-level objectives in natural locomotion for legged robots. These high-level objectives are specified as a variable number of partial or complete pose targets that are spaced arbitrarily in time. Our proposed framework utilizes a multi-critic reinforcement learning algorithm to effectively handle the mixture of dense and sparse rewards. In the experiments, the multi-critic method significantly reduces the effort of hyperparameter tuning compared to the standard single-critic alternative. Moreover, the proposed transformer-based architecture enables robots to anticipate future goals, which results in quantitative improvements in their ability to reach their targets.

[ Disney Research paper ]

Human-like walking where that human is the stompiest human to ever human its way through Humanville.

[ Engineai ]

We present the first static-obstacle avoidance method for quadrotors using just an onboard, monocular event camera. Quadrotors are capable of fast and agile flight in cluttered environments when piloted manually, but vision-based autonomous flight in unknown environments is difficult in part due to the sensor limitations of traditional onboard cameras. Event cameras, however, promise nearly zero motion blur and high dynamic range, but produce a large volume of events under significant ego-motion and further lack a continuous-time sensor model in simulation, making direct sim-to-real transfer not possible.

[ Paper University of Pennsylvania and University of Zurich ]

Cross-embodiment imitation learning enables policies trained on specific embodiments to transfer across different robots, unlocking the potential for large-scale imitation learning that is both cost-effective and highly reusable. This paper presents LEGATO, a cross-embodiment imitation learning framework for visuomotor skill transfer across varied kinematic morphologies. We introduce a handheld gripper that unifies action and observation spaces, allowing tasks to be defined consistently across robots.

[ LEGATO ]

The 2024 Xi’an Marathon has kicked off! STAR1, the general-purpose humanoid robot from Robot Era, joins runners in this ancient yet modern city for an exciting start!

[ Robot Era ]

In robotics, there are valuable lessons for students and mentors alike. Watch how the CyberKnights, a FIRST robotics team champion sponsored by RTX, with the encouragement of their RTX mentor, faced challenges after a poor performance and scrapped its robot to build a new one in just nine days.

[ CyberKnights ]

In this special video, PAL Robotics takes you behind the scenes of our 20th-anniversary celebration, a memorable gathering with industry leaders and visionaries from across robotics and technology. From inspiring speeches to milestone highlights, the event was a testament to our journey and the incredible partnerships that have shaped our path.

[ PAL Robotics ]

Thanks, Rugilė!

Shop these deep discounts of up to 50% off of loads of styles of Rebecca Minkoff handbags at Amazon's Big Summer Sale.

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

1. Jharkhand election 2024 live: Over 13% voter turnout in 43 seats till 9am  Hindustan Times
2. Jharkhand Election 2024 Live Updates: Former CM, BJP candidate Champai Soren casts vote  The Times of India
3. Vote to protect rights, strengthen Constitution: Rahul to Jharkhand voters  The Hindu
4. Jharkhand elections phase 1: NDA vs INDIA bloc face-off with crucial tribal votes in play  India Today
5. Think of forming inclusive government not one that divides: Kharge to voters  Deccan Herald

The film will mark Geetu’s third directorial after ‘Liar’s Dice’ and ‘Moothon’

A lot of folks got into the SaGa series a long time ago through its many releases on prior console …

Continue reading "Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Interview With Game Producer Shinichi Tatsuke and Steam Deck Hands-On Preview"

Flying has never been safer for Australians on commercial aircraft, according to a new report from the ATSB.

Algiz-RT7 rugged tablet product presentation

Flatbed Cider Co. offers two all new hand-crafted ciders made from the apples and pears that made the Northwest famous. Look for our Crisp Apple Cider and Pear Cider at restaurants and retailers throughout Washington State and Oregon.

The Nutrilite� Power of 5 Campaign engaged over 260,000 people worldwide to �raise their hand� to fight childhood malnutrition and accomplished a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS� title for Largest collage of cutout handprints.

Safe Handling of Raw Produce and Fresh-Squeezed Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Bayer MSMS �Say TkU� Campaign

The Amgen Biotech Experience empowers teachers to bring biotechnology into their classrooms to spark students� love of science and features a hands-on curriculum that introduces students to the excitement of scientific discovery.

झारखंड में पहले चरण का मतदान शुरू हो गया है। पहले चरण में 15 जिलों की 43 सीटों पर आज मतदान हो रहा है। इस बीच प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने लोगों से वोट अपील की है। प्रधानमंत्री ने एक्स पर पोस्ट

Engaging the fine motor system to produce letters by hand has positive effects on learning and memory

Gencon is this week! I will be at booth 1237! Come say hi and buy some stuff! WOO

Brae Hill holds off the challenge of Mull of Killough to win the Lincoln Handicap in a thrilling finish at Doncaster.

Highlights: Kolkata children face an increasing threat from the highly contagious hand, foot, and mouth diseas

(NEW DELHI. 17 December 2015) The severe drought in Bundelkhand is likely to become a more regular occurrence according to scientists at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Records show that the area, straddling the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh near Jhansi, experienced seven droughts in the last decade. This compares with a […]

The post Bundelkhand droughts becoming more frequent first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

People with severe mental illnesses are falling through the cracks when it comes to oral health care, according to new research by the University of York.

Nilam Patel, Additional Director of the Gujarat Health Department, reported that by July 24, 23 confirmed cases of Chandipura virus (!--ref1--) had

The Chandipura virus (!--ref1--) is spreading in Rajasthan, with confirmed cases rising to four. Additionally, 74 people are under suspicion of infection, according to state health officials.

The number of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) infections in Japan has surpassed the warning level nationwide for the first time in nearly five years (!--ref1--).

bHighlights:/bul class="group-list punch-points"li Tragic train accident renders Delhi painter handless/li liOrgan donation offers newfound

A study indicates that the ChatGPT chatbot may serve as an effective tool to save time by addressing patient inquiries directed to the urologist's office.