What is Artificial Intelligence?

The world-renowned Honda Humanoid Robot has evolved into a desktop program assistant, ASIMO will be on your desktop for free! The ASIMO DESKTOP WIDGET brings the real humaoid ASIMO right onto your screen. The robot ASIMO does not only walk and run around your screen, but presents the latest news headlines from Honda, provides an easy memo function, and more. Although some functions need internet connection to work. The ASIMO Desktop Widget Features:

• walks to and fro and runs around your computer screen, and does many unique actions.
• RSS News Display - whenever available, ASIMO shows the latest Honda news all its Worldwide site.
• Menu - the main ASIMO Menu allows you to have access to the available functions below:
• - News: The latest news from the Honda Worldwide site
• - Search: Google search window
• - Memo Pad: A simple memo pad
• - Widget Settings: Balloon style, sound and automatic start settings
• - Quit: Quits the ASIMO DESKTOP WIDGET
• - Honda Logo: Opens your browser to the Honda Worldwide site

You can drag and drop the Menu window anywhere you want to place it on the screen. Click here to download the ASIMO DESKTOP WIDGET. Click here to read more about ASIMO Desktop Widget, Asimo Desktop Companion

For the last two years we have witnessed the debut and the fame of iRobot's Blob Bot, ChemBot. Many scientists have attempted to create whole-skin locomotion (WSL) robots, but iRobot just won the project.

Today, another scientist is given the opportunity to create a whole new WSL robot that will have less or no restrictions to environmental constraints.

Dr. Dennis Hong of Virginia Tech's RoMeLa Lab is awarded a $400k grant by the NSF to develop a new whole-skin locomotion robot named ChIMERA which stands for "Chemically Induced Motion Everting Robotic Amoeba" that was first introduced at a recent TEDxNASA event.

As described by Dr. Hong, ChIMERA is likened to a slippery water-snake toy, made with silicone which makes it very flexible and difficult to grasp.

Although the researchers have not disclosed how ChIMERA was engineered and formed, they have provided enough video materials for us to visualize how it moves. I'm especially fascinated by the robot's fast movements (0.5 m/s) and it's ability to squeeze through small holes (half its own diameter).

Click here to read more about ChIMERA, Amoeba-Like Whole-SKin Locomotion Robots

MIT scientists have proven in their recent study that a person's moral judgments can be altered by disrupting or disturbing the current activity of the brain region, TPJ.

This study is a follow-up of the previous study of the right TPJ, a region of the brain actively involved in making moral decisions or judgments. TPJ, acronym for temporo-parietal junction is observed to be very active when we think of something to other people.

In this study, led by Rebecca Saxe, MIT assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, the right TPJ's activity is disrupted by inducing a current in the brain with a magnetic field applied on the surface of the scalp. After this test, it was observed that "subjects' ability to make moral judgments that require an understanding of other people's intentions -- for example, a failed murder attempt -- was impaired", reported Saxe in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

How was this accomplished? The scientists used a non-invasive strategy known as trans-cranial magnetic stimulation or (TMS) to selectively interfere or disrupt with brain activity in the right TPJ. A magnetic field applied to a portion of the skull generates weak electric currents that causes brain cells' within the area to fire normally, however the effect is only short-lived.

Click here to read more about Altering Moral Judgments with Trans-Cranial Magnetic Stimulation, MIT Brain Science Project

MeBot, a project, or a masterpiece should I say, from the Personal Robotics Group at MIT, is one of the most talked-about robots of today. Some might think that it is just one of those ordinary telepresence robots that we know. But what makes it unique is its ability to provide its user ways of communicating non-verbally.

The MeBot is like a robotic avatar which gives you a whole new different way of interaction through non-verbal channels with the help of phone and video conferencing. It is also able to communicate some body posture, head movements through its 3 DOF neck and very expressive hand gestures. The operator can also control the inter-personal distance.

The creation of MeBot aims to give people a face and an expressive presence even though they are far away and still have the same feeling as “being there”. According to the makers of Mebot:

“We conducted an experiment that evaluated how people perceived a robot-mediated operator differently when they used a static telerobot versus a physically embodied and expressive telerobot. Results showed that people felt more psychologically involved and more engaged in the interaction with their remote partners when they were embodied in a socially expressive way. People also reported much higher levels of cooperation both on their own part and their partners as well as a higher score for enjoyment in the interaction.”

Click here to read more about MeBot, Telepresence Robot

After the attempted bombing incident of an airplane flying to Detroit last year in December, more American airline fares can anticipate to undergo a more sophisticated bomb detection system than metal detector units at security channels.

450 X-ray full body backscatter scanners are said to be installed in American Airports this month. The U.S. Congress has specifically allocated funds for this detection system that reveals metal objects concealed under garments.

These X-ray scanners, according to Joe Reiss, vice president of marketing at the American Science and Engineering (AS&E), in Billerica, Mass., which manufactures SmartCheck X-ray backscatter scanners, only shows the outline of the passenger's body, no more than that, as contrary to what rumors say.

These devices releases a tiny amount of ionized radiation less than 0.1 microsievert, which is equivalent to less than 10 microrem.

And a spokesperson from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Sarah Horowitz confirmed that the radiation level is safe for all ages, but airline passengers will still have the option to be patted down instead.

Click here to read more about X-ray Full Body Scanners, Backscatter Detection System