Tag: author_name|Andrew Tarantola
Hitting the Books: Buck Rogers flew so that NASA astronauts could spacewalk
You've all seen the iconic picture of the US astronaut riding gracefully upon his NASA-built MODOK chair. That astronaut was Bruce McCandless II, Houston’s capsule communicator during the moon landing mission, Challenger crew member, and the driving force behind America's ability to conduct operations outside of the stuffy confines of…
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This toe tickling navigation system will help the visually impaired walk tall
Following the death of a sight-impaired relative, Wataru Chino had no choice but to take action. In response to the tragedy, the Honda EV engineer developed an in-shoe navigation system, dubbed Ashirase (both the name of the product and the name of the company) that allows low-sighted people to use…
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Why every robot needs a spiffy hat
First developed more than 100,000 years ago, clothing is one of humanity’s earliest — and most culturally significant — inventions, providing wearers not just protection from the environment and elements but also signifying social status, membership in a community and their role within that group. As robots increasingly move out…
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Hitting the Books: Digital youth activism can help save America from itself
Social media routinely proves itself a cesspool of racist, bigoted and toxic opinions — and that's just coming from the adults. But for the younger generations that have never lived in an unconnected world, these seemingly unnavigable platforms have proven to be a uniquely potent tool for organizing and empowering…
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Hitting the Books: The correct way to make coffee, according to science
The best part of waking up is, of course, hot bean juice in your cup. But, as Dr. Kate "The Chemist" Biberdorf explains in her new book It's Elemental, if you want to consistently enjoy the best cuppa joe you can craft — perfectly caffeinated and not too bitter —…
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Facebook’s BlenderBot chat AI no longer has the mental capacity of a goldfish
Last April, Facebook’s AI research lab (FAIR) announced and released as open source its BlenderBot social chat app. While the neophyte AI immediately proved far less prone to racist outbursts than previous attempts, BlenderBot was not without its shortcomings. For one, the system had the recollection capacity of a goldfish…
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