A robot with 200 hours of power? DARPA wants one

10 hrs.

John Roach

The U.S. military?s futuristic research arm has launched a program to get more productivity out of its robots in a bid to make them more compatible companions on the battlefield.

DARPA?s robots include one that can haul hundreds of pounds of gear across rugged terrain and another that can quickly disarm roadside bombs ? good chores for robots instead of humans. The problem is the machines are lazy, working for about 10 minutes before they demand a re-charge break.

The agency?s M3 Actuation program aims to achieve a 2,000 percent increase in the efficiency of power transmission and application in robots.

To get there, the agency suggests researchers look to human and animal models, whose bones, muscles and tendons have evolved to work together and use as little energy as possible.?

?If robotic actuation can be made to approach the efficiency of human and animal actuation, the range of practical robotic applications will greatly increase and robot design will be less limited by power plant considerations,? DARPA said in a statement announcing the program.

According to the statement, the agency is seeking proposals for two tracks:?

• Track 1 is to demonstrate develop and demonstrate high-efficiency actuation technology that will allow robots similar to the government-furnished ones in the DARPA Robotics Challenge to have a 20 times longer endurance when running on untethered battery power. (Currently about 10 to 20 minutes.)
  
• Track 2 aims to improve the efficiency of actuators at scales larger and smaller than applicable to the DRC GFE platform.
  

Design approaches will be shared at the DRC live competition scheduled for December 2013 and final systems will be demonstrated at DRC live in December 2014. More details are available from DARPA.?

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website and follow him on Twitter. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/technology/futureoftech/robot-200-hours-power-darpa-wants-one-860991

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Sony Xperia SL shows up in Indonesian POSTEL database

The Xperia S is a mere six months old. Yet, rumor has it that Sony is already prepping a refresh, dubbed the Xperia SL. The handset surfaced at the Indonesian POSTEL site (which appears to be something akin to the FCC), bearing the model number LT26ii. That seemingly random collection of letters and numbers actually reinforces the suspicion that the SL will replace the S, which goes by LT26i -- for those fascinated by nondescript naming systems. What else can we tell you about the device? Well... a whole lot of nothing unfortunately. Chances are it will be mostly a minor spec bump -- perhaps a quad-core CPU and a better camera. For now, though, you'll just have to wait and play the guessing game with the rest of us.

Sony Xperia SL shows up in Indonesian POSTEL database originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/3h-tJM87PVo/

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Stuck In A 'Spider-Man' Web? Let Go Of The Old, Embrace The New

While it might never be your first 'Spider-Man' love, here are some tips for welcoming Andrew Garfield's 'Amazing' reboot into your life.
By Kara Warner

Andrew Garfield in "Amazing Spider-Man"
Photo: Sony Pictures

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1688983/amazing-spider-man-andrew-garfield.jhtml

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HTC?s $149 Droid Incredible 4G LTE Coming To Verizon On July 5

HTC's Droid Incredible 4G LTE hasn't been a very well-kept secret (then again, what HTC phone is?), but Verizon has just confirmed what many of us suspected -- their latest HTC handset will hit store shelves on July 5. If you've been itching for an upgrade and just can't wait for a Galaxy S III, expect to shell out $149 (after a mail-in rebate, sadly) for the new Sense-powered slab.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tzjsglkW2Ws/

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Early full-term babies may face later school woes

CHICAGO (AP) ? Even for infants born full-term, a little more time in the womb may matter.

The extra time results in more brain development, and a study suggests perhaps better scores on academic tests, too.

Full-term is generally between 37 weeks and 41 weeks; newborns born before 37 weeks are called premature and are known to face increased chances for health and developmental problems.

The children in the study were all full-term, and the vast majority did fine on third-grade math and reading tests. The differences were small, but the study found that more kids born at 37 or 38 weeks did poorly than did kids born even a week or two later.

The researchers and other experts said the results suggest that the definition of prematurity should be reconsidered.

The findings also raise questions about hastening childbirth by scheduling cesarean deliveries for convenience ? because women are tired of being pregnant or doctors are busy ? rather than for medical reasons, the researchers say.

Women should "at least proceed with caution before electing to have an earlier term birth," said lead author Dr. Kimberly Noble, an assistant pediatrics professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

The study involved 128,000 New York City public school children and included a sizable number of kids from disadvantaged families. But the authors said similar results likely would be found in other children, too.

Of the children born at 37 weeks, 2.3 percent had severely poor reading skills and 1.1 percent had at least moderate problems in math. That compares to 1.8 percent and 0.9 percent for the children born at 41 weeks.

Children born at 38 weeks faced only slightly lower risks than those born at 37 weeks.

Compared with 41-weekers, children born at 37 weeks faced a 33 percent increased chance of having severe reading difficulty in third grade, and a 19 percent greater chance of having moderate problems in math.

"These outcomes are critical and predict future academic achievement," said Naomi Breslau, a Michigan State University professor and sociologist. Her own research has linked lower IQs in 6-year-olds born weighing the same as the average birth weights at 37 and 38 weeks' gestation, compared with those born heavier.

The study was published online Monday in Pediatrics.

The research "will cause quite a stir," said Dr. Judy Aschner, a pediatrics professor and neonatology director at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"There are still a lot of babies who are being delivered more or less electively at 37 and 38 weeks, with people thinking, 'This is no big deal ? these babies are full-term.' I think this is a big deal," Aschner said. She was not involved in the study.

Aschner said no one is recommending trying to delay childbirth for women who go into labor at 37 weeks or 38 weeks.

"I don't want to panic moms whose babies come at 37 weeks," she said. "But those elective early deliveries really need to stop."

Some hospitals including Vanderbilt require obstetricians planning elective C-sections to complete a checklist and if appropriate boxes aren't checked, the operation can't be performed, Aschner said.

In the study, 15 percent of children were born in C-section operations but there was no information on how many of these were elective or medically necessary procedures. C-sections can cause birth complications that also increase chances for developmental delays. But the researchers took that into account, along with other risk factors including low birth weight, lack of prenatal care, smoking during pregnancy and neighborhood poverty ? all of which could contribute to academic difficulties. And they still found that birth at 37 weeks and 38 weeks was an additional risk.

__

Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

Pre-term birth: http://1.usa.gov/NNmf6U

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-07-02-Timely%20Births-Risks/id-8c72e9502e924a09ab06dbdb12e020c6

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ConEd locks out union workers as talks stall

By msnbc.com staff and news services

New York power utility Consolidated Edison Inc locked out its unionized workers early on Sunday after contract talks broke down, both sides said, raising the possibility of power cuts during a summer heat wave.

The company asked to extend negotiations for two more weeks, it said, but the union, which had threatened a strike, refused. In response, the firm told union members not to report for work on Sunday.

---

Reuters reported that the action increased the risk of power outages if a continuing heat wave puts extra strain on the electrical grid for New York City and suburban Westchester county.

However, a utility official told the New York Daily News that customers should not expect to see any adverse effects.

"Both sides are far apart," said company spokesman Mike Clendenon. "We asked the union to extend the talks for two weeks but they refused."

"We can't operate the system reliably for customers if the union can still call a strike at a moment's notice," he said.

He did not use the term "lockout" but said the company notified unionized workers not to report for work. ConEd managers have been specially trained to handle emergency or maintenance work, he said.

John Melia, a spokesman for the Utilities Workers Union of America (UWUA) said that as of 2 a.m. Sunday (EDT) its 8,500 ConEd power workers were locked out.

"ConEd took the extreme measure of locking out its unionized workforce putting the city of New York and Westchester county in peril during a heat wave."

The lockout came as the summer's second heat wave hit the city of over 8 million people, with stifling temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), raising demand for power to operate air conditioners.

Both sides continued talking for over an hour after the midnight Saturday deadline expired, but failed to reach a settlement over a new contract for the company's unionized workers. A major sticking point in the contract was ConEd's plan to phase out defined pensions.

The union membership had authorized its leaders to call a strike at midnight on Saturday, when the collective bargaining agreement expired. A similar strike in 1983 lasted nine weeks, while a blackout in July 1977 - caused not by labor action but by lightning strikes - resulted in looting and civil disorder in the largest U.S. city.

As the deadline approached, 200-300 union members staged a rally in downtown Manhattan, chanting "If we go out, the lights go out."

Tony Ballone, a union delegate, told Reuters the main issues were pensions, wages and health care. "They (ConEd) want to take everything we have fought for 50 years."

"We're the first responders, we come out in rain and snow, we keep the lights on. All we want is a fair contract," he said.

With Con Edison workers locked out, company managers are left to fix whatever problems arise as New Yorkers crank up their air conditioners.

The utility had only just returned power to Brooklyn and other areas of the city blacked out in a heat wave 10 days ago. Still, with the lockout coming over a weekend, when many businesses in Manhattan are typically closed, demand for power will be lower than a weekday.

That would lessen the risk the utility will have to reduce voltage, commonly called a brown out, as the utility was forced to do last week in Brooklyn and Queens.

Still, the UWUA union stressed that without its skilled workers, the Big Apple could be facing outages if a deal is not agreed. Con Ed has 13,000 employees including union members.

Temperatures in New York City were expected to reach 92 degrees on Sunday and 90 degrees on Monday before slipping into the 80s on Tuesday before the Fourth of July holiday, according to AccuWeather.com. The normal high for this time of year is 83 degrees.?

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/01/12506125-power-firm-coned-locks-out-union-workers-as-talks-stall?lite

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Leap Second on Saturday Will Cause 61-Second Minute

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leap-second-saturday-cause-61-second-minute-094403144.html

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