In California, a Tesla equipped with Autopilot ignored red lights and caused fatalities, leading to its owner receiving only a two-year probation. Consequently, it appears that the penalty for such an incident, where a Tesla with autonomous capabilities is involved in causing harm, is relatively lenient. Enabling Autopilot and directing it towards someone seems to … Continue reading US Court Green Lights Execution by Tesla: Probation for Robotic Manslaughter →

A million years ago (when I was at NASA working on security for people like physicists designing robotics for Mars) we talked about all the obstacles to swarms being successful. Lately it seems like the script has been flipped and journalists are breathlessly warning that nothing can stop swarms. In a decade or so we … Continue reading Swarm Drones Have Flaws Nobody Is Talking About →

The unexpected reversal of prey and predator was observed in a science lab. “I thought, ‘Okay, there’s a bunch of sea urchins in there, these guys are predators of urchins, nothing’s gonna happen,’” recalls Clements, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Moncton. The urchins, he says, hadn’t eaten anything in two weeks. The next day, … Continue reading Reversal of prey-predator: Urchin mobs attack starfish →