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Is this the ancestor of my Marseguro killerbot?
This proposed underwater robot with a sense of touch looks scarily like what I imagined the Selkie-tracking "killerbots" of Marseguro to be. Mine had tentacles rather than articulated arms, but still: Oh, and for comparison's sake, here's how cover artist Steve Stone pictured the killerbot:Happy birthday to someone you never heard of, but really should know…
...painter and poet Josef Čapek, born on this date in 1887.Nope, I never heard of him either until today, but Scott Edelman explains why he matters:Because Josef was the older brother to Karel Čapek, the author of the 1921 play "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)," in which the term "robot" was introduced. And contrary to popular opinion, it was Josef, not Karel, who coined that word.Edelman goes on to quote from this article written by Karel in 1933, in which Karel recounts how he told Josef that he had an idea for a play, but didn't know what to call the artificial workers that were its focus:"...I could call them ...Roboethics
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.***A couple of weeks ago I wrote about research aimed at making robot-human interactions more comfortable for humans. With more and more robots finding more and more uses in society, that kind of research is important. But there’s something else we’re going to have to consider as robots become ubiquitous: ethics. How do we insure that robots don’t pose a threat to the much frailer humans they interact with (especially with robot caregivers being developed for use in places like Japan, where the elderly already make up 20 percent of the population and are swelling in number)?The risk to humans from robots isn’t just hypothetical, especially with ...I, for one, welcome our new robot masters…
...or apparently I would if I were a cockroach:Cockroaches will often choose shelter unwisely when under the influence of robots, a new study shows. Usually when the creepy crawlers are let loose in a brightly lit area, they gather under the darkest shade they can find. ***But when the bugs were joined by tiny robots designed to smell and behave like roaches, the machines were able to control the insects' behavior.Today the cockroaches: tomorrow, the world!Or at least the silverfish.Rise of the (giggling, dancing, punning) robots
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.***Robots were once science fiction: in fact, the word comes from the Czech word “robota,” meaning work, and originated in Karel Capek’s popular 1920 science-fiction play R.U.R. (for Rossum's Universal Robots).These days, there are robot vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and dogs, and all kinds of robots that work on assembly lines and in other industrial capacities.But let’s face it, we all know that a real robot is one that resembles a human being: what science fiction writers call an android (as in Philip K. Dick’s story “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, which became the movie Blade Runner).The ...Robot and human surgeons compare micro-gravity operating skills
Good news for future space travelers: the world's first demonstration of robotic surgery in a simulated micro-gravity environment takes place this week, in a collaborative effort between SRI International and the University of Cincinnati.On four parabolic flights September 25 to 28 aboard a NASA C-9 aircraft (nicknamed the "Weightless Wonder"), a human surgeon will match suturing and similar skills with a robot surgeon tele-operated from thousands of miles away. The robot surgeon is equipped with special software that ...Google’s new X-prize: land a robot rover on the moon
There's a new X-Prize. This one is funded by Google, so you know the money is good. It's for $30 million. And the goal?To land a robot on the moon.Specifically, to land "a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth."I can't wait to see how this space race develops!Robots with guns…
...the first armed robots in history...have now been deployed in Iraq.No, they don't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.Robot receptionists
Would you like to be greeted at an office by one of these?Apparently these Mitsubishi-made robots, called Wakamaru, are being hired out as receptionists in Japan for $1,000 U.S. a day or $25,000 a year.According to Gizmodo:It turns out these goofy-looking yellow droids are pretty good at the job, recognizing faces and even chatting it up with the customers, using their 10,000-word vocabulary to amaze and entertain, and possibly annoy. Standing a childlike 3'3" tall and weighing 66 pounds, the robots cut a decidedly non-imposing figure, flashing a dorky-looking expression and generally doing nonthreatening things....Nanotechnology marches on…
...to the soccer field.Near-microscopic robots playing soccer. Is this a great time to be alive, or what?
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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