Robot love: When Daniel123 met Jane234

"I must say that your face sounds familiar."

It may not be the warmest response to a pickup line, but in robot terms it's almost a home run. Daniel123 looks like he scored a date with Jane234.

Earlier this month, we saw how a charming little open-source robot called Qbo recognized itself in a mirror.

After a bit of preening, this particular Qbo (aka Daniel123) was ready for action. In the latest video from Francisco Paz and TheCorpora, who are developing Qbo as an artificial intelligence project, Daniel meets a female Qbo named Jane234 and seems to take a shine to her.

"You're very good looking," Daniel tells Jane.

Originally posted at >>Crave

Raspberry Pi $25 PC on course for January arrival

The $25 computer project known as Raspberry Pi is set to go on sale next month.

The tiny computer, which runs Linux on an ARM processor and sports USB, audio and video out, as well as an SD card slot, was designed to be an ultra-low-cost computer aimed at children.

In a blog post picked up by Business Insider this week, its creators noted that the machine will be available in January following some additional testing on the hardware and software.

At launch the diminutive machine will be offered in two configurations, one at $25 and the other at $35.  >> Read more

Adults-only vending machine dispenses Jell-O

Much like Lego is attempting to expand its audience into the uncharted world of girls, Kraft is trying to get adults to eat Jell-O outside of shots at frat parties.

Kraft's new line of Jell-O Temptations products features flavors like lemon meringue pie, chocolate truffle indulgence, and raspberry cheesecake. I guess that might turn off kids who are used to simpler Jell-O tastes like grape and cherry.

Originally posted at >>Crave

Hummingbird robo-drone gets 1.8-gigapixel camera

Starting in the spring, the Hummingbird will be on sentry duty in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Army is getting ready to deploy a trio of prototype A160 Hummingbird drones as it evaluates the aircraft for a more full-fledged development program. One key characteristic that sets these unmanned air vehicles apart from others, such as the Predator, already more famously serving in the war zone is that the Hummingbirds are rotorcraft--that is, they fly like helicopters rather than planes.

The Hummingbirds will be equipped with DARPA's Argus-IS sensor system, which features a 1.8-gigapixel color camera--gear that the Army a >>more

Originally posted at >>Military Tech

In 2011, these flying machines soared

In 2011, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner carried passengers for the first time, and the space shuttle landed for the final time.

For aviation buffs and aerospace junkies, those were the signature events of the year. In the case of the shuttle, there were actually three such moments, and each time we got more verklempt: Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis all flew their final missions. But as the door closes on that 30-year piece in history, a window is opening toprivate space ventures like SpaceX and the newly unveiled Stratolaunch effort from Paul Allen and Burt Rutan.

Boeing got a lot >>more

Space post office postmarks letters from orbit

China's main Space Post Office is actually on the ground in Beijing, but they're happy to route letters through the galaxy's only true "satellite" branch in orbit so you can bag a one-of-a-kind postmark.

Yes, thanks to cuts to NASA's funding, it seems the Chinese have now rocketed ahead of us in the postal space gimmick department. The idea is for space nuts to send e-mails to a computer aboard the Chinese spacecraft Tiangong-1, currently in orbit, which routes the message back to the main Space Post Office to be printed out, stuffed into a commemorative envelope with a special postmark, and sent on to its addressee.

The orbital philatelic experiment is meant to boost business for China's postal service, which has been suffering as people move online. Makes you wonder why the U.S. Postal Service didn't set up shop at Cape Canaveral years ago.

Originally posted at >>Crave

In Japan, seat sensors that can recognize you

Engineers at Japan's Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology have developed a system that can recognize individuals by measuring how they apply pressure on a seat when sitting down.

Nikkei reports that a team led by professor Shigeomi Koshimizu is working to commercialize the system as a "highly reliable" anti-theft system. The timeline? Two to three years, if an automaker signs on.

It's the car seat of the future. Or perhaps the airplane seat of the future--no need to show your ticket or appeal to a flight attendant to boot someone out of your coveted window seat.

Originally posted at >>Crave