21st Antweight World Series

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Posted by slurp on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 (GST)

Saturday, October 21, 2006 (GST) - 21st Antweight World Series

location: Harvington Village Hall, nr Evesham, WR11 8NQ

More details are to be found on the Robot Wars 101 Forum

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Would Julian Jaynes Kick a Robot?

Stevan Harnad gave an interesting keynote talk at the recent Julian Jaynes Conference on Consciousness that both reminisces about Julian Jaynes and addresses the question of whether consciousness depends more on language or feeling. Harnad updates the classic question asked of Julian Jaynes about whether or not is was alright to kick a dog if dogs were not conscious. And what can we learn about consciousness from speculating on the likelihood of Jaynes kicking dogs and robots? More than you might think. Harnad's talk can be found in a newly released paper titled, "What it Feels Like to Hear Voices: Fond Memories of Julian Jaynes" (PDF format).

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Biologists at Harvard have converted cells from a mouse's pancreas into the insulin-producing cells that are destroyed in diabetes, using master proteins called transcription factors that control which sets of genes are active in a cell and thus what properties the cell will possess. The research suggests that the natural barriers between the body's cell types may not be as immutable as supposed. This and other recent experiments raise the possibility that a patient's healthy cells might be transformed into the type lost to a disease far more simply and cheaply than in the cumbersome proposals involving stem cells. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/science/28cell.html?ref=science)

Textured graphics can be captured in a flash

University of Manchester scientists have developed a simple technique to add depth to textured surfaces displayed as backdrops in computer games and digital dome presentations. They found they could reconstruct the depth of a surface simply by taking two photos of it -- one with a flash and one without -- and processing the resulting shading patterns to capture the surface's 3D texture. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14612-textured-graphics-can-be-captured-in-a-flash.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

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