Sarcos' military exoskeleton becomes a frightening reality

Have you been waiting for a legion of half-man, half-machine storm troopers to descend upon your city and blaze a round of hellfire in all general directions? If you said yes, that's kind of weird. At any rate, you can consider yourself one step closer to cyborg annihilation thanks to a company called Sarcos and its semi-scary exoskeleton -- which will make any regular old soldier into a Terminator-like killing machine (as far as we can tell). Sure, they demo the unit lifting heavy equipment and reducing fatigue of the user, but we know what this thing is really for -- and it doesn't involve food drops. Check the video after the break to have your mind shattered into a million delicious pieces.

F-117 stealth fighters to make final flight no one will know about

Air Force buffs, prepare to salute a true American hero as it makes it way into the annals of military history: the F-117 stealth fighter. The planes -- one of the most enigmatic members of the military's arsenal -- will be making their final trip on April 21st from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada, the home of their first flight. The aircraft is being replaced by a newer model, the F-22 Raptor, and the government says it has no plans to bring the radar-dodging planes out of retirement. In all, there have only been 59 F-117s that have rolled off the assembly line, 37 of which have already been taken out of the skies, and another seven which have crashed. We'll miss you, F-117, and all the totally awesome, completely secret stuff you did.

Sarcos' military exoskeleton becomes a frightening reality

Have you been waiting for a legion of half-man, half-machine storm troopers to descend upon your city and blaze a round of hellfire in all general directions? If you said yes, that's kind of weird. At any rate, you can consider yourself one step closer to cyborg annihilation thanks to a company called Sarcos and its semi-scary exoskeleton -- which will make any regular old soldier into a Terminator-like killing machine (as far as we can tell). Sure, they demo the unit lifting heavy equipment and reducing fatigue of the user, but we know what this thing is really for -- and it doesn't involve food drops. Check the video after the break to have your mind shattered into a million delicious pieces.

EVENT FOR EXTENDED BODY AND WALKING MACHINE

A six-legged, pneumatically powered walkingmachine has been constructed for the body. The locomotor, with either ripple or tripod gait ,moves fowards, backwards, sideways and turnson the spot. It can also squat and lift by splaying orcontracting its legs. The body is positioned on a turn-table, enabling it to rotate about its axis. It has an exoskeleton on its upper body and arms. The left arm is an extended arm with pneumatic manipulator having 11degrees-of- freedom. It is human-like in form but with additional functions. The fingers open and close , becoming multiplegrippers. There is individual flexion of the fingers, with thumb and wrist rotation. The bodyactuates the walking machine by moving its arms.Different gestures make differentmotions- a translation of limb to leg motions.The body's arms guide the choreography of the locomotor's movements and thus compose the cacophony of pneumatic and mechanical

and sensor modulated sounds

"!Elections in Cuba "Long time NOT elected

Cubans vote as Castro remains ill

Cubans are preparing to cast votes for a new national assembly which will choose the country's president amid doubts about whether ailing Fidel Castro will return to power.

Castro has not been seen in public for nearly 18 months and says he is too sick to campaign

But few Cubans doubt that as long as he is alive, his ideals will continue to drive the policies of Cuba - the only communist government in the Americas

About 8.4 million voters are being asked to back Castro and 613 other top Communists, career politicians, musicians and athletes for posts in the island's rubber-stamp legislature on Sunday, known as the national assembly.

Undisclosed illness

Castro, Cuba's unchallenged "Maximum Leader" since 1959, ceded power to his younger brother Raul in July 2006, following emergency intestinal surgery.

He is still recovering from an undisclosed illness at a secret location.

Although he no longer runs the government, Castro still heads its supreme governing body, the council of state, and his re-election to parliament is necessary to retain the position.

Following the vote, MPs have 45 days to choose among their colleagues for a new council, meaning a decision on whether Castro will remain president or permanently retire could come by March.

Castro, who has been writing essays on a wide array of topics for publication in state newspapers, in December wrote that he has no intention of clinging to power or standing in the way of a new generation of leaders.

"I am not physically able to speak directly to the citizens of the municipality where I was nominated for our elections," he wrote on Wednesday

Change

Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez said his influence will still loom large.

She said: "If you ask Cubans ... what has changed since Fidel Castro temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul, the answer is not much.

"It's a struggle for me to make enough to live."

But some Cubans say they do see a difference in how 75-year-old Raul Castro is leading the country.

The acting president is encouraging Cubans to openly criticise shortcomings of how the government manages the country.

Independent journalist Carlos Maceira says the effects of this new openness are positive…but it's not enough.

“There are heated debates but this is part of a government scheme, because there is still repression. At least people are no longer afraid to talk publicly.” He said.

There are other signs of change too. Government officials have begun to criticise and discuss ways to improve health and education on Cuba’s most influential TV programme Mesa Redonda.

Raul Castro has also eased some basic restrictions. It is now easier to import car parts and DVD's … and farmers are being given more land to produce food.
But what has not changed is the economic and political structure that has shaped this communist country for decades.

Chat with A.L.I.C.E

First of all i want to point out that it is very easy to start chatting with A.L.I.C.E,

and because it is a Robot or a Bot, it is likely that it knows more infos about Robots and Bots.

For a Bot, i think it can not talk about an issue or a subject with a sequence of ideas.

For example i asked It or Her about prequel and sequel it tought we have a lot in common, then i asked her about what is extension of body and mind she said it is a person it didnt know what it is or it couldnt give me the definition of it.

Once again i asked her, that in another chat with A..L.I.C.E, about Extansional she answered right and that is "ALICE: Yippee! "Extensional" refers to the extension of the set, i.e. the set of all things commonly grouped under a single name. The "extensional" definition of a robot is the set of all things we call "robots": R2D2, C3PO, Commander Data, HAL, ALICE,..."