£142.5m combat aircraft unveiled

[Charles Pegge]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100712/ttc-142-5m-combat-aircraft-unveiled-e1d36ba.html

[kryton9]

Looks cool, like it could be a Cylon drone.

[Charles Pegge]

This is technology imitating science fiction!

[kryton9]

Which is really great. I don't know if you watched any of Star Trek Enterprise, the last tv series. But they were using tablets often in that show and now we have real tablets that looks like those. So now what was fiction, 5 or 6 years ago is reality today, which is really really cool.

I am surprised we are not seeing more augmented human suits or exoskeletons like we see in sci-fi. I see research videos from time to time, but there would be such a good use for things like that.

For the elderly, could you imagine leg supports that could help you sit and get back up, or go up stairs... I could use one of those in a few more years :)
Or any emergency vehicle with one suit wearer to pry open stuck doors in accidents, or lift heavy debris off of the injured. So many uses for such a device if you even begin to think about constructions, warehouses, factories... there would be a huge market for such a thing.

[Charles Pegge]

We may may soon have affordable models of these:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5

http://www.yousaytoo.com/bokonon/robot-legs-from-honda/14048

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1083814/Pictured-The-robot-legs-help-people-weight-feet.html

[kryton9]

I've seen stuff like this in research, but I guess it takes time to market.
Just look at Microsoft's Surface? It still has yet to be seen in the mass market, only in a few key spots.

[John Spikowski]

We may may soon have affordable models of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5

http://www.yousaytoo.com/bokonon/robot-legs-from-honda/14048

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1083814/Pictured-The-robot-legs-help-people-weight-feet.html


Charles,

I wish this was available to Athena for her acute in-patient physical rehab she will be transitioning to next week. (after 9 months in a bed) They are using a harness attached to her overhead lift system to get her standing at the hospital she is at now.

[LanceGary]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100712/ttc-142-5m-combat-aircraft-unveiled-e1d36ba.html



The wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAE_Taranis

says that the Taranis system will have "full autonomy" -



"With the inclusion of "full autonomy" the intention is thus for this platform to be able to "think for itself" for a large part of the mission.


I think that is a terrible idea in a weapon system.

Lance

[Petr Schreiber]

Hi Lance,

I think the autonomity maybe references stuff like auto pilot and solving the problems on the path (bird landed on the wing, plane turns left, brain says "compensate it") rather than killing prey on its own.
I guess the "large part of the mission" is the flight, the actual fire or other aggressive action will need confirmation from human I presume (and as they write "But for strategic effect we will always have a man in the loop – we cannot afford to do otherwise").

But it is scary anyway :?


Petr

[LanceGary]

Yeah - sounds like the start of a Terminator movie...

Lance

[kryton9]

Here is another incredible new product in the works.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/15/rex-the-robotic-exoskeleton-aims-to-make-wheelchairs-obsolete/

[Charles Pegge]

I wish this was available to Athena for her acute in-patient physical rehab she will be transitioning to next week. (after 9 months in a bed) They are using a harness attached to her overhead lift system to get her standing at the hospital she is at now.



It's great to see your daughter Athena starting to move again after such a serious illness. It will take time to recover bone and muscle strength, and adjust to a more natural environment. Hospitalised patients are more sensitive to pain because there is not much else to focus on.

John's blog here:
http://www.athenastatus.info/blog/

Those legs are quite pricey Kent. Leg enhancements would be very useful for the Olympics or the Tour de France. (No need for steroids!)

[John Spikowski]

Charles,

Thanks for caring about Athena. It's been a long hard road for both of us. The nightmare of dealing with the aftermath of massive amounts of narcotics used in the first two months of her being in the ICU to keep her heart from exploding from panic has become her toughest battle. My view of the heath care system has changed forever. Pray you never end up in long term critically ill position. If you survive the crisis, it's 50/50 if your health care providers will kill you due to carelessness and the broken/out dated protocols that are still being used.

John

[danbaron]

[font=courier new][size=7pt]I hope your daughter is OK, too.

I will pray for her.

(I have to be careful. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to use that word (the third word in the previous line)).

((((My wife has advanced multiple sclerosis, and has been in a special nursing home since 1999. For years, she has been on a ventilator, has had a stomach feeding tube, and has had a bladder catheter. On the other hand, her mind is fine. Don't tell anyone about this.))))

Dan