Category Archives: Transhuman News

If interactive robots were able to pause during conversation and take a moment to gaze off into the distance as if pondering what the user was saying, research suggests this small change could make them seem less robotic.

Sean Andrist, a graduate researcher at the University of Wisconsin,studies ways researchers can improve how communicative characters, both digitally-constructed virtual agents and physical robots, maintain eye contact.

Specifically, Andrists research focuses on gaze aversion, or the moments when people glance away or look around during conversation.

Andrist has a particular interest in human-computer interaction and computer animation, so he started working on a cross-section of these two topics. He looked at how to make computer agents behave more naturally and work with users more intuitively, his co-advisor, Bilge Mutlu, a professor in the Computer Sciences Department, said.

To achieve a stronger application of gaze mechanisms in communicative characters, Andrist said he also studies social science aspects of how humans behave while communicating with one another.

In his most recent paper, Andrist outlined how speakers use these aversions in conversation, they signal to the listeners that cognitive processing is occurring, creating the impression that deep thought or creativity is being undertaken in formulating their speech.

His goals for the research were to see if robots gaze aversions could be perceived as intentional and meaningful by either signaling a pause for contemplation, setting conversational intimacy levels and establishing that it is still their turn to speak. He used parameters of gaze aversion length, timing and frequency to test his goals.

It is one of those things where its really hard to nail down what the right thing to do is, but its really easy to know when something is wrong, Andrist said. For example, if someone is talking to you and theyre being sort of weird with the way they are looking at you, you get the sense that somethings off even if you cant articulate why.

Andrist presented the paper at the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction in Germany earlier this month, where he was nominated for the best paper award and ranked among the top five out of 132 submissions.

An article written about the conference on NewScientist.com said researchers found giving robots a series of small behavioral cues can make help them appear more human, which makes people feel more comfortable interacting with them.

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UW student researches ways to make robots more human

Asus GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC - Crysis 3
Performance testing with Crysis 3 - Gameplay from the first minutes of the game (Post Human) Maxed out, setings on very high and TXAA X4 1680 x 1050 CPU: Int...

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Asus GTX 780 Ti DirectCU II OC - Crysis 3 - Video

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READING the Post's coverage of Katy Gammons cruelty towards her "pet dog" this will rightly horrify most decent human beings.

The implications for her will no doubt be long lasting and hopefully a lesson for those who think they can treat animals in such an appalling way.

For me, however, it's not just this awful disregard for the "fatal" abuse inflicted upon this dog, it also raised the question of why people undertake the responsibility of pet ownership when they clearly are not going to be there to care for the animal through out the day (holidays included).

Perhaps there should be some legal charter for ownership that potential owners have to sign up to, in an attempt to try to ensure that owners are more accountable for the "pets" that they have ownership of.

It really frustrates me when I read about pets being abused or indeed put down due to their owner's irresponsibility or neglect.

Perhaps the punishments should be reviewed and radically increased in an attempt to eradicate the abuse of animals.

As we are also aware, in terms of more dangerous dogs, it is generally the owner that has encouraged the dog's behaviour.

The implications as we know have been devastating for others, especially children, who have been maimed and killed by such animals.

Bob Farmer

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The Bristol Post published Pet cruelty: Let's make punishments harsher

BOISE The practice of emergency post-fire seeding in sagebrush landscapes of the Great Basin, which was meant to stabilize soils,has not resulted in restored habitats that would be used by greatersage-grouseaccording to U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Forest Service researchers who published their results today in the journalEcosphere.

The new study examined the habitat that was present 8-20 years after the seeding projects occurred. These aerial or rangeland drill seeding projects did not always include sagebrush seeds and were not intended to restore wildlife habitat, but instead were designed to mitigate the effects of fire on soil and vegetation. Yet they provide an opportunity to reverse habitat degradation for sage-grouse, a species being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Scientists first characterized which habitats and landscapessage-grouse use throughout the Great Basin. Then they examined areas that had burned and were subsequently seeded with rangeland plant species between 1990 and 2003. To link the two phases of the study, the authors assessed whether vegetation conditions in rehabilitated areas were similar to the habitats used bysage-grouse.

The authors found that sage-grouse tend to use areas with a mixture of dwarf sagebrush and Wyoming big sagebrush, native grasses, minimal human development, and minimal non-native plants. This information will help land managers prioritize areas for protection from disturbance or areas for future sage-grouse specific restoration efforts.

"When we compared these vegetation and landscape conditions to those of post-wildfire rehabilitation sites, we found that the probability ofsage-grouseusing treated areas was low and not very different from burned areas that had not been treated," said USGS ecologist Robert Arkle, the lead author of the publication.

Burned areas, whether treated or not, generally lacked shrubs even after 20 years, and in low elevation areas especially, non-native plants like cheatgrass were often too prevalent for burned sites to be used assage-grousehabitat. This is important because it means that for at least 20 years following wildfire, burned areas of the Great Basin are not likely to be used bysage-grouse, regardless of emergency stabilization treatment. With this kind of time lag, a substantial amount ofsage-grousehabitat is lost each year to wildfire, while gaining relatively little through natural plant succession or emergency stabilization treatments.

Published guidelines about what constitutessage-grousehabitat also provided criteria for comparison to what the scientists observed in the seeded sites. Seeded areas met habitat guideline criteria for native grasses about half of the time, but the majority of seeding projects did not meet sagebrush or forb guideline criteria.

Some individual seeding projects did result in higher quality habitat and the authors evaluated the environmental conditions shared by these sites to determine where post-fire rehabilitation is more likely to benefit sage-grouse. Seeding projects that were most effective tended to occur in cool, moderately moist climates and also depended on post-treatment precipitation and surrounding landscape conditions.

"This is part of a growing body of science demonstrating how difficult it is to rehabilitate sagebrush landscapes once native vegetation is lost through wildfire," said USGS ecologist David Pilliod, who co-authored the publication. "Restoration in the Great Basin is a huge challenge for land managers not only because of difficulties associated with reducing non-native plants and establishing natives, but also because of the rate at which landscapes with sagebrush and other native vegetation are lost. These habitat losses can have negative consequences forsage-grouseand other wildlife that depend on sagebrush."

The study found that even relatively small amounts of non-native plants and human development were both forms of habitat loss that affected whethersage-grousewould use particular locations.

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Post-Fire Stabilization Seedings Have Not Developed Into Sage-grouse Habitat

Previewing Teen Wolf season 4, Executive Producer Jeff Davis hints at what Scott and his friends will be facing later this year. Plus, the season 4 premiere date!

Jeff Davis and Tyler Posey (Scott) sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about the season 3 finale, which airs tonight, as well as a little bit about season 4.

The most interesting part about the interview came when Davis began talking about season 4, which has already begun filming. We find out that Teen Wolf season 4, episode 1 will be called, The Dark Moon. Davis says, [It] is the time in the lunar phase in which the moon is the least visible in the sky and its often thought of as a time of reflection and grief. And that is whats going to be hanging over that episode, which is taking place in Mexico, actually.

Its very action packed, Davis continues. But its going to be the episode that starts the group in a new directionIts going to take some time to get over [Allison's death]. But these resilient teenagers are going to have new challenges to face.

Those challenges might not be what youd expect them to be, either. When asked about season 4s theme, Davis says, Its the redefining of his pact, actually. In the next season, now that [Scott] has solidified his status as an Alpha, how does he maintain the balance of being both human and werewolf in the next season? What happens in season 4 is very human problems start to arise. Hes faced a lot of supernatural problems, but now hes going to have some very difficult human ones.

There are all sorts of human problems Scott could be facing in season 4, including his strained relationship with his father, as well as his relationship with Kira, which is sure to be put on the back burner following Allisons death.

And speaking of season 4, we finally have a release date! Watch the video below, thanks to E! Online, to find out when Teen Wolf will next be on our televisions.

On June 23, 2014 we will be returning to Beacon Hills for Teen Wolf season 4. It sounds like weve got a lot of fun things in store, including the inclusion of the Berzerkers, according to the Teen Wolf marathon that aired today, which had fun facts about the show popping up throughout.

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Teen Wolf season 4 will see very human problems start to arise