- The Robots Running This Way
Some of the machines acquired recently by Google represent a giant leap forward for robot-kind.
In the pit lane of the Homestead-Miami speedway in Florida, inside a track on which race cars sometimes travel at over 300 kilometers an hour, a small crowd is watching something considerably slower but arguably far more impressive. On a sunny Saturday morning just before Christmas, a robot that roughly resembles a large person is contemplating a makeshift door on the tarmac ahead. It surveys the door using a laser scanner and a pair of cameras in its head; then, after a lengthy pause, the robot extends a gleaming aluminum arm, pushes open the door, and slowly steps through.
- EPA Issues Proposed Carbon Emissions Rules
The EPA’s emissions targets will accelerate the use of natural gas in states that have resisted alternatives to coal.
The Obama administration took its most forceful step yet on climate change with an EPA proposal to curb greenhouse gases from existing power plants. The most likely impact from the rules, if they survive legal challenges, will be an accelerated shift to natural gas and more energy efficiency measures in coal-heavy states.
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