MIT researchers have trained their robotic cheetah to see and jump over hurdles as it runs — making this the first four-legged robot to run and jump over obstacles autonomously.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/cheetah-robot-lands-running-jump-0529
Note: Author Gerald Carroll discovered this photo in the archives of the San Francisco Examiner in 1989. Stephanie Caruana assured me this was the same Bruce Roberts she knew in San Francisco. It shows not only that Bruce Roberts existed but that he had knowledge and interest concerning artificial gems. SH
Here’s one that should make JREF* devotees froth at the mouth! We at The Swill Bucket generally keep comments closed to avoid cognitive infiltrators–and sesquipedalian misanthropes–but we thought it would be compassionate (even humorous) to give JREF advocates a chance to vent and hurl crude epithets at the authors –or people and ideas associated with them–in JREFrs’ distinct style of rabid verbal attack they somehow equate with intellectual discourse. However, I expect your typical JREF adherent won’t make it past the first paragraph anyway.
* (James Randi Educational Forum: http://web.randi.org/)
Study Suggests Conspiracy Theorists Are More Positive & Reasonable Compared To Conventional Thinkers
“A case study examining online commenting trends was performed by psychologists Michael J. Wood and Karen M. Douglas of the University of Kent that revealed so called 「conspiracy theorists〠are actually more reasonable & sensible than those who are considered conventionalists.
Not that long ago, practically anyone who thought outside of the box, questioned the official stories, or did any type of investigation into certain subjects was labeled a ‘conspiracy theorist.’ In fact, many of these people, including the majority of the writers here at Collective Evolution, are still considered conspiracy theorists by many even though the goal is simply to examine or verify the truth of something.”
“The Big Electron”
The terms “conspiracy theorist†and “conspiracy nut†are used frequently to discredit a perceived adversary using emotional rather than logical appeals. It’s important for the sake of true argument that we define the term “conspiracy†and use it appropriately, not as an ad hominem attack on someone whose point of view we don’t share.
According to my Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, the word “conspiracy†derives from the Latin “conspirare,†which means literally “to breathe together†in the sense of agreeing to commit a crime. The primary definition is “planning and acting together secretly, especially for a harmful or unlawful purpose, such as murder or treason.â€
It was in this sense that Mark Twain astutely observed, “A conspiracy is nothing but a secret agreement of a number of men for the pursuance of policies which they dare not admit in public.â€
Complete article here:
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/10/27/rethinking-conspiracy/
Fran Shure, Psychologist, mentions RC in footnote #13:
http://www1.ae911truth.org/en/news-section/41-articles/930-why-do-good-people-become-silentor-worseabout-911-pt13.html
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