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Space Force

Space Force launches experimental payloads into orbit | C4ISRNET

As part of the Space Test Program, the US Space Force deployed lots of new test cargo into orbit along with a NASA satellite on Dec. 7. The Space Test Program-6 satellite, or STPSat-6, was combined with nine Space Force payloads chosen by the Defense Department’s Space Experiment Review Board. The Atmospheric Burst Reporting System, developed by the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration to increase detection of nuclear detonations, was the primary payload. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration payload, designed to showcase laser communications for NASA’s civilian space agency, was also on board. 

Source: https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2021/12/07/space-force-launches-experimental-payloads-into-orbit/ 

Categories
Robots

A humanoid robot makes eerily lifelike facial expressions | The Verge

Engineered Arts, a UK-based developer, and builder of humanoid robots, recently put a clip on Youtube showcasing one of its most realistic models. Ameca, the robot, is shown making a sequence of remarkably human-like facial expressions. Ameca seems to “wake up” at the start of the video, as its face expresses a mix of uncertainty and displeasure when it opens its eyes. However, when Ameca begins to examine its hands and arms, the robot opens its lips and arches its brows in apparent astonishment. Ameca smiles and extends a welcoming hand to the spectator at the end of the video if that’s how you choose to take that gesture. 

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/5/22819328/humanoid-robot-eerily-lifelike-facial-expressions 

Categories
Machine Learning

Peter Jackson Details How ‘Get Back’ Used Machine Learning to Restore the Beatles’ Sound and Footage | Variety

Before Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” could premiere on Disney Plus, it had to overcome several obstacles, including convincing the remaining survivors of the Beatles to agree to the project, as well as screening through 150 hours of audio and 60 hours of antique recordings and reviving it to crystal-clear quality. The last is one of the more stunning revelations from “Get Back,” as fans have never seen (or heard) the Beatles in such fine detail, particularly the previously unseen film captured during their studio workings and epic rooftop concert in 1969. 

Source: https://variety.com/2021/music/news/peter-jackson-get-back-restored-beatles-footage-sound-1235125819/ 

Categories
Gaming

Steam removes popular Chinese strategy game after Ark: Survival Evolved studio claims it stole their source code | PC Gamer

A DMCA takedown request was filed after the sandbox strategy game Myth of Empires was withdrawn from Steam due to suspicions of copyright infringement. Angela Game, the creator of Myth of Empires, has so far refused to say who asked the game’s deletion, but data provided by PC Gamer show that it came from Studio Wildcard and Snail Games, the creators and publishers of Ark: Survival Evolved. Angela Game was created in 2020 by at least one former employee of Snail Games China, Studio Wildcard’s parent business, who has access to the Ark source code, according to the removal order. Studio Wildcard was “understandably concerned” when Myth of Empires was launched in November 2021 because of parallels between the two games, including identical gameplay mechanics, that it thought went beyond coincidence. 

Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-removes-popular-chinese-strategy-game-after-ark-survival-evolved-studio-claims-it-stole-their-source-code/ 

Categories
Drones

Kamikaze drones: A new weapon brings power and peril to the U.S. military | NBC News

The killer drone screamed out of its launch tube, extending its carbon wings and launching itself into the sky. The rechargeable robot traversed the Utah desert too quickly for the human eye to see, looking for the goal it had been set to hit. It flew through the driver’s window of an empty pickup vehicle and burst in a flame a few moments later. NBC News was granted exclusive access to the first public display of the Switchblade 300, a small, low-cost “kamikaze” drone developed by AeroVironment that the US military has discreetly deployed in targeted assassination operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria for years, according to sources. 

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/kamikaze-drones-new-weapon-brings-power-peril-u-s-military-n1285415