Elon Musk’s Tesla is promising to sell a humanoid robot. It could be the first of many

By Steve Benford, Professor of Collaborative Computing, University of Nottingham
Praminda Caleb-Solly, Professor of Embodied Intelligence, School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham

Elon Musk’s recent announcement on Twitter that “Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year” suggests that robots that have physical human-like characteristics and provide “genuinely useful” function might be with us soon.

However, despite decades of trying, useful humanoid robots have remained a fiction that never seems to quite catch up with reality. Are we finally on the crux of a breakthrough? It’s relevant to question whether we really need humanoid…

Read complete article

~	Nigeria: Boko Haram must end vicious killing spree

~	How the Renault-Nissan Alliance overcame crisis and redefined collaboration over two decades

~	Princess of Wales ‘in remission’ from cancer – but what does that mean?

~	Blinking radio pulses from space hint at a cosmic object that ‘shouldn’t exist’

~	Struggling to keep your New Year’s resolutions? Neuroscience can explain why

~	Turkey is filling the power vacuum left by Assad, but peaceful coexistence is vital for the Middle East’s future

~	Peacekeeping armies: what are they, why do African states build them and what impact do they have?

~	Nexflix struggles to adapt to Africa’s cinema market

~	Poland Sends Wrong Signal on Global Justice

~	Does Nepal really have too many tigers?