This week, swan eats fish, cat ignores mouse, and mountain moves man. Few things say the future better than robots. We seem to be in an era of massive advances at the moment. This week, a leaked video from Boston Dynamics shows off its latest machine, called handle, something its founder described as nightmare inducing. Rolling on with the wheel theme, piaggio, known for its vespa motorcycles, has revealed a new Robot Servant called gita. This Robo Suitcase follows its owners every move, using cameras in its body and in the users belt. But sometimes its good to look at where weve come from. The robots exhibition at Londons Science Museum is a 500 year history of humanitys attempts to create robots that resemble us and our behaviours. There are more than 100 robots here, including some old friends that weve met before. And this amazing swan, made from silver, is all the more incredible because it was made over 200 years ago, in 1773. Its incredibly fragile inside. One of the issues is, how do you get a machine that old to work. So weve had two weeks of highly esteemed Conservation Colleagues piecing things back together. How does it work . Whats inside . Youve got a whole series of these silver rings, almost stacked one on top of the other. They are designed to move as it moves as well. The earliest robots worked in a kind of clockwork fashion. Yes, clocks are the earliest self regulating devices, so theyre robots effectively. If you accept that these clockwork creations are indeed robots, then you can also argue that the earliest robots were clocks. It was these mechanical marvels that made the Industrial Revolution possible, mobilising hundreds of workers to be at the same place at the same time, enabling goods to be transported, trains to run accurately, and allowing industry to become an efficient machine. The Industrial Revolution was also the catalyst for massive social change across the world, bringing about the rise of the working class, and sparking ideas like capitalism and marxism. Now, in the west, cuba found itself at the epicentre of this shift. It was the poster child for communism in the west, right in the back garden of the us, the heart of capitalism. Richard taylor has been to cuba to see how the island is now moving with the times. The Iconic Images are strikingly familiar. Cuba today still feels in some ways otherworldly, stuck in a 50s time warp. Life for most of its 11 million citizens is simple. Theyve been living in a state enforced digital wilderness. A decade ago, you needed a permitjust to buy a pc. Today, if youre lucky enough to own a smartphone, chances are its offline. Theres no mobile data, so cuban apps are designed to work without a connection. Until recently, even basic Internet Access could only be found at Desktop Computers inside state communication centres. Long queues persist but now people are coming to buy Internet Scratchcards which can finally get them online elsewhere. In this havana park, small gatherings of cubans are all enjoying the internet. But getting online is slow, unreliable and, perhaps unsurprisingly, censored. Luis rondon paz is a self proclaimed hack tivist, and as a former government it administrator, knows the system well. Everything in cuba is restricted, filtered, as the rest of the world. Basically, they censor everything that might threaten government power. It might be porn, gay, or political things. Basically, most political things. But the biggest barrier for locals the price. A single hour of full web access costs 2, three days salary. They dont have the time to see whats the internet, really, because of the price of the internet. And they push them to do what they need to do, which is facebook, communicate with their families and make a free phone call. The government says expanding the internet is a priority and Central Havana is now conducting trials of In Home Net Access for 2,000 properties. And it boasts of a growing number of public wifi hotspots, too, around 300 in total, and growing. Still, not exactly blanket coverage for a country 700 miles wide. Cuba blames its ageing Communications Network on the six decade old Trade Embargo with the us. Critics say thats a convenient excuse for a communist state that fears losing control over information. Relations with america are now at best uncertain in the post 0bama era. In the aftermath of the president s historic visit here two years ago, prospects for American Companies doing Digital Business on the island have improved. Amongst them, google. Company boss Eric Schmidt Inking A Deal in december that gives cubans fast access to content from Services Like youtube and gmail. The thing is, when youre running an internet based business, the last thing you want to do is traipse across town to find a connection. So some cubans who are fed up with the Government Strategy on access have come up with their own rather inventive solutions. The results are found on rooftops in towns and cities across the nation in the form of pole mounted antennaes which are pointed towards the local communications centre, giving them Internet Access and even wifi. The practice isnt exactly legal but as i discovered that minor detail doesnt deter cubans from getting their information fix. This is the paquete semanal, literally the weekly packet. It refers to a highly organised service in back streets and front rooms across the country, giving locals content downloaded often only hours earlier via satellite. Theres pirated movies, news shows, documentaries, dramas, magazines and mobile apps. Its hugely popular with customers who can fill their usb drives with an entire terabyte, hundreds of hours, for the price of a single hour online. And the rise of the paquete is the price the cuban regime itself is paying, a reaction to the state dogma of keeping its people restricted. Cuban authorities should be less afraid of the free flow of information because the need for Information Functions as a hunger. People need information and people will get information, no matter if you are going to provide it or not. Theres a political need to understand differently what internet means. Progress is undoubtedly too slow for many cubans. But recent overtures do at least give some people here cause for hope. Hello and welcome to the week in tech. It was the week that samsungs chinese factory supplying batteries for the ill fated galaxy note 7 suffered a blaze. Luckily no one was hurt. Twitter announced its new anti abuse policy, which will introduce safe search, collapse potentially troubling replies and aims to prevent abusive accounts being reopened. And youtube is launching live Video Streaming from their mobile app but only for channels with over 10,000 subscribers. Uber have employed a former nasa engineer and are working on a flying car. Yes, a flying car, that they say could be ready in five years. Although there are a few obstacles to overcome, like the authorities allowing them to actually fly. Weve seen a few ideas of how to take Quad Copter Drones out of the sky but here is something for heavier duty drones. Project sidearm has been developed by darpa, the pentagons research wing. It aims to safely grab Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from airspace using a crane type setup. And finally, theres a new way of finding love, by sharing hate. New dating app hater matches users by the things that rile them, with topics including bad pavement etiquette, rent costs, and even politicians. Im sure that first date will be a laugh a minute there are plenty of Friendly Faces at the robots exhibition at Londons Science Museum. There are some which are different enough to look unthreatening and lovable. And there are some, well, some really quite unnerving. Currently, the European Commission is considering the ethical issues that robots raise, including whether they should have a kill switch, whether they should have rights, and whether they should be considered as electronic persons. And what about those ethical, or even life or death decisions . This is a representation of an experiment in which one robot was programmed to save one of two smaller bots from falling down a hole. If one was in more danger than the other, their big brother would save it. However, if both smaller robots were equally in danger, big bro would often freeze with indecision. In that split second where the robot is going, oh, no, there is an equal chance of both dying, i dont know what to do, something kicks in, in the human brain. We are drawing on our attachment to the things that might need saving. Were drawing on maybe a set of moral beliefs or values. Were not entirely sure whats going on in there but we can do what feels right in that moment. So, for now, robot ethics raise more questions than they answer. But while robots are learning how to avoid causing real harm, some humans seem way ahead in causing virtual harm. In video games at least. Sword fighting game for honour is an unusual medieval mash up which pits knights, vikings and samurais against one another. This is bodiam castle. What better place to come and get hands on with a video game all about swordplay than here . Theres just one thing preventing that from happening, though. At 6ft 9, and weighing nearly 30st, icelandic Strongman Thor is this at 6ft 9, and weighing nearly 30st, icelandic Strongman Thor is the closest thing the game creators could find to a viking warrior. Fans of Game Of Thrones will be familiar with him as sir gregor, better known as the mountain. In order to play the game, its going to be a case of mark versus the mountain in a series of challenges. The game allows players to assume the role of a range of different characters, from heavy hitting, muscle bound warriors, to nimble lightweight assassin type characters. But in the real world, how important is brute strength . Well, if a warrior cant even lift their weapon, how are they going to fight with it . So a test of strength against a guy who competes in the worlds strongest man. Sure, i can do that. All right. Hold on. Ive got to hold it here, yeah . Right, get into position. Fantastic. Like this. Hold it as long as possible. Ok, i think im doing all right. Straighten your arm. Straight. Oh, my word. That is really. Straighten your arm. Come on hold it. Its gone. Excuse me while i go and have a lie down. I think ive pulled something. Oh, my word. You captured zone a. Next up, combat. Medieval warriors didnt have to worry about health and safety. We do, so plastic goggles are on. Front which started life In The South West and moved ever further to the north east. Into the channel islands, eventually brighter skies into the south east. It wont be a cold start to the day. Given all the cloud around, the front has not quite disappeared. We still have a vigourous area of low pressure close by to the north of scotland to start that day. Notice the isobars squeezing together. That could well signify some gusts of wind around 30, if not a0 Miles Per Hour to start off the day. And you will have some rain and blustery showers, especially so in northern and Western Parts of scotland, and maybe the odd bit close by in Northern Ireland. The odd rogue shower getting across the border into the north of england. Further south, some brightness in the heart of wales, the midlands, towards east anglia into lincolnshire. Further south, again, lots of cloud around and quite a bit of hill fog. That will give you a grey and murky start. That will take some time before it lifts away. But things improving widely in the greater part of england and wales. Rain returning to Northern Ireland eventually push into the north west of wales. Maybe the odd shower may getting into the south Western Parts of england and scotland. All the while, the breeze will be noticeable in northern areas. The top temperatures, 10 11 degrees or so on the day. And thats a trend well see continuing on into the weekend. That puts us above the average for the time of year, closer to eight or nine depending on where you are. Through the course of the evening and overnight, a ribbon of cloud going across the irish sea into the north of england. Then, come friday, it will leave behind a Tail Of Cloud South West to it diagonally, the best of the brightness on either side. 0n into the weekend, staying mild. There will be some sunny intervals around. Quite a bit of cloud as well. Rain at times, especially in the north. This is how we start the weekend. Quite a few isobars. So, breezy. This Weather Front will weaken as we go further south. Its this area of cloud and rain that gives that wet prospect for northern areas. Welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in North America and around the globe. My name is mike embley. Our top stories President Trump reignites his public feud with his own intelligence agencies, and the media, over the resignation of his National Security adviser. He also seems to have changed decades of American Foreign policy in the middle east, with one sentence to the visiting israeli prime minister. Police arrest a second woman in connection with the killing of the north korean leaders half brother, in malaysia. A Helicopter Pilot is killed, Hundreds Of Homes in southern new zealand are evacuated, as wildfires burn out of control
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