Self-driving taxis will begin trials in Japan next year

Self-driving cars are a few years away from becoming a thing, right? Not in Japan, where the company Robot Taxi has announced that it’ll start testing robotic taxis in 2016. A report by the Wall Street Journal reveals that the firm will begin by offering autonomous rides to 50 people in Kanagawa prefecture, just outside Tokyo. The limited trial will ferry the participants from their homes to local stores and back again, all the while with a human operator in the driving seat — just to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

If the experiments are successful, Robot Taxi expects to have a fully commercial service up and running by 2020. The idea, at least initially, will be to run routes in places where public transport isn’t built out, as well as helping tourists get around. If you check out the video below, you’ll notice that the stars of the clip aren’t hip young millennials, but an elderly couple looking to get out and about.

Japan, if you didn’t know, has the world’s highest population of older people, with 33 percent of its population having celebrated their 60th birthday. As a consequence, there’s an urgent need to care for these citizens, which the nation is doing by trying to develop robots that can do the leg work. That includes handing out IBM-tweaked iPads that can help senior citizens to organize their medication, shopping and exercise schedules. Then there’s a robotic bear that is designed to help carry those with poor mobility from one place to another. It won’t be long until there’s robots designed to carry out tasks like washing your hair… nope, they already exist too.

Via: Wall Street Journal

Source: Robot Taxi

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Google’s Chromecast 2.0 is faster, more colorful and still just $35

Google has just announced its next-gen Chromecast streaming stick, and just like earlier reports said, it’s taken on a circular form and has donned more colorful shells. The company says its antenna system allows it to stream higher-resolution videos significantly faster, with less buffering. It even comes with a feature called "Fast Play" that gives it the ability to establish a connection with your TV more quickly than the original version can. Fast Play works by preloading content — it can, for instance, start downloading a series episode — the moment you fire up the media player’s app. In addition, Mountain View has redesigned the Chromecast app (for both Android and iOS) to list Cast-enabled applications installed on your device, to find content within them and to display its latest offers and updates.

According to Google, the streaming stick’s new design (small and round, with an integrated HDMI cable) makes it easier to plug into the HDMI port even if you have other devices plugged in. It will be available in lemonade, coral and black starting today in 17 countries and will set you back $35 when you buy it from the Google Store, Best Buy or Wal-Mart. By the way, the company has also announced that Chromecast is now compatible with the new Showtime app, as well as the NBA’s and MLS’ applications. On the other hand, Google’s other new streaming device, Chromecast Audio, supports Spotify, Google Play Music and Deezer, among other music apps.

Get all the news from today’s Google event right here.

Update: Clarified that it’s Chromecast Audio that supports Spotify.

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Chromecast Audio connects your existing speakers for $35

One of the biggest draws of Chromecast is its ability to easily push audio to your home audio system. Google is taking that one step further with the introduction of Chromecast Audio. From the sounds of it (no pun intended, or was it?), ease of use is going to be the main draw here. Mountain View says that Audio will support a standard 3.5mm auxiliary input, RCA jacks and an optical input. What’s more, it’ll mirror the audio of most Android devices — not just music, if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Same goes for "any" music-streaming site’s output from your computer. Just like the rumors said, Chromecast Audio will support longtime holdout Spotify as well as Google Play Music, Deezer and the BBC iPlayer. Much like the original Chromecast made dumb TVs smart, the Audio version wants to do the same for the speakers you already own — a direct shot at companies like Sonos.

Setup doesn’t stray far from its forbearer, either. Download the app; plug the device into your speaker and a power source; connect your device and Chromecast to the same WiFi network; and you should be good to go. Oh, and it’ll support multiroom audio so you have "Blockbuster Night Part 1" by Run the Jewels playing throughout the whole house later this fall. Perhaps best of all, though, is that Chromecast Audio doesn’t change where it counts: The gizmo will cost $35 and work with Android, iOS, OSX, Windows and, of course, Chromebooks.

Get all the news from today’s Google event right here.

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Mealworms Can Happily And Safely Eat Styrofoam

Mealworms Eating Styrofoam

Mealworms Eating Styrofoam

Mealworms are those squirmy guys you took care of in science class or fed to a particularly hungry pet chicken or reptile. And new studies from Stanford suggest that these creepy crawlers could be incredibly good for the environment.

Two papers, published in Environmental Science and Technology this week, found that mealworms can eat Styrofoam, turning a huge source of waste into compost that can be safely used on soil.

"Sometimes, science surprises us. This is a shock," said Craig Criddle, who supervises plastics research at Stanford, in a press release.

Styrofoam, and in particular Styrofoam cups, are everywhere, and less than 10 percent of those used in the United States get recycled. In the first study researchers found that mealworms fed only Styrofoam were just as healthy as mealworms fed the more traditional meal (bran, in this case). Each worm could eat about a pill-sized portion every day.

In the second study focused on the mealworms’ gut microbes, which are able to break down the plastic safely. The researchers were able to turn this bacteria into a film that they applied to polystyrene, a form of the same plastic used to make Styrofoam. The bacteria were also able to eat through polystyrene, but at a much slower rate than the mealworms.

The researchers plan to continue looking into whether mealworms can safely break down other plastics, like those that make up car parts or microbeads. They also plan to look for the marine equivalent of mealworms, in the hopes that some sea creature with a strong stomach can help reduce the massive amount of plastic waste in the oceans.

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