Facing a growing drone threat, the Pentagon is poised to sign a first-of-its-kind contract for “Enduring High Energy Lasers”—and make directed energy weapons an official part of the Army’s kit. www.wired.com/story/landma...

Landmark Deal Would Officially Add Laser Weapons to US Army Arsenal

Facing a growing drone threat, the Pentagon is poised to sign a first-of-its-kind contract for “Enduring High Energy Lasers”—and make directed energy weapons an official part of the Army’s kit.

wired.com

The next Luigi won’t be using a 3D printed ghost gun. Even oligarch bodyguards aren’t prepared to counter this. “Russian police are investigating the 1st ever homicide case [outside a war zone] in which the murder weapon was an FPV drone. Such drones are easy to make and even easier to acquire...“

‘Blowback’ As Russian Police Investigate First FPV Murder Case

Russian police are investigating the first ever homicide case in which the murder weapon was an FPV drone. More may follow as organized crime takes up their ideal weapon.

forbes.com

As a robotics researcher, this year has been a time essentially to mourn the end of a nascent consumer robotics sector, at least here in the US. 🧵

Micah Corah@micahcorah.bsky.social · 5d ago

Tagging onto this thread now that discourse is shifting to robot vacuums. Impacts for banning popular consumer products are much greater than for research equipment.

Good thing I cycled to campus 😅🧸

This is so crucial. And it directly corresponds how human pilots are exhaustively integrated into the safety lifecycle of commercial airtravel. Continuously. (And why Level 2-capable vehicles, by the way, are structurally unsafe as untrained, unsophisticated consumers cannot be maintained.)

e.w. niedermeyer@niedermeyer.online · last wk.

the single most important reason that a number of AV developers have been able to test experimental self-driving tech on public roads for millions of miles has nothing to do with technology: it's the proper training and management of test fleet operators who prevent mistakes from becoming crashes

Robot Talk is taking a break over the summer, so let's take a look back at Season 6! 🧵 In October, I chatted to Prof. Frances Zhu from @coschoolofmines.bsky.social about intelligent robotic systems for space exploration. 🤖 🚀 www.robottalk.org/2025/10/03/e...

Gotta protect Brett at all costs! interesting that the are banning these when very few US companies even sell humanoids…

The Verge@theverge.com · last wk.

The US is banning foreign robots

The US is banning foreign robots

The US is banning foreign robots

From router bans to robots.

buff.ly

Looks like the era of easy access to cheap Chinese robots is ending

Trump administration bans new Chinese humanoid robots, to protect US AI buildout

The restrictions, as first reported by Reuters, show the Trump administration is aiming to safeguard the U.S. artificial intelligence supply chain from Chinese threats of disruption.

reuters.com

Applying for early career awards while watching the NSF actively be hollowed out. Truly an experience.

Mr Bean Chef's Kiss

ALT: Mr Bean Chef's Kiss

static.klipy.com

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.

I've eaten so many burritos in the past week.

The anatomy of an AI-supported academic article is becoming more apparent. I desk reviewed ~70 manuscripts this week for our journal. Reckon 20ish had significant AI assistance. On top of hundreds of others recently I'm starting to see patterns. Are other editors are seeing the same or similar? 1/

I don't have a problem with researchers using LLMs to help them find literature, but oh my god actually *encouraging* them to NOT READ WHAT THEY FIND because another robot can just ensure they *won't get caught* is so messed up. "Ship research that holds up." OR YOU COULD JUST READ WHAT YOU CITE.

it's the biggest technological revolution of our lifetimes and you almost never hear about it (because it threatens to bankrupt many of the fossil fuel interests who currently run our society)

lines down@linesdown.bsky.social · 3w ago

The growth of solar energy in Pakistan

Andy Beshear is ambitious of higher office, & has a great record for it. One thing that's missing is a serious Fight credential. Given the ruthless GOP supermajority in the KY legislature, there hasn't been much opportunity for it. But this would be an opportunity for him to acquire some Fight cred

Rima I Anabtawi@rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 3w ago

Kentucky’s Democratic governor said he is willing to launch a legal challenge to allow him to choose Mitch McConnell’s replacement if the senator cannot return to office. www.thedailybeast.com/kentuckys-de...

Been thinking a lot about the students in this class (presumably, but not certainly) using AI on a take-home midterm and then bombing the in-class final. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty... But I think the real story here is not *that* students use AI, it's (part of) *why* students use AI. 🧵

Brown Professor Suspects Most of His Class Used AI to Cheat

Brown University leaders’ response to the alleged cheating incident has been “meek,” the professor said.

insidehighered.com

So basically: social/competitive pressure overrides legitimate (self-interested) concerns about AI use inhibiting learning/cognitive capabilities/etc. And is this really surprising considering how much messaging there is to "OMG USE AI SO YOU DON'T GET LEFT BEHIND"? Including from universities.

Wow. “The three directorates are being required to pull back NSF proposals that have already passed peer review and have been recommended for funding. Some of the funds will be funnelled to another project, a brainchild of the White House OSTP.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

NSF plans cuts to core science programmes to fund White House initiative

A proposed clawback of already distributed research funds comes as the US agency’s budget is already squeezed and it struggling to clear a backlog of grant applications.

nature.com

A humanoid just beat the human half-marathon world record by 7 min. The secret: boring thermal physics, not AI. Unitree brought an ice backpack. Honor didn't need one. That gap is gearing and heat management. spectrum.ieee.org/china-humanoid-robot-marathon

“But the bigger problem is how much of the media of ‘the left’ is dominated by men who appear to have no understanding of sexual abuse or intimate partner violence, but do have a pretty hefty sexist streak that they either aren’t aware of or don’t care to remedy.” YES @juliedicaro.bsky.social

We have an even bigger problem than Graham Platner

The candidate's rise and fall perfectly illustrates the sexism in lefty media

losingmyperspicacity.beehiiv.com

And just so we're keeping track, Ken Paxton deserves just as much, if not more, scrutiny than Graham Platner and has a much better chance of winning a key Senate seat because his depravity is a feature, not a bug, to Texas Republicans.

Between the misogynistic "smoothgroin" discourse and the biphobic article about straight women disappearing... shit takes on the Barbie movie aren't having a great few months

I can't believe we still have to remind people of these things but: most rape victims don't file police reports. (You're reading one right now.) Shock, denial, need to appease the rapist, nominally friendly behavior toward the rapist, etc. are all common reactions

Ten minutes till I got to learn about leg cramps

When I teach and mentor trans and non-binary students at Mines, I try to keep in mind that their experience and anxieties probably look a lot like what Evan describes in this thread.

Evan Urquhart@evanurquhart.bsky.social · last mo.

It's not appropriate for cis people to say that trans people are too alarmed, or that certain trans writers are irresponsibly causing trans people to think the sky is falling. I want to take some time in this 🧵 to write personally about how my skies have fallen.

It's not appropriate for cis people to say that trans people are too alarmed, or that certain trans writers are irresponsibly causing trans people to think the sky is falling. I want to take some time in this 🧵 to write personally about how my skies have fallen.

So, people are talking about vim and latex today? ...not sure how even to talk about this stuff any more ...it's all muscle memory

Just as 'our' versions of, say, the books of the Old Testament are transformed beyond the recognition of their creators, so the future will have versions of texts we think we know that would be unrecognisable to us. They will be technological palimpsests, endlessly overwritten and fractured.