Self-Learning Helicopter

A new age of AI technology has gone to new extents. The technology, located in a remote control helicopter, allows the copter to "learn" new tricks by just watching other helicopters. "The result is an autonomous helicopter than can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own, its inventors say*." The copter can do all sorts of tricks, such as flips, loops, and rolls.

The stunts are "by far the most difficult aerobatic maneuvers flown by any computer-controlled helicopter," said Andrew Ng, a Stanford University professor directing the research of graduate students Pieter Abbeel, Adam Coates, Timothy Hunter and Morgan Quigley*.

"I think the range of maneuvers they can do is by far the largest" in the autonomous helicopter field, said Eric Feron, a Georgia Tech aeronautics and astronautics professor who worked on autonomous helicopters while at MIT. "But what's more impressive is the technology that underlies this work. In a way, the machine teaches itself how to do this by watching an expert pilot fly. This is amazing."*

* Articles taken directly from Yahoo. Blog title links to original article.

Featured Video - Exploding Water Heater

Today's video features TV's Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, AKA the Mythbusters. These former special effects artists use their knowledge of science and technology to make most things explode. They leave a wake of destruction in their path while debunking the most well-known myths known to man. Enjoy the carnage in this episode, where they see what happens when a water heater blows up due to neglection. Their website is http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/mythbusters.html.

Plane Pops A Tire

An American Airlines Boeing 737 made an emergency landing at LAX today after the pilot reported a malfunction with the left landing gear. The plane was headed towards Toronto. AA has reported 5 crew members and 130 passengers aboard the plane. The plane was safely returned back to LAX shortly after takeoff.