Strengthened? Well, kinda sorta. Union strengthening in China is off to a slow start. The mighty Foxconn has bowed to union pressures to reduce mandatory overtime from the normal 15-20 hours per week (sometimes exceeding 40 hours per week during busy seasons) to the national standard of only 9 hours per week. And this...
Attention, Engineering Students: If you’re looking for an internship with an up-and-coming space mining operation, check out this posting for a position with Planetary Resources, Inc. (PRI). For real. No, seriously. I’m not joking.
Dear Factory Worker, Are you afraid of the robot that threatens to replace you or a co-worker? Are you worried that that big, hulking, fast-moving machine will inadvertently whack you in the face if you happen to be standing too close, in the wrong place, occupying “meat space” a little too inconveniently? Never fear! ...
On the one hand, I think it’s great that robots can be used to replace humans for dangerous, repetitive work. On the other hand, at what cost to the working people of the world who are being replaced?
The mining industry is not apt to ignore the potential riches to be mined from various terrestrial resources. Now, a story from Space.com and MSNBC.com reveals recent activity to extend this reach to extra-terrestrial resources.
This American Life (TAL) is an awesome program that Ira Glass and company have been producing for years. This week, for the first time, they ran a retraction of one of their recent stories: Episode 454, Mr. Daisy and the Apple Factory. But the facts about Chinese labor conditions at Foxconn persist.
New York Times: ”Over the next few years, American astronauts will be competing for a handful of slots on the International Space Station, flying there on Russian Soyuz capsules.”
Today, April 15, is normally called “Tax Day” in the United States; it’s the day when thousands of people across the nation stand in long, long lines outside their local post offices to mail their tax returns in at the absolute last minute. This year, though, the filing deadline is delayed until Monday the...
The so-called “uncanny valley” is a phenomenon associated with the development of life-like robotics and androids. The idea is that a poor approximation of a human or animal, something that is perhaps 20% realistic, is seen as a 20% likeness. A 50% realistic likeness is seen as better than 20%, but still a non-threatening...
Are you a Call Center worker who answers Customer Service phone calls? Do you hate your job because for your entire shift you never know who’s going to yell at you next? Don’t worry! The good people at IBM are working to bring Watson into the Customer Service arena, displacing you from your job. ...