Solwd

The USMNT will take on Japan in its first and Saudi Arabia in its second September international friendly ahead of the 2022 World Cup. https://sports.yahoo.com/breaking-down-usmnts-upcoming-friendlies-012424056.html%3Ffr%3Dsychp_catchall

The Boston Celtics have suspended Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-23 season. Joe Mazzulla will serve as interim head coach. https://sports.yahoo.com/boston-celtics-officially-suspend-head-012726333.html

Olivia Wilde tells Stephen Colbert there’s nothing to see here, and if you do see something odd with ‘Don’t Worry Darling,’ it’s because she’s a woman.

…read more

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-09-22/olivia-wilde-harry-styles-spitting-spitgate-chris-pine-stephen-colbert

Cleveland Cavaliers backcourt mates Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland took part in Browns pregame festivities as “Dawg Pound” captains. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cleveland-cavaliers-guard-donovan-mitchell-005241139.html

The Texas Tech men’s basketball team could be without an expected key component at the beginning of the season. Utah Valley transfer Fardaws Aimaq, a 6-foot-11 center, is expected to miss practice … https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/report-texas-tech-transfer-fardaws-230748897.html

The new Orange County Museum of Art, a $94-million Thom Mayne-designed building, is opening to the public in early October.

…read more

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-09-22/photos-new-orange-county-museum-of-art-opening-soon

Let’s talk humanoids for a minute, shall we? Why do so many roboticists insist on creating robots that look like us? Get ready to see plenty more humanoid robots.

The subject is top of mind for a few reasons. First — and most prominently — is the fact that Tesla plans to unveil a version of Optimus (aka Tesla Bot) that isn’t just a person in spandex. Tesla describes the project thusly:

Develop the next generation of automation, including a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring. We’re seeking mechanical, electrical, controls and software engineers to help us leverage our AI expertise beyond our vehicle fleet.

Musk, who announced that a prototype could be ready as early as next year, has faced criticism from the robotics community for the ambitious — if not impossible — project. The robot’s upcoming debut will have to accomplish more than simply walking onstage to silence the skeptics. The biggest question floating over all of this is: If it’s not impossible, why have some many smart and well-funded minds failed to deliver? It’s certainly not for lack of trying.

The other reason it’s top of mind involves our story from earlier this morning, which broke the news of Figure’s self-funded efforts to introduce its own humanoid courtesy of an impressive staff of former Apple, Tesla, Boston Dynamics and Google employees. Given that the project has yet to unveil a product — or, for that matter, the company — means things are far, far too early to judge the offering. Of course, the above question remains.

Slightly easier to answer is the question of why a humanoid? It’s something I’ve discussed with a number of roboticists over the years. Our brains are wired to think of robots as mechanical versions of ourselves. Decades of science fiction have seen to that. But a roboticist’s approach is — more often than not — a pragmatic one. The right form factor for the job is a good rule of thumb. By going beyond that, you’re introducing more potential points of failure while running up the price tag.

There’s a reason the world’s most popular consumer robot is a vacuuming hockey puck. It’s designed to do one specific job well (refining it over several generations) in the form that makes the most sense for the job. Introducing some degree of humanlike features (a la Amazon’s Astro) would help to personify the robot and perhaps let users form an emotional bond with the thing, but it’s not necessary. And iRobot already has a hard enough time delivering MSRPs under $1,000.

Image Credits: NASA

The counterargument is, however, a compelling one in its own right. A few years back, I spoke to some of the team testing NASA’s bipedal robot, Valkyrie. …read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/22/humanoid-robots-boston-dynamics-tesla/

Through the first two games of the season, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver George Pickens had mainly been a decoy in the passing game. But it didn’t take long on Thursday night for … https://finance.yahoo.com/news/check-steelers-wr-george-pickens-005926773.html

The life of a mascot can be difficult. Brownie the Elf is prominently featured on the field in Cleveland. He made an appearance on NFL Network Thursday as the Browns played host to the Pittsburgh … https://sports.yahoo.com/steve-smith-jr-tells-brownie-012548765.html%3Fsrc%3Drss

When the late Evelyn Lauder, Estée Lauder’s daughter-in-law, approached Elizabeth Hurley about working on a breast cancer campaign nearly three decades ago, she wasn’t aware Hurley had recently lost … https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/elizabeth-hurley-shares-helpful-tip-165731846.html