Automating Invention

A Theory of Evolution for Technology

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:35:50 -0500

In New Scientist, complexity theorist W. Brian Arthur proposes a theory of evolution for technology. The theory was first called for by Victorian novelist Samuel Butler just four years after Darwin...

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Bilski, Business Methods, Software Patents, and the Supreme Court

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:12:46 -0500

In late 2008 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued an opinion in the Bilski case holding that inventor Bilski's patent claims, which covered a business method for hedging...

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The Need for Regulating Autonomous Machines

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:23:18 -0500

The Royal Academy of Engineering has issued a report that calls on legislators and policy-makers to begin thinking about how to regulate autonomous machines that are now in the development stages. ...

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Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli Discusses Future Isssues in EDA

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:57:14 -0500

In a recent interview with EDN at this year's Design Automation Conference (DAC), Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli discussed some of the most important issues facing electronic design automation (EDA)...

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First Standard Graphical Language for Biology

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:06:38 -0500

A new set of standards for graphically representing biological information was recently published by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), who worked on the standards...

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AI-Controlled Super Mario Brothers

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:31:07 -0500

A competition that tested the programming skills of researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) was organized this September by Julian Togelius of the University of Copenhagen. The Mario AI...

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Using Genetic Algorithms to Blend a Diesel-Gasoline Cocktail

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:48:11 -0500

An engine research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is using genetic algorithms as part of an investigation into the possibility of creating an engine that could be programmed to use both...

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Programmable DNA Computers

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:10:32 -0500

A team of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have been working with biomolecular computers made of DNA and other biological molecules. Working under Professor Ehud Shapiro,...

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The Potential of Wolfram Alpha

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:00:18 -0500

On May 15, the website for a new "computational knowledge engine" called Wolfram Alpha was launched. With a user interface that resembles search engines like Google, Wolfram Alpha answers factual...

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Using a Game to Harness Human Intuition

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:47:13 -0500

Computer science researchers at the University of Michigan have prototyped a computer game that addresses a fundamental problem faced by computer hardware designers. The game is an online logic...

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Automating Software Design

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:40:13 -0500

A major European research project has developed a system that helps software developers take new software from the drawing board to executable code. The VIDE project (for VIsualize all moDel drivEn...

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Report on the the Risks of Future AI

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:01:36 -0500

An earlier post mentioned the discussions that have taken place among 25 experts in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, ethics and law. Under the auspices of the Association for the...

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Talk on Genie in the Machine at Concord Public Library

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:01:08 -0500

I will be giving a talk on The Genie in the Machine next Thursday, October 15 at the Free Public Library in my home town of Concord, Massachusetts, starting at 7:30pm. The event is open to the...

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Reviews of the Indian Edition of The Genie in the Machine

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:26:47 -0500

Two new reviews, in the Hindu Business Line and ExpressBuzz.

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The Case for Software, but not Literary, Patents

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:38:16 -0500

Timothy B. Lee recently wrote an essay for the CATO Institute entitled, "The Case against Literary (and Software) Patents," in which he argues that software patents should be prohibited for the same...

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