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Straits Times
44 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Different horsepower for Horner as Red Bull enter new era
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium - Former Red Bull team boss Christian Horner posted a video on social media of himself riding on horseback in the English countryside on the day of the Belgian Grand Prix. "Different horse power this Sunday," read the simple caption. Spa-Francorchamps marked the start of a new era for the former Formula One champions, the first race without Horner -- dismissed two weeks ago -- at the helm since Red Bull entered the sport in 2005. New boss Laurent Mekies started with a win, with Max Verstappen taking the Saturday sprint, and then a frustrating fourth place for the Dutch four-times world champion in the main Sunday grand prix. Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda failed to score for the sixth race in a row. Apart from expressing surprise at the long delay in getting the race started, due to heavy rain, Mekies avoided any polemic. He blamed the team for Tsunoda's blank, saying the Japanese had done a great job in qualifying but was called in too late for his pitstop in a mistake that cost him three or four positions. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Sewage shaft failure linked to sinkhole; PUB calling safety time-out on similar works islandwide Singapore Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole did not happen overnight: Experts Singapore Workers used nylon rope to rescue driver of car that fell into Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole Asia Singapore-only car washes will get business licences revoked, says Johor govt World Food airdropped into Gaza as Israel opens aid routes Sport Arsenal beat Newcastle in five-goal thriller to bring Singapore Festival of Football to a close Singapore Benchmark barrier: Six of her homeschooled kids had to retake the PSLE Asia S'porean trainee doctor in Melbourne arrested for allegedly filming colleagues in toilets since 2021 "After two weeks at the factory, trying to meet as many people as possible, it was nice to also meet the race team," said the Frenchman when asked to assess the weekend. "To also enter into the race dynamics and see how the flows and the processes and preparation are. That was super-good in terms of getting to know the team. As you would imagine, it's a team where everything is done at the mega level." Horner's absence was the talk of the paddock but by the time the circus regroups in Budapest next week, the conversation is likely to have moved on. "I think Laurent is very good. The sport moves on quickly, so it probably won't be something that we're talking about come Monday," McLaren boss Zak Brown told Sky Sports television. "He (Horner) had fantastic results. It's a shame to kind of go out the way he did." Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said earlier in the weekend that he would miss his old sparring partner and Netflix 'Drive to Survive' protagonist -- in a way -- and expected him to return sooner or later. "I don't think he's gone forever. I think he's going to pop up in some kind of other function," said the Austrian. REUTERS
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
Burglaries in MIDC and Mankapur: Valuables Worth Over Rs4.7 Lakh Stolen
Nagpur: In two separate incidents of burglary reported in the city, valuables worth more than Rs4.7 lakh were stolen from industrial and residential premises, prompting police to launch investigations. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In the first incident, which occurred between 8pm on July 18 and 6.30am on July 19, unidentified burglars targeted Suprabha Hydraulic and Pneumatic Company, located at Plot No. W-129, Amar Nagar, within MIDC police station limits. The complainant, 45-year-old Prashant Shivhare of Pension Nagar, had locked the premises and left for the night on July 18. When he returned the next morning, he discovered the locks had been broken. A total of five hydraulic jacks, several iron pipes, structural components, and tin sheets were reported missing, with the total loss estimated at Rs1.65 lakh. A case has been registered against unidentified persons under relevant sections of the IPC at the MIDC police station. In a separate case under the Mankapur police station, 50-year-old Ashish Sawashere of Zingabai Takli reported a burglary that took place while he was away in Raipur with his family between July 22 and July 25. Upon his return, he found the locks of his house's compound gate and main door broken. Intruders had ransacked the bedroom closet and stolen gold and silver ornaments, along with a sports bike from a well-known Japanese brand. The total value of the stolen items was pegged at Rs3.11 lakh. A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway.
Daily Maverick
an hour ago
- Daily Maverick
Crossed Wires: The robots are coming, the robots are here
Robots are quickly colonising every arena of human endeavour that requires physical labour or dexterity, and the convergence of new generative AI models and robotics is going to supercharge the industry. Science fiction fans will remember Isaac Asimov's prescient 1950 short story collection, 'I, Robot'. The stories in this iconic collection revolve around the memories of robopsychologist Dr Susan Calvin, 75 years old in 2057. There are many ethical themes in his stories that mirror the hot-button technology debates raging today, but Asimov's futuristic vision appears to have been a couple of decades off. The robots aren't coming some time in the future. They're already here. It is sometimes difficult to pin down why a particular subject bubbles to the top of the news cycle. AI, of course, has taken hold of the headlines and won't let go; its grip is fierce. But robotics has been around for a very long time, since the first commercial industrial robot was developed in 1961 (the 'Unimate' at General Motors), and it's been around even longer in the human imagination. The first point of interest is that there is a profound change happening in some sectors of robot production. The original robots, most of them built for industrial manufacturing, were essentially a collection of servo motors, spherical joints, pincers, cutters, drillers, welders and the like, all operating under very precise instructions, repeating the same physical actions ad infinitum — or until their instructions were modified in line with changing production requirements. This description somewhat simplifies the intelligence built into these robots, but the key point is that the instructions for physical actions over time were predetermined and cast in silicon, driven by hardened computer code. As the technologies of vision, touch, movement, location awareness and proprioception have advanced, so have the robots undertaken more ambitious (and sometimes audacious) jobs, such as critical surgery in an operating theatre. All with increasingly exquisite sensitivity of both fine and gross motor control. This brings us to the question of which countries are currently on the robotics playing field. The US, having outsourced nearly all its manufacturing requirements during the heady days of globalisation, didn't even try to take a leadership role in robotics. Surprisingly, China is not leading either — it became serious about robotics rather too late (around 2015). Until recently, the top 10 robot manufacturers have been Japanese (8) and German (2). In a remarkably unChinese move, a company called Midea Group, based in Guangdong province, acquired the German company Kuka in 2017, clearly taking note of the capitalist tactic of buying one's way into technology leadership rather than doing the hard work of building and competing. They're doing everything What are the latest machines doing? Increasingly, everything. Manufacturing, obviously, both heavy and light. Add medical robots doing everything from brain to spinal surgery; nano-robots of less than 100nm in size for targeted drug delivery (in pre-clinical development); agricultural robots for planting, harvesting, plant healthcare and packing; and military robots with a bewildering and sometimes scary array of offensive and defensive capabilities (see below — a rather alarming picture of Ghost Robotics' robodog Spot mounted with an automatic weapon). In short, robots are quickly colonising every arena of human endeavour that requires physical labour or dexterity. This leads to the question of how the robots are performing. Are they more productive? Are they taking jobs? The data are startling. Dispiriting for some and exciting for others, depending on what you do to earn your living. As with all transformative technologies, it's a mixed bag of pain and pleasure for those caught in its net. Here are some statistics: A 40× increase in global robot stock since 2000; A 15× increase in robots per worker since 2000; A 30% increase in productivity compared to human labour by 2030 (McKinsey); A 90% reduction in manufacturing defects (Foxconn iPhone production); A 3× decrease in the return on investment period since 2000 (down from 10 years to about three years); A 35% increase in crop yields (forecast); and A total of 85 million jobs lost by 2035, and only 20 million created (World Economic Forum). There is more, but the picture is clear. There is no stopping this train. To return to the profound change mentioned earlier in this column, the convergence of new generative AI models and robotics is going to supercharge the industry. The core foundation of robots following a precise set of instructions (albeit often complex) is being reshaped. Robots are now being built that can learn autonomously and continuously from their environments (sight, audio, touch, 'smell', heat, humidity). They can be addressed via vernacular human speech, learn from their mistakes, communicate to solve problems with other robots and access vast stores of knowledge now available from companies like OpenAI. (For anyone looking for a glimpse of the future, watch this 2.5-minute video; take note of how the robots communicate with each other.) At this point, the ghost of Isaac Asimov might raise its head. We are already on the edge of AI systems that can set their own goals. We have already seen indications of deceptive behaviour by these systems, in both controlled and uncontrolled experiments. Bad behaviour and misinformation (such as Grok's racist outbursts) are now part of the AI landscape. Asimov's famous three laws of robotics come to mind: protect humans, obey humans, protect yourselves. They were followed by his 'Zeroth Law', which updated and replaced the others: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. It's a nice thought, but I am not sure we know how to build that into the great robot revolution. And, even if we did, it is probably too late. DM (For an in-depth but concise look at the robotics industry, check out this article.) Steven Boykey Sidley is a professor of practice at JBS, University of Johannesburg, a partner at Bridge Capital and a columnist-at-large at Daily Maverick. His new book, 'It's Mine: How the Crypto Industry is Redefining Ownership', is published by Maverick451 in SA and Legend Times Group in the UK/EU, available now.
