This is a bit of a departure from our regular programming, but we like science and technology here (real technology, not the rent-seeking you see in finance misbranded as “innovation”) and this is impressive. Hat tip Francois T. From TED:
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Combat Mechs!
Remarkable. Thanks for posting. As an orthotist this confirms the merging of orthotics, prosthetics, and robotics.
Old news. Exo Man has been around for 30+ years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0KSqelmgN8&feature=player_detailpage#t=206s
Groovy 70s soundtrack too…
Great news! ‘Out of war comes innovation.’ Some problem might remain with the first part of that observation, but only for some of us. Coca Cola and exoskeletons to those in need!
you forget to mention how this will help the elderly to stay in the workforce, especially for blue collars. Japan and Germany are, for obvious demographic reasons on the forefront on this.
“Mobile infantry made me the man I am today!”
Starship Troopers by Paul Verhoeven and Edward Neumeier
“Want to know more?”
rofl, wunsacon.
Awesome. I have to admit the bit with Amanda Boxter brought tears to my eyes.
this is simply amazing.
I’m sure few of us could understand what it is like to walk (even with that contraption) after being confined to a wheelchair for 19 years.
to be able to walk up steps as example.
to be at eye level with your peers/colleagues.
awe inspiring.
it truly is sad that we devote so much time and money to Lord Blankfein et al instead of endeavors such as this.
Nowhere to send questions, so
– All of a sudden, starting yesterday, google reader is summarizing NC posts, v showing them in entirety. Whazzup?
– Why does YS dislike Krugman so much. I read Econned, and still don’t know. He’s soooo stupid! Wait… The bit in Econned seemed to say he did not predict any of the crisis. But he did. Would truly like to know.
– Where to send questions of this sort?
I never said anything remotely like he failed to predict the crisis. The book does not deal who called the housing bubble and who didn’t (save for William White and Claudio Borio telling Greenspan in 2003). I said he was wrong on the 2008 commodities bubble. We had long running dispute at the time, And his error was based on how economists rely on simplified models rather than first trying to understand the phenomenal they are dealing with, then building models
I don’t have it in for Krugman. But too many people hesitate to call him out when he is off base because he is a stereotypical Good Liberal and has a Nobel Prize. And this blog has had a ton of posts on MMT, this is a legitimate area of interest, not something we took up to go after Krugman, which is what you imply.
Gillian Tett, who I generally like but I have also roughed up when she is off base, thanked me for that, she said it was important to get feedback when she was wrong or had drafted in a way that could be misinterpreted. I also get upset when readers tell me I am wrong (and I actually am) but I’d rather course correct sooner than persist in error. I would hope Krugman feels the same.
Yikes! Thanks for the reply!
I checked the book. I, er, seem to have, ah, conflated a couple of arguments. Never happened before.
Econned is the best book on the Crisis I’ve come across so far. Depth of research/knowledge, scope, professional basis, etc etc. CDS’s (finally) revealed!
I liked Fools’ Gold. I was in love with Ms. Tett for awhile. Now… sigh.
”
he did not predict any of the crisis. But he did.
”
~~billn~
Did we need an economist to predict this one? Or did we need a criminologist? Or did we need a psychiatrist to keep an eye on those criminologists already on the payroll? Keep an eye on the politicians controlling the criminologist? An eye on the lobbyists controlling the politicians? The bankers controlling the lobbyists? Mob controlling the bankers? Threatening the bankers? Which check point, Charlie?
Point well made. But my point was that there were actually more than a few of the pundit class who warned about the crisis ex-ante, Roubini the most noted, but Krugman among them. YS certainly seems to be in the things-extra-shakey here camp at least as of 3/27/07 (http://goo.gl/Od13E): “It’s a bit tacky to pat ourselves on the back, but we have long pointed to what Summers contends: that too much has hinged on the spending of US consumers, and that overextended consumers have depended on housing as a piggy bank. Take that cash source away, and they have to rein in their spending. Frankly, this is obvious, yet for some reason commentators have been reluctant to connect the dots.” Earlier in that post, YS even gives a very reluctant nod to Krugman for warning yet again about the housing situation. Above YS says she does not have it in for Krugman, but her description of the 3/2/07 column entitled “The Big Meltdown” as “more a badly spooked riff than a reasoned argument” seems a bit petulant, no? And I do get the bit about he’s not a stock guy so what’s he doing discussing the Market. This all was in March 2007 when folks thought they had had a stock market drop. Then came march 2008. To moi, “The Big Meltdown” sort of captures it. So, I don’t get the not afraid of Krugman! attitude which persists. But, then, there are sooo many things I don’t get.
If significant investment went into product development, as opposed to financial flim flam, and more internet scams, real wealth might happen. The monied class did not make money this way and does not have the head for these investments.
I have no idea how to give you tips to stories but this one is just fun.
MN AG files against debt collector for… wait for it…. robo-signing affidavits.
http://www.startribune.com/business/118777379.html
It begins to seem like an epidemic. Snarky comments want to jump out of my mouth like “is this the employee efficiency we’ve been crowing about” but overall a sad day when we realize how far and wide a technique this has become.
Corporations have achieved fascist efficiency. The individual case does not matter. The system, the machine, must churn.
How could you not watch “Brazil” again without thinking of robo-signing?
That was too cool! The soldier exoskeleton was amazing. I guess the woman needed the crutches because she doesn’t have any nerve signals going down to the legs anymore.
Exoskeletons might be necessary for future peoples born in outer space when they come down to a planet. Their bones and bodies will not be adapted to gravity.
SF author Alastair Reynolds in his “Revelation Space” series has such characters.
Frankly, I thought the whole thing was creepy. The soldier juxtaposed beside the paraplegic; who, connected by overhead guidewires, stumbles along. The maniacal giggle. The woman’s “thank you” to every burst of applause caused me to wonder at her meds, or mental conditioning.
Cool, thanks for the Video.
I find it quite funny that the presenter’s name is Bender :c)