Intelligent Robotic Fish Developed That Can Detect Pollution | Technology | Sky News

Robotic fish that can work together to detect and identify pollution in ports and other aquatic areas have been developed by scientists.

The fish are the work of Shoal, a pan-European ICT project made up of six organisations and partly funded by the European Union.

Luke Speller, project leader and a senior research scientist at the London-based BMT Group, said: “The fish can identify the source of pollution enabling prompt and more effective remedial action.”

The yellow-coloured robotic fish are 1.5 metres five feet long and are driven by a dual-hinged tail that enables them to make tight turns.

They are battery powered and can run for up to eight hours before they need to be recharged.

Each one has a range of sensors and programming that allows it to navigate and gather information which it can share with other fish and relay back to researchers.

Mr Speller said: “Chemical sensors fitted to the fish permit real-time in-situ analysis, rather than the current method of sample collection and dispatch to a shore based laboratory.

“Furthermore, the Artificial Intelligence which has been introduced means that the fish can identify the source of pollution enabling prompt and more effective remedial action.”

via Intelligent Robotic Fish Developed That Can Detect Pollution | Technology | Sky News.

Strange Random Robot Quote:

“I wish a robot would get elected president. That way, when he came to town, we could all take a shot at him and not feel too bad.” – Jack Handy

Related articles

• Robotic fish detect water pollution (blogs.canada.com)
• UK: SHOAL Develops Intelligent Robotic Fish for Pollution Detection (worldmaritimenews.com)
• I’ll Be Bass: Pollution-Hunting Robot Fish Takes To The Water (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
• Autonomous Pollution-Hunting Robot Fish Introduced into Their (Un)natural Habitat [Robotics] (gizmodo.com)
• Robo-Fish: The Robotic Fish Designed To Detect Pollution (inhabitat.com)
• Intelligent Robotic Fish Takes to the Sea (i-programmer.info)
• Robotic ‘fish’ take to seas to catch pollution sooner (worldnews.msnbc.msn.com)
• Robot Fish Take To The Sea To Stop Pollution [Video] (inquisitr.com)

iPad App For David Cameron To Monitor Government Performance Being Developed | Politics | Sky News

An iPad app is being developed to allow the Prime Minister to monitor the Government’s work – and eventually it will be made available to voters.

A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office confirmed staff from the Government Digital Service are on the project and hope to deliver the product to David Cameron as soon as possible.

It is likely to cost the taxpayer around £20,000 but officials will not confirm figures, and will only say they made sure it offers value for money.

The idea has been adopted from the private sector, where businesses use internal information to measure performance.

It is expected to include up-to-date crime figures, unemployment statistics and NHS waiting lists.

While it will only be available to Mr Cameron, ministers and officials at first, there are plans to make it available to the public at a later date.

via iPad App For David Cameron To Monitor Government Performance Being Developed | Politics | Sky News.

Strange Random Government Quote:

“My experience in government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully coordinated, there is not much going on” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy (35th US President, 1961-1963)

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• David Cameron? There’s a £20,000 iPad App For That (itproportal.com)
• What’s on David Cameron’s iPad? (guardian.co.uk)
• Want To Run A Country? There’s An App For That – David Cameron Is Getting An iPad App To Run Britain (thetechnologycafe.com)
• David Cameron ‘to get his own personalised iPad app’ (telegraph.co.uk)
• Special iPad app to be designed for David Cameron (thesun.co.uk)
• David Cameron to get personalised iPad app for live stats and Twitter – Metro (metro.co.uk)
• David Cameron gets custom prime-ministering iPad app (go.theregister.com)

New Website Launched To Allow Victims Of Street Crime To Map Where In London They Were Robbed | Technology | Sky News

A new website has been launched allowing victims of street crime to report and map where in London they were robbed or assaulted.

Streetviolence.org provides a Google map of the capital on which users can pinpoint where they were targeted and also describe the incident.

The charity Witness Confident, which is behind the initiative, hopes it will help warn people about local crime hotspots, encourage witnesses to come forward, allow victims to thank Good Samaritans and let users track arrests and prosecutions of law-breakers.

Scotland Yard has refused to endorse the site and has warned that using a website to report crimes could delay investigations.

But Witness Confident director Guy Dehn said the new site “cuts the initial hassle and frustration that puts many victims off reporting the crime to begin with”.

Scotland Yard said it had worked with the charity for over a year after expressing interest in some of its early plans.

But officials reached a decision not to support the launch earlier this month.

via New Website Launched To Allow Victims Of Street Crime To Map Where In London They Were Robbed | Technology | Sky News.

Strange Random Crime Quote:

“Obviously crime pays, or there’d be no crime.” – G. Gordon Liddy (American Politician, b.1930)

Related articles

• Police website to reveal crime hotspots (independent.co.uk)
• London mugging map: Website allows victims to pinpoint attacks (dailymail.co.uk)
• Victim of street-crime in London? There’s a map for that. (thenextweb.com)
• Website alerts police to muggings (bbc.co.uk)
• Witness Confident: can a street violence map encourage more victims to report crime? (guardian.co.uk)
• The mugging map: Website allows victims to pinpoint exactly where they were attacked¿but police say it could delay investigations (dailymail.co.uk)
• New mugging website launched (thesun.co.uk)

Divorce Hotel: Netherlands’ New Way For Married Couples To Break Up | Strange News | Sky News

In the Netherlands a weekend break can become a weekend break-up for couples hoping for a swift and cheap divorce.

It is a concept called the ‘Divorce Hotel’ and helps husbands and wives to arrange all the necessary legal documentation to end their marriage over the course of just two days.

They meet a mediator and series of lawyers behind closed doors who will split assets, agree alimony payments and arrange visitation rights – all for a fixed fee.

It is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jim Halfens, who said he spotted a gap in the market in a country where the average divorce can easily run into five figures and take months to complete.

“When they leave the hotel, all work is done,” he told Sky News.

“The only thing that happens then in Dutch law is that they have to show the agreement to a judge in the Netherlands and that takes a couple of weeks.

“They walk divorced out of this door and to make it official takes a couple of weeks.”

He uses a number of high-end boutique hotels around the country, including the smart Carlton Ambassador Hotel in The Hague.

Sales manager Ninke Bons explains that the couples, who often check in together, but mostly choose to stay in separate rooms, are handled with care by the staff.

“We treat them as any other guests, we just try to keep a closer eye on them or make sure they are not wandering around by themselves,” she says.

“Just as an example – we would normally enquire if a guest enjoyed their stay at the hotel. Well, obviously that’s not very appropriate in the case of the Divorce Hotel.”

via Divorce Hotel: Netherlands’ New Way For Married Couples To Break Up Is Brainchild Of Jim Halfens | Strange News | Sky News.

Strange Random Divorce Quote:

“I’m an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house.” – Zsa Zsa Gabor (American Actress, one of the glamorous Gabor sisters, b.1917)

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Scientists Say Super Lenses Supplying Information Technology Are No Longer Just For Science Fiction | Technology | Sky News

A contact lens has been developed that could one day allow the wearer to read emails, news reports and other digitised information – like a Terminator cyborg.

The prototype infovision super lens is aimed at allowing personalised information to be streamed across the user’s line of vision.

The idea is that messages and images flit onto the lens so they are available in an instant, wherever the wearer is.

The effect would be similar to the vision of the cyborg assassin played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator movies.

The lens would work by being implanted with tiny pixels, including a single LED light, that could pick up power and information through a wireless connection and an electronic circuit.

It could also be used for health reasons, for example giving up-to-date information on blood sugar levels and other potentially important medical information.

via Scientists Say Super Lenses Supplying Information Technology Are No Longer Just For Science Fiction | Technology | Sky News.

Strange Random Lens Quote:

“Television has made places look alike, and it has transformed the way we see. A whole generation of Americans, maybe two, has grown up looking at the world through a lens.” – Ronald Steel

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• The contact lenses that help you check your emails (telegraph.co.uk)
• Terminator-Style Contact Lens Projects Info Before Your Eyes (healthland.time.com)
• Terminator-style vision gets closer with new ‘smart’ contact lenses (digitaltrends.com)
• Here comes the future: Augmented reality contact lenses have been tested on rabbits (thenextweb.com)
• Boffins one step closer to Terminator vision (go.theregister.com)