The Black Mirror series could be inspired by our compilation of the week with a drone that hunts people without mask on the side of China and this robot that takes over from humans to train dogs. To follow also, this CNRS project which uses albatrosses to track illegal fishing. And if you have the means, a manufacturer has decided to marry Apple and Tesla, and it is obviously very expensive.
Our weekly meeting offers you an offbeat look at the news of new technologies. The party is to entertain you, surprise you and make you dream … or sigh.
Albatross in the service of hunting illegal fisheries
The CNRS has just had the results of an unprecedented study involving albatrosses. Thanks to GPS fixed on the backs of 169 of these birds attracted to trawlers, researchers of Operation Ocean Sentinel were able to observe that a third of the boats spotted in the area covered by the flying spies – five times the size of Europe, in the middle of the Indian Ocean – were not declared. A concept that is intended to be extended across the globe, thanks to other species .
On the border of an iPhone and a Tesla
A specialist in luxury electronic devices, the Russian company Caviar has grown accustomed to offering strange concepts, such as the iPhone Vladimir Putin or the iPhone Steve Jobs Edition. This time, she decided to merge the iPhone 11 with the unique design of Tesla’s Cybertruck , to offer a Cyberphone made of titanium making it supposedly indestructible too. A device published in only 99 copies and whose price would be between 5,000 and 15,000 euros depending on the version. Because when you love Apple and Tesla, you don’t count.
Artificial intelligence for training dogs
Again, it almost feels like an episode of Black Mirror : the Californian startup CompanionPro has developed a cubic robot with artificial intelligence to train dogs . Equipped with cameras, sensors and speakers, it gives orders, analyzes movements and has a launcher kibbles to reward the animal when it obeys.
Most, according to the firm: patience and the ability to repeat the exercises, as well as a non-profit development in partnership with shelters for abandoned dogs, which allows them to save time on training, essential to find new owners. The lessers ? The lack of concrete results for the moment and doubts, quite simply, on the usefulness of such a device.
Drones hunt coronavirus against the coronavirus
While the WHO has described the outbreak of coronavirus ” public health emergency of international concern ,” China is trying by all means to prevent the virus from spreading into its territory. Including using drones equipped with speakers, chasing people walking without a mask, as relayed by the Global Times in a video where we can see the surprise, and obedience, of these reckless onlookers.