robots on Vice

The Robot That's Going to Save Syrians from Assad's Snipers

Sniper alleys are rife in Syria. The specific locations of these death traps often aren't known until someone takes a wrong turn and gets shot. A dire side effect of these alleys is that others try to drag the wounded to safety, often getting themselves shot and killed in the process. Ahmed Heider is building a robot that he thinks will help get wounded civilians to safety. Full story

What the Czech Play That Coined the Term 'Robot' Tells Us About Today's Robonomics

Playwright Karel Capek was going to call the artificial workers in his play "Labori," but his brother suggested “robots,” instead. It’s not surprising then, that the robots in 'Rossum's Universal Robots' feel like a pretty thinly-veiled metaphor. Full story

Question of the Day

What Will Robots Be Doing in 50 Years?

A recent IBM report has shown that within five years computers will be able to smell, taste, and hear. What the hell, right? If computers are going to be that advanced within half a decade, what are they going to be doing 50 years from now? Full story

Welcome the New Robot National Guard

With Hurricane Sandy getting out of our hair, the Pentagon is calling for a full-fledged, disaster-ready robot squad. Full story

Woohoo, It's the Future of War!

The people who decide how the world's militaries spend their money are throwing enough currency to fill an atomic crater at the "coolest,” most futuristic technologies available, like kids on a sugar rush in an expensive, dangerous arcade. Full story

Researchers Just Revealed This Self-Aware Robot

Everybody run. Full story

Uh-oh, the Rise of the Machines Is for Realsies

Rich Terrile, the NASA scientist who told us we were all Sims in a video game, fucked our brain folds again by explaining how human beings are outdated and will soon merge with machines to become a robotic race. Full story

Motherboard's Droneworld Is Tonight

Drones are coming to the States. They're actually already here. Check out this teaser for Motherboard's upcoming documentary, 'Drone On,' and then come hang out with us at Droneworld, an evening we're curating as part of the Et Cetera ideas festival. Full story

Prolate Spheroid Preview

Let’s Just Turn the Refs into Lasers

By 2030, I want the games to be officiated by motion sensors and nanobots. And the cheerleaders should be replaced by 3-D holographic .gifs that summarize the most important news stories of the day. And the players will mostly be lizards. Anyway, on to picking games. Full story

I Am Letting the Machines Run My Fantasy Football Team

I wanted to be active in my fantasy football league this year but I forgot to show up for the draft and the computer picked my guys for me. I'm fine with it—the team's not that bad, and it's just a matter of time before robots run the rest of my life anyway. Full story