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Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 190 ~ 32 of 40
Of cials were aiming to reopen U.S. 101 on Jan. 22, nearly two weeks after it was shut down when lanes became a river of muck, Shivers said.
The mudslides were triggered Jan. 9 by a powerful storm that swept in from the Paci c and dumped a deluge on mountain slopes that had been burned bare by a huge wild re in December.
Search and rescue operations ended over the weekend, and authorities transitioned to recovery. The move allows of cials to release resources that were no longer needed and slow the search to a safer pace, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
At least 65 homes were destroyed and more than 460 others were damaged. The name of each victim was read aloud during a vigil Sunday night attended by thousands of people.
“We all know someone who has been affected by this,” said Bethany Harris, who brought her two young sons to mourn. “We will heal together.”
Crews have made it a priority to clear debris basins and creek canals before another rainstorm hits the area.
Long-range forecasts gave the crews less than a week before the next chance of rain — and potential new mudslides — although the precipitation was expected to be light. Another storm system could move in a few days later.
With U.S. 101 shut down, Amtrak added additional cars to its route between Santa Barbara and points east as travelers increasingly relied on rail service to get around the closure.
With many surface streets also impassable, the only other ground route into the Los Angeles area — located 90 miles (145 kilometers) down the coast — was a series of smaller mountain highways that add more than three hours to the trip.
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Follow Weber at https://twitter.com/webercm .
Lifelike robots made in Hong Kong meant to win over humans By KELVIN CHAN, AP Business Writer
HONG KONG (AP) — David Hanson envisions a future in which AI-powered robots evolve to become “super-intelligent genius machines” that might help solve some of mankind’s most challenging problems.
If only it were as simple as that.
The Texas-born former sculptor at Walt Disney Imagineering and his Hong Kong-based startup Hanson Robotics are combining arti cial intelligence with southern China’s expertise in toy design, electronics and manufacturing to craft humanoid “social robots” with faces designed to be lifelike and appealing enough to win trust from humans who interact with them.
Hanson, 49, is perhaps best known as the creator of Sophia, a talk show-going robot partly modeled on Audrey Hepburn that he calls his “masterpiece.”
Akin to an animated mannequin, she seems as much a product of his background in theatrics as an example of advanced technology.
“You’re talking to me right now, which is very ‘Blade Runner,’ no?” Sophia said during a recent visit to Hanson Robotics’ headquarters in a suburban Hong Kong science park, its home since soon after Hanson moved to the city in 2013.
“Do you ever look around you and think, ‘Wow I’m living in a real world science ction novel?’” she asked. “Is it weird to be talking to a robot right now?”
Hanson Robotics has made about a dozen copies of Sophia, who like any human is a work in progress. A multinational team of scientists and engineers are ne tuning her appearance and the algorithms that enable her to smile, blink and re ne her understanding and communication.
Sophia has moving 3D-printed arms and, with the help of a South Korean robotics company, she’s now going mobile. Shuf ing slowly on boxy black legs, Sophia made her walking debut in Las Vegas last week at the CES electronics trade show.
Her skin is made of a nanotech material that Hanson invented and dubbed “Frubber,” short for esh-