Technology

A Chinese university have unveiled new Dalek style robots that are designed to electrocute unruly members of the public if they do not comply with orders given to them within 10 seconds.  Looking like something from the Doctor Who TV show, the Dalek’s are designed to help police keep members of the public in check during riots or protests by giving them an electric shock. Dailymail.co.uk reports: Its makers said the AnBot is a breakthrough in low cost robotics and surveillance and could play a key role in the future of China’s attempts to crush terrorism and public dissent.

The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously approved a bill that will restrict government access to public communications held in electronic storage. The Email Privacy Act would strengthen email and data privacy stored in the cloud. PC World reports: The Email Privacy Act would require law enforcement agencies to get court-ordered warrants to search email and other data stored with third parties for longer than six months. The House on Wednesday voted 419-0 to pass the legislation and send it to the Senate.

Three weeks ago we reported an amusing anecdote out of China in which robot waiters in a Guangzhou restaurant had been "fired" because whencustomers flocked to the Heweilai Restaurant chain in the southern Chinese city, they found they were not all they are cracked up to be. "A staff member said the robots couldn't effectively handle soup dishes, often malfunctioned, and had to follow a fixed route that sometimes resulted in clashes. A customer also said the robots were unable to do tasks such as topping up water or placing a dish on the table."

rendix_alextian/Shutterstock

Everybody’s talking today about the new film clip from British scientists, showing that a burst of light comes forth when sperm fertilizes an egg. From the Telegraph’s story:

Shortly after the close today, Apple will report its much watched earnings which will be closely watched for several reasons. The biggest one is that since Q1 2014 AAPL has contributed 25% of the S&P’s 4.2% growth rate (excluding the EPS benefit of the company's massive buyback program). Furthermore, roughly 40% of the nearly 9% jump in Tech margins since 2009 is attributable to Apple alone.

However, that was all in the past: this quarter Apple is actually forecast to subtract 0.7% from the S&P's bottom line.