How Robot Brains Evolve - Interview with ASU’s Dr. Jekan Thanga

How Robot Brains Evolve – Interview with ASU’s Dr. Jekan Thanga

In the animal kingdom, Darwin’s explanation of evolution seems relatively straightforward. The strong survive, the fittest member finds a mate, and beneficial genes are passed along in this manner, always adjusting to the traits - sometimes swiftly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppered_moth_evolution), sometimes slowly (http://www.preceden.com/timelines/68990-evolution-of-the-alligator). How might this processed be modeled in robots, or to teams of robots?

Your Pocket May Control Your World - with Atooma CEO Francesca Romano

Your Pocket May Control Your World – with Atooma CEO Francesca Romano

Apple’s Siri represents much of humanity’s first exposure to pocket “intelligence.” Asking questions, getting directions, and making calls / communications via voice opens up new possibilities for mobile technology, possibilities that Atooma CEO Francesca Romano thinks can go much farther, much faster.

Lab Fellows CEO Julio de Unamuno IV - Enabling Research by Reducing Equipment Downtime

Lab Fellows CEO Julio de Unamuno IV – Enabling Research by Reducing Equipment Downtime

In an industrial environment, machine downtime is a big deal. Keeping machines humming for longer means greater production and maximized use of the asset. Managers understand this, entrepreneurs understand this, but it’s possible that researchers do not. Admittedly, their work is not always geared directly toward profit, and the researchers themselves were usually not the actual investors in the actual equipment, but the overlap from research to industry is still a large one.

Emotive Communication with Things - EmoShape Founder Patrick Levy Rosenthal

Emotive Communication with Things – EmoShape Founder Patrick Levy Rosenthal

Why do people who use Facebook spend so much of their online time there? Why do people want to share, to comment?

Case Study of a Biotech Startup - with Prospero BioSciences CEO Jonathan Rodriguez

Case Study of a Biotech Startup – with Prospero BioSciences CEO Jonathan Rodriguez

If getting funding was easy, it wouldn't be called "getting funding."

Prospero Biosciences CEO Jonathan Rodriguez came on for an interview at Emerj to talk about his company and technology, as well as to shed some light on the real world experiences that a Biotech founder will face.

#WatchOutForTheRobots - Musical Swarm of Flying Robots Play the James Bond Theme Song

#WatchOutForTheRobots – Musical Swarm of Flying Robots Play the James Bond Theme Song

It's #WatchOutForTheRobots Wednesday!
"Watch out for the robots" is just a phrase we use whenever we see a crazy technology that clearly has the potential to be pretty darn scary if it ever were to go awry. No, no, this isn't because we have a pessimistic view of the future (though phronesis in all technological developments / applications is important), we just love finding/sharing this stuff. :)

RockPaperRobot Founder Jessica Banks Talk About Emerging Technology and Design

RockPaperRobot Founder Jessica Banks Talk About Emerging Technology and Design

RockPaperRobot just sounds fun, even when you have no idea what it's all about.

When you do learn what this startup company is about, things only get more interesting, not less. The company is driven by it's founder Jessica Banks, MIT roboticist by training, now the designer of some of the world's coolest furniture and fixtures. I found Jessica's work by keeping an eye on startups out of MIT, and seeing the name RockPaperRobot, I had to check it out.

#WatchOutForTheRobots - Roll, Roll, Kill, Kill

#WatchOutForTheRobots – Roll, Roll, Kill, Kill

WIRED's "Danger Room" is aptly named.

If you like robots, and you like guns - this thing is like your birthday + Christmas. If you have even a subtle fear of either, this thing will keep you up at night. Here's how this robot is described:

3 Tips for Creating and Growing a Successful Makerspace - with Entrepreneur and Hacker Scott Converse

3 Tips for Creating and Growing a Successful Makerspace – with Entrepreneur and Hacker Scott Converse

The term "Makerspace" didn't really leave the startup inner circle until later this year, and - upon studying Google Trends - I realized that 2011 is when the term actually got it's legs.

Relationships + Collaboration = Success

Networking and Finding a Home Base for Your Venture – with Launch Haus Founder Chris Snook

"Fitting in" isn't often what entrepreneurs do best. However, when it comes to finding an in-group of like-minded, ambitious, intelligent people, we all need some kind of crowd to help us learn, find new partners or employees, or at least have some kind of "life" amidst the hustle and bustle of startup-ness.