Recognizing cutting edge robotics research

From The International Journal of Robotics Research

During a visit to Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center, Obama launched the New Robotics Initiative which seeks to advance the “next generation of robotics”. The National Robotics Initiative involves the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and the Department of Agriculture, which combined will make available up to $70 million per year to fund new robotics projects. Just as Obama stated during his speech, “You might not know this, but one of my responsibilities as commander-in-chief is to keep an eye on robots,” researchers in robotics will need to ‘keep an eye’ on what is happening at the cutting edge of robotics research.

To celebrate the recognition of this important area of research and the commitment provided to future initiatives, SAGE has freed access to four relevant articles from one of its key Robotics titles – The International Journal of Robotics Research (now ranked #1 in the 2010 Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports, Robotics category).

Read these articles for free

Flagellated magnetotactic bacteria as controlled mri-trackable propulsion and steering systems for medical nanorobots operating in the human microvasculature

Nanorobot for brain aneurysm

Driver inattention detection based on eye gaze—road event correlation

Design and control of a bio-inspired human-friendly robot

Bin Laden killing sparks suspicion over Al-Qaeda and Pakistan allegiance, is it time to review the goals and achievements of US military aid to the country?

Transnational terrorism and the US military arid to Pakistan, and the incentive to misrepresent

From Journal of Peace Research

The killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan this week has generated large suspicion regarding the country’s possible allegiance with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Is US military aid to Pakistan to disarm Al-Qaeda failing?

Shortly after the Obama Administration assumed office in 2008, the Interagency Policy Group recommended an increase in military aid to the Pakistan government to bolster its fight against militant groups. The goal of the aid was to give the government the tools it needed to disarm Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters that were responsible for continuing attacks in Afghanistan. This policy follows alarger consensus that military aid to host states from which transnational terrorists operates is a valuable tool.

This study reveals that military aid does not give host states incentive to accelerate the demise of terrorist groups, as in such a case the aid would stop. It is recognized that military aid is instead effective at preventing host states from negotiating with terrorist organizations and therefore supports the status quo to keep terrorist groups out of power.