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Okay, that’s not exactly what happened, but Google-owned Boston Dynamics has released a new video of the latest incarnation of their Atlas robot, showcasing it’s capabilities for balance, navigating rough terrain, handling objects, and even getting back up after being knocked over. And all of this is accomplished while the robot is untethered.

Slimmed down to a 180-lb, 5’9" — quite svelte compared to it’s previous 6-foot form — the video shows the new Atlas model leaving the office to take a stroll through the snowy woods, using LiDAR and stereo cameras to "avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects".
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The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, more commonly known as DARPA, is developing a system intended to enable aerial drones to be able to choose what combat targets to engage by themselves, without input from human controllers. However, this may constitute a violation of the Geneva convention.
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Laws and technologies invading and eroding privacy are widespread and ongoing. Soon, even the sanctity of our private thoughts – and the (highly-compromised) right to make up our own minds – may be quaint artifacts of a bygone era.

As with all other breakthroughs, the convergence of neuroscience and bioengineering brings with it many curses and blessings. And the more advanced the new science becomes, the greater the possibilities for both positive and negative impacts on how humans relate to each other, to animals, to machines, and to the world.
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