Fabio Feminò's vintage science fiction, $3 off Nostromics Pi apparel, Are humanoid robots too human?

[Nostromics Newsletter]

Nostromics Newsletter

Nostromics science gifts product news, educational resources & science tidbits

Nostromics Newsletter, 9 March 2011 - You are welcome to share this mail, see newsletter back issues

Like the Nostromics page on Facebook, follow @Nostromics on Twitter

Fabio Feminò's collection of vintage science fiction and space art illustrations

Italian collector and expert Fabio Feminò maintains an extensive online collection of beautiful vintage science fiction and space art illustrations. Images range from old covers of classic science fiction novels toillustrations of popular science magazines.

Among the most interesting items are the illustrations of Collier's von Braun articles. In the early 1950s, famed rocket scientist Wernher von Braun wrote an influential series of articles on future space flight published by Collier's Weekly magazine. The articles were illustrated by Chesley Bonestell, one of the greatest space artists. These images, depicting all sorts of spacecrafts, inspired the space generation.

$3 off Nostromics Pi gifts

March 14 is Pi Day, an annual holiday for celebrating Pi, the most widely known and ubiquitous mathematical constant: 3.14... Why? Because the first three digits 3, 1 and 4 of Pi can be written as 3/14 in month/day notation, hence March 14.

Pi Day is a good occasion to start offering occasional, time-limited deals reserved to Nostromics Newsletters subscribers only. Save $3 when buying any of our Pi T-shirts, apparel and gifts from March 9 to 11, 2011 only in the Nostromics Newsletters science gifts deals section of Nostromics Store. Get the Pi Women's Dark T-Shirt and more. This and future deals are a way of thanking you for your interest and support.

More science gifts and products at Nostromics Store.

Are humanoid robots too human?

You may probably like spending time and playing with Honda's Asimo humanoid robot because it looks fun and inviting, a sort of friendly toy or puppy. But would you feel comfortable with the latest Geminoid robot which "breathes" and looks almost exactly like a real human being? Does it feel creepy and intimidating?

These discomfort and uneasiness feelings are described by the uncanny valley theory of robotics. According to this theory, robots and devices that closely look and act like humans cause revulsion among human observers. The name comes from a dip, i.e. a sort of steep valley, in the graph plotting positive human response to a robot against its closeness to human look and behavior.

-- Paolo Amoroso & Mauro Arpino (Nostromics), science educators - Milan, Italy

Comments? Contact us.

Do you like Nostromics Newsletter? Forward it to friends who might be interested.

Copyright (C) 2011 by Paolo Amoroso and Mauro Arpino