Friday, October 7. 2005
Cyborg alert!
Holy Gawka Moly! I had my first cybernetics lecture today and guess who the lecturer is? It is none other than Professor Kevin Warwick! I was totally stunned. I sure am glad that he is going to be taking the next 10 weeks of lectures on "Machine Intelligence". I've obsessed about cybernetics ever since I read about his cybernetic implant that got him titled Cyborg 1.0, back in 1998.
I can't say much on cybernetics for now but I surely am impressed by Prof. Kevin. He certainly is a brilliant lecturer. His lecture today just flew past - it was totally engaging, enjoyable and thought provoking. He also made more than enough jokes that made the entire lecture theatre erupt into laughter. My favourite one was one on bees. He was talking about the differences in "intelligence" displayed in animals and humans. Bees, he said, have intelligence of their own sorts and we shouldn't be human-centric in going off comparing it with human intelligence as a reference. Bees do not need to have the same capabilities as a human, for it has its own abilities - like flying - which is not something humans can do - except for those who take certain drugs. Hehe. Not funny? Well, it made me laugh out loud!
Cybernetics at Reading University is quite big. The University cybernetics department is well stocked with skilled staff and the research being carried out is numerous and walks the bleeding-edges of science and technology. The department also got a 5 out of 5 at the latest UK government Research Assessment Exercise.
I hope everything continues on to be atleast on the same par as these first impressions...
I can't say much on cybernetics for now but I surely am impressed by Prof. Kevin. He certainly is a brilliant lecturer. His lecture today just flew past - it was totally engaging, enjoyable and thought provoking. He also made more than enough jokes that made the entire lecture theatre erupt into laughter. My favourite one was one on bees. He was talking about the differences in "intelligence" displayed in animals and humans. Bees, he said, have intelligence of their own sorts and we shouldn't be human-centric in going off comparing it with human intelligence as a reference. Bees do not need to have the same capabilities as a human, for it has its own abilities - like flying - which is not something humans can do - except for those who take certain drugs. Hehe. Not funny? Well, it made me laugh out loud!
Cybernetics at Reading University is quite big. The University cybernetics department is well stocked with skilled staff and the research being carried out is numerous and walks the bleeding-edges of science and technology. The department also got a 5 out of 5 at the latest UK government Research Assessment Exercise.
I hope everything continues on to be atleast on the same par as these first impressions...