For the last few years, the Robo-One competitions have given robot-builders a chance to showcase their creations – and watch them do battle. This year's Grand Championship saw robots that knew how to use their balloons, dancing bots that sang Christmas carols, and shadowy humanoids that engaged in the questionable "three-point defense." After all the robots were introduced, they went head-to-head in the ring to try to knock the circuits out of each other. (Or, at least, knock over an opponent three times.)
The requirements for Robo-One are pretty minimal, but each competing robot has to walk on two legs. About 25 finalists are gathered in Tokyo for the most recent contest.
“You can’t win a battle if you can’t rebuild your robot at least once every half year,” says one of the competitors.
In 2005, ex-Harvard University President Lawrence Summers kindly brought to light his hypothesis that genes explain for the lack of women in top science jobs. Men in those high ranking positions may want to hold on tight to those high-ranking positions.
Girls stole the show today, winning the most coveted high school science prizes at the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
Social psychologists from the University of Granada found that bosses who feel insecure or unqualified to hold their position often choose to hire and surround themselves with less competent people. On the contrary, bosses who feel qualified prefer to hire exceedingly competent people who can take on responsibility.
