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Purdue University professor working to help robots better work with humans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A team of students and professors at Purdue University are working to make robots smarter and able to help in more situations, like natural disasters.Anikert Bera, an associate professor, and the university’s IDEAS lab are researching to make AI, or artificial intelligence, and robots smarter. ‘Robot dogs’ to help agents patrol Southwest border Bera said the team focuses on social robotics and is trying to bring robots closer to humanity and solving tasks.“We realized that most of these robots are fairly dumb, we tell them what to do,” Bera said. “And it does that right, with a high level of precision, because that's what we're going for.”But the goal is to make them smarter and work alongside humans to complete more complex tasks, including after natural disasters, like the recent earthquake in Turkey.“The biggest problem is that first responders by the time they reach the location, it's very hard for them to look at, you know, rubble and where people are s...

Best public elementary schools in Illinois

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

Early childhood education provides students with a foundation for success for the rest of their lives. In studies about the ROI of early education, for every $1 spent, $7 are generated later. As a result, it is imperative to invest in children's futures by providing them high quality learning environments and curricula.Because there can be vast differences in the number and type of resources distributed among school districts, it is left largely up to parents to determine what school is best for their child. In response to that need, Stacker compiled a list of the best public elementary schools in Illinois using rankings from Niche.Keep reading to see how school districts in your state stack up.#25. Steeple Run Elementary School- School district: Naperville Community Unit School District No. 203- Enrollment: 642 (student to teacher ratio unavailable)- Niche grade: A+#24. Elmwood Elementary School- School district: Naperville Community Unit School District No. 203...

Florida woman calls for 'Sugar Daddy Appreciation Day' at board meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida woman took the podium at the March 2 Planning & Zoning Board meeting in Boca Raton with an unusual request. She asked the board to designate March 10 as "Sugar Daddy and Mommy Appreciation Day."The woman, who identified herself as Ashley Cream, stood up to speak after the board discussed amending city code regarding storage of flammable liquids. An elderly man stood up from a wheelchair and walked beside her to the podium. Cream told the board members they were "looking absolutely fabulous, a little bit serious," before saying she appeared before them as a concerned citizen and voter. Investigators find 6 bodies, 154 cremated remains linked to illegal California crematorium "You guys may not be aware, but Florida has the largest per-capita population of sugar daddies in the U.S.," Cream said, pointing out that Miami, Palm Beach and Boca Raton have the most "concentrated populace of these aged benefactors." "Sugar daddies both gay and straight — ...

Cold front tonight knocks down Sunday's highs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Day 2 of South by Southwest came in hot with highs in the upper 80s and low 90s! We avoided records, but it was still toasty.Tonight will stay very warm ahead of a cold front that comes through early Sunday morning. Evening temperatures will mostly be in the 70s! NEW BLOG: La Niña has ended — Here’s what’s next and when El Niño could begin As our cold front comes through we'll find morning lows dropping into the 50s, making for a much cooler start to the second half of the weekend.Sunday is the first day of Daylight Saving Time. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead 1 hour. You'll lose an hour of sleep, but you'll gain roughly an hour of evening daylight! Sunrise Sunday morning will be at 7:44am, the latest sunrise of the whole year. The sun goes down at 7:37pm Sunday evening.Sunday's forecastSunday's weather will be noticeably cooler behind the early morning cold front. We'll have a mix of sun and clouds with highs in the mid 70s, close to 15º cooler than Saturda...

No. 17 Holy Family uses “championship habits” to beat No. 2 Resurrection Christian in Class 4A boys basketball final

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

Holy Family boys basketball head coach Peter Villecco went from hoping his team would get into the Class 4A field, to imploring his No. 17-seeded team to use “championship habits” down the stretch in the state championship game.Talk about a whirlwind month for the Tigers.In the end, his team embraced those habits and sprinted to the Class 4A crown, defeating No. 2 Resurrection Christian, 53-43, on Saturday to win its fourth state title in program history and first since 2014.“From where we came in the last month — we were down in the dumps — we were dropping like a rock in the RPI and weren’t even looking at it, and just said ‘we just wanna get in’. They gave us the 17 (seed) and we just had a light switch turn on,” Villecco said.The habits of spacing the floor, ball security, making good decisions and securing rebounds with two hands all helped the Tigers (17-11) to a storied run.Rocco Bridges (5) of the Holy Family Tigers on a shot attempt...

Holy Family’s Ron Rossi wins record-tying 7th state title as Tigers rally to beat D’Evelyn in Class 4A girls basketball championship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

Amid the din of the Holy Family girls basketball team’s championship celebration, head coach Ron Rossi tearfully embraced his wife off to the side.Stephanie hadn’t been around for all 52 years of her husband’s high school basketball coaching career, but she’d been there for most of them. And she’d most assuredly been there for each of the state championships he’s won over the last two decades leading the Tigers.So, too, had the faded purple tie draped awkwardly over his Holy Family pullover.No way that talisman was staying home with a shot at matching Highlands Ranch coach Caryn Jarocki’s Colorado record of seven girls’ basketball state titles.“It has a lot to do with your kids, your administration. They provide you an environment that you can reach that,” said Rossi, 73, whose top-seeded Tigers rallied to beat No. 2 D’Evelyn 49-44 in the Class 4A championship Saturday inside Denver Coliseum to give him title No. 7.&#...

SF Giants’ Alex Cobb averts worst case after being hit by line-drive comebacker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Alex Cobb, who was once taken off the field on a stretcher, knows something about the worst that can happen on the pitcher’s mound. For about 10 seconds Saturday, during the Giants’ Cactus League exhibition with the Dodgers, he thought it had happened again.Cobb collapsed to the ground and began writhing in pain after the first batter of the fourth inning, Miguel Vargas, lined a hard-hit comebacker that struck Cobb on the inner portion of his left knee. He felt a shooting pain through his foot, and he thought it was broken.“Every thought that you can have goes through your mind there while you’re down,” Cobb said, about an hour later, after tests revealed no more damage to his knee than a bad bruise and serious swelling. “I was just thinking all these extreme thoughts of what is this going to lead to? Am I going to miss the season with a broken knee? … Fortunately, as of right now, it doesn’t seem like it’s that bad.̶...

Where Marco Luciano will start 2023 after being optioned by SF Giants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Around this time two years ago, Marco Luciano declared that he would be in the majors by 2022.After an injury-riddled season, that didn’t come to fruition, and it came as no surprise Saturday when Luciano, 21, was optioned to the minors.Luciano is likely destined for Double-A Richmond, the next level up from where he ended last season.The Giants typically move their position player prospects through the system more slowly than their pitchers, but Luciano could move quicker than most, given he has more pedigree than anyone else in the organization. Since signing out of the Dominican Republic for a $2.6 million bonus in 2018, Luciano’s size, strength and hitting ability quickly established himself as one of the most intriguing prospects in the game. From 2019-2022, Baseball America rated him among the top 20 prospects in baseball, with nobody higher in the Giants’ system.However, Luciano’s stock began to drop last season, when a lower back i...

FDIC to Silicon Valley Bank workers. We’ll give you a 50% raise or double-time OT, but you’ll lose your job in 45 days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

John Sage and Katanga Johnson(Bloomberg) — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation added a few new employees to its payroll late Friday, taking on workers from shuttered Silicon Valley Bank, at least for a few weeks, as it serves as receiver of the collapsed lending institution.The newly-formed entity, the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara, or DINBSC, sent a letter to employees offering 45 days of employment, according to a copy of the message seen by Bloomberg. After the 45 days, the employees will be let go, the letter states.The company and its subsidiaries had more than 8,500 employees worldwide as of Dec. 31, according to its annual filing. SVB’s main office in Santa Clara, California, and all branches will reopen on Monday, the FDIC has said.The FDIC wants to incentivize workers to stay at the bank for those 45 days, offering salaried employees 1.5 times their current wages. Hourly workers who take on overtime will get double pay for it, according to the offer.T...

From California wine country to London, Silicon Valley Bank’s failure shakes worldwide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:18:53 GMT

By STAN CHOE and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — It was called Silicon Valley Bank, but its collapse is causing shockwaves around the world.From winemakers in California to startups across the Atlantic Ocean, companies are scrambling to figure out how to manage their finances after their bank suddenly shut down Friday. The meltdown means distress not only for businesses but also for all their workers whose paychecks may get tied up in the chaos.California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday that he’s talking with the White House to help “stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, to protect jobs, people’s livelihoods, and the entire innovation ecosystem that has served as a tent pole for our economy.”U.S. customers with less than $250,000 in the bank can count on insurance provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regulators are trying to find a buyer for the bank in hopes customers with more than that can be made whole.That includes customers like Circle...