24/12/2015 Click - Short Edition

It is the end of the year and time to look back on what we've learned

in the past 12 months. Above everything else that happened in

2015, there's one thing that we all agree has been thing. 2015 has seen

the rise of the machines. Kind of... Yeah, they may not be quite

ready to take over yet, but I genuinely believe we're starting to

see the beginnings of a robot revolution. Machines are starting to

understand the world around them, starting to understand what we're

talking about and they're starting to be able to build things on their

room. Welcome to the Distributive Robotics lab at MIT, where these

guys are doing something we all hope we won't have to do in the future.

They're building furniture. Really slowly, but it is doing it. It's got

the screw in and that's better than me for a start. The grip here is

just four rubber bands. As it twists, it manages to grip the table

leg properly. Each piece of furniture has a unique pattern of

reflective balls. There's a whole array of infrared sensors around the

room, so the computer system running this knows where everything is. The

computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory is the

largest research lab here at MIT and it is also the biggest looking. It

looks like Gaudi has had a go at that! Anyway, it is here that we

begin our journey. So, the Distributive Robotics lab looks like

this. I have no idea what that is. This is the very famous robot, backs

-- Baxter. And this garden is full of robotic flowers. It is designed

to illustrate some less visually interesting but nevertheless

essential computer science to Nick. It is difficult to get some young

students, in particular girls, interested in computer science. --

techniques. Algorithms that every scientist needs to know, like how to

find the shortest path from A to B, demonstrated by the flowers changing

colour as the software tries different routes. The shortest path

eventually turns green. One of the main missions of this lab in

particular is to develop robots that can think for themselves and work

together to solve increasingly complex problems, by assembling

themselves into complex shapes and even pushing the limits of what we

think of as robots. In a tiny basement room at Texas

University with hundreds of central American cockroaches. The school is

famous for adapting robots to help in disaster zones, but these

cockroaches are destined to be cyborgs designed to work in areas

difficult for humans to reach, like a nuclear disaster zone or

earthquake. The cockroaches are gassed with carbon dioxide for being

brought over to be operated on. He is asleep now? Yes and he will stay

asleep for about ten minutes. The idea is to work quickly. Oh my God!

He has little hairy legs. These acupuncture needles are inserted

into the cockroach, into an area of neurons responsible for involuntary

movement. People think that's the head. They think we are putting it

into the brain. But the finished product. It is just a startling.

Some of our viewers might think it is cruel, to put these wires into

their brain. I don't think the cockroaches have any feeling for

that sort of problem. They don't have a big ring to start with.

They're happy, I have no doubt about that. We're not really hurting them

or causing pain. The final step in the process is attaching the battery

so it can work with the controller. This is a simple remote being

modified. It is typically used for a small RC car. I am going to try to

make the cyborg cockroach go. Here he goes. Oh my goodness! The white

out will just brush off as it calls into the woodchips. These

cockroaches will get ready for field testing and the researchers are

already looking at other insects they can use.

It is one of the leading cancer research hospitals in the world,

with a reputation and a name to live up to. Three years ago to mark its

Centenary the Dockers invited patients and their families to write

messages and tie them to the trees. They have stayed there ever since.

But inside they're not pinning the future of brain cancer on hope

alone. This is one of the first places in the world to get some new

kit that uses robotics. In most cases you are surgeons will try to

remove as much of the brain tumour as possible, if it's safe to do so,

and crucially that means avoiding damaging healthy bits of the brain.

Through a tiny hole made in the Skol, a tube which houses a laser

can be fed to the exact spot using a scanner. -- skull. The healthy

tissue on the other side is left untouched. This is one of the first

patients to use the system. The initial results appear positive. But

the man in charge of brain cancer research here doesn't want to stop

there. The doctor is going beyond stem and T-cell treatments to help

develop special nano particles that attack cancer growth. And he has

adapted new equipment, used to help deliver them, straight to the front

line. By removing the remaining burnt tumour after the initial

treatment, space is left inside the brain for the nano particles could

then be delivered. Either drugs or these designer sells them go to work

fighting any remaining cancer threat. But tumours often re-emerge

after treatment. So, the doctor and his team want to direct their

special fighter cells once they are inside the brain. They -- will

attach microscopic particles to move the treatment to any area of the

brain, simply by using a magnet. Magnet guided treatments are

attracting serious attention. Three months ago Google X, the scientific

research arm of Google, got to work on a similar idea. The teams expect

new treatment in about five years time.

This is Hubo and it is about to embark on the toughest test known to

robot kind. Next weekend, it is the darker Robotics challenge, where

research teams from around the world will show up in California with

their bots. The mission is to complete a set of human tasks with

minimal human help. Wow! Oh my gosh! Tomorrow, the team pack

up and fly out, which means today is the last day of practice around

their practice course, which is unbelievably tough. Hubo has defined

and close a gas valve, use a drill to cut a hole, Paula Handel, push a

button and fight through rough to rain. -- pull a handle. The aim is

to complete the course in the fastest time and anything under 30

minutes with them in the running to win the $2 million prize. It has one

hand on the bar and one on the steering wheel. The robot is driving

the car using controls that were made for humans. OK, this is going

to be the coolest exit from a car since the Dukes of hazard got in

mind. But once out of the car, Hubo reveals he has wheels of his own and

in role mode he can travel further faster. -- roll mode. He has got to

handle! Handling the drill is an even bigger test. Once it has been

identified by the team, it is up to the censors in Hubo's hand to feel

it, find the button and apply the correct pressure to cut a hole. The

challenge will contain one task which the teams won't know in

advance. Hubo will need to analyse the scene, relate information back

to the humans and they will need to workshop a solution. Once they've

done that in virtual space they will upload the instructions back to the

baht. In this case it is pushing a button, which I have to say is no

match for this brilliant block of silicon. -- the bot. Is it wrong to

say I am ever so slightly in love? What do you mean to excited? It was

incredible! And Hubo ended up winning the challenge! Well, that's

the end of the short version. Much more in the full-length version,

which you can see on iPlayer right now. Next week, another look back at

the last 12 months in Tech News. See you soon.

Let's see what the weather is up to over the next few days. A very mild

Christmas. The Met Office says