San Francisco Company Offers Cleaning Service Using Humanoid Robots

Tau Robotics is now offering home cleaning services using humanoid robots for $30 an hour. CEO Alex Koch says current artificial intelligence technology can’t fully control a humanoid robot on its own. Instead, a person operates the robot from a central location with assistance from AI. Not everyone is convinced the technology is ready for widespread use. Ken Goldberg, a UC Berkeley engineering professor with 40 years of experience in the field, expressed skepticism about the capabilities of humanoid robots in home cleaning, saying he thinks it’s too early. "I would be very surprised if these could do anything close to a useful job of cleaning a house,” said Goldberg. Koch acknowledged the limitations of the technology but said the robots are already capable of handling some household chores, including vacuuming and wiping the kitchen counter. Despite questions about the technology's current capabilities, both the promise and challenges of humanoid robotics remain evident. The long-term goal is a humanoid robot capable of cleaning an entire home at a low cost, potentially making home cleaning services more accessible.

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The Window Cleaning World Cup Is No Joke

Cleaning windows is the type of job that's easy to do but hard to master. Sure, handling a Squeegee isn’t the type of thing you need a degree for, but if you’re thinking about going up against the world’s best professional window cleaners, you’ll need some serious training. “What I’m doing, people half my age can’t do,” said Terry Burrows. The 71-year-old, who still competes in the Window Cleaning World Cup, is considered the Usain Bolt of window cleaning. In 2009, he set a world record, flawlessly cleaning three 45” x 45” windows in just 9.14 seconds, a feat that has yet to be equalled or surpassed. The rules of the Window Cleaning World Cup are fairly straightforward. Participants are provided with a standard 12” Squeegee with a fixed handle, a standard 14” applicator (T.Bar) with a fixed handle, a standard 14” applicator cover, a bucket of water, window cleaning detergent, and one scrim (light cloth). They have to use these tools to clean three 45” x 45” windows as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. Under the careful watch of three judges, participants move their hands in S patterns, guiding the Squeegee across the glass, and following up with the scrim to make sure they leave no streaks. When they're done, they shout “Stop!” to stop the timer. Speed is very important in this competition, but participants must actually clean the windows to win. Every streak, drip, or line on the three windows is penalized by 0.5 seconds, and leaving particularly thick streaks on the glass is penalized by 1 second. The three judges are trained to watch for even the slightest imperfections, so every little mistake is penalized. The winner is rewarded with a $1,350 cash prize, but the true prize is the brgging rights.

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Family That Adopts Abandoned Babies Gets a Real Surprise

Angela and Dennis Laffin, from Upstate New York, already had a son, Nick, born in 1995, and after struggling with fertility for several years, they decided to adopt. They did extensive research, and looked into adopting from abroad to grow their family, but they agreed there are so many children here in America, they should stay local. Once they completed the training, medical clearance, home study and background checks required to become adoptive parents, they registered with a local adoption agency. Then, they waited for a call, which finally came on Sept. 10, 2002. They named their newly-adopted son Frank. Two years later, news broke that three newborns were separately abandoned in New York. At the time, the Laffins had their hands full with their two sons and had already decided they wouldn’t adopt another child. Then Angela heard that one of the three babies was found in a hospital bathroom, and suddenly their decision changed. Both Frank and Vicky, now 20 and 19 respectively, describe their childhood as loving, supportive and fun. What came next was a complete surprise. The Laffins supported their adopted children’s desire to learn more about their backgrounds and bought them each an Ancestry DNA test kit. It turns out that Vicky and Frank are full biological siblings. While the news that they are biologically related was bewildering in the beginning, the siblings said their relationship remains as it always has been. "Nothing has really changed between us aside from the newfound knowledge that we have the same blood, which, in our family, never really mattered in the first place," said Frank.

 

Vicky and Frank

 

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States Start to Crack Down on 4-Day School Weeks

As interest in 4-day school weeks grows, more states are enacting laws or considering other measures that limit when schools can shift to the abbreviated schedule. Most recently, an Indiana law took effect on July 1 that requires schools to meet new criteria before they can apply and be approved for a 4-day week waiver. Among those conditions: Schools must maintain an A rating with the state education department, provide enrichment and remediation opportunities for students when classes aren’t in session, and meet the state’s minimum teacher salary of $45,000 annually. The idea is that requiring schools to prove strong academic performance offsets the potential risks of lowering the number of days students are in class. School districts in recent years have turned to 4-day weeks as they battle shrinking budgets. Nationally, more than 2,100 schools in 26 states use 4-day schedules, with more considering the transition.

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