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GungnirSniper [soylentnews.org] writes:

From the spin-off-rotten-culture department

Google's parent company, Alphabet, is putting the robotics firm Boston Dynamics up for sale. In addition to the lack of near-to-release products, company culture issues [bloomberg.com] were also cited as reasons for the for-sale sign. The company was part of a 2013 buying spree in the robotics field led by Andy Rubin, who had previously headed the Android division. Rubin left Google in 2014. At the end of 2015, the US Marine Corp declined to order the "AlphaDogs" engine-powered pack-carriers [washingtontimes.com] due to noise concerns. Amazon and Toyota are mentioned as possible buyers for the company.

The Daily Mail has pictures and video of Boston Dynamics' creations [dailymail.co.uk] as well as a quote from Gill Pratt, of DARPA, regarding disaster areas like Fukushima.

'Sometimes in a disaster, it is too dangerous for people to go in,'

The robots developed by TEPCO and Toshiba used in Fukushima [newsweek.com] have stopped working after radiation damaged their wires [sciencealert.com].

Our ageless robo-partners are not yet on the horizon.

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