DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Dubai, city of skyscrapers, man-made islands and now, Robocop. PICTURE: Caleb Whiting/Unsplash
• Fiction has become reality with the world’s first operational “Robocop” unveiled in Dubai, the first step in the United Arab Emirate’s plan to have robots make-up a quarter of its police force by 2030. The autonomous robotic police officer – and, yes, its actual named is Robocop after the film – went “live” on the city’s streets on Wednesday. Standing 1.7 metres tall, it reportedly features a touchscreen on its chest which members of the public can use to report crimes and uses facial recognition software to detect criminals and detect a person’s emotions. It also comes with social media integration and can transmit and communicate in six languages including English and Arabic.
• The Dutch King has a secret (well, not any more, but it was up until last week!). For more than 20 years he has been working as a co-pilot on Dutch airline KLM. While it was known that King Willem-Alexander, 50, sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, what wasn’t known was how regularly – he has now revealed that he has done so about twice every month. He is now retraining to fly Boeing 737s as KLM phases out its fleet of Fokker 70 planes. The king, who describes it as a hobby, says he’s rarely recognised by passengers.
• The governor of the US state of Oregon has reportedly pardoned fourth-grade boy Samuel Revenko after he apologised for taking a hazelnut and a pen during a tour of the state’s Capitol Building. After receiving a letter from the boy in which he admitted he took the items, Governor Kate Brown wrote back thanking him for his letter and forgiving him his offence. She posted the notes on Facebook last week saying that “in exchange for your apology, debt repayment, and return of the pen you lifted, I formally pardon you from any further penalty”. She also sent the boy his own pen to keep.
