Following is a summary of current odd news briefs.
Wanted: Animal Godparents for Chilean Zoo in ‘Bleak’ Year
Oliver the rhinoceros, King Julien the lemur, Chilly Willy the penguin and their friends are urgently seeking sponsors for their bed and board in a Chilean zoo as visitors have dwindled to zero with the arrival of coronavirus. Buin Zoo, on the outskirts of the capital Santiago, is ordinarily one of the city’s top attractions but it is struggling to stay afloat in an extraordinary year.
A.I. robot serves customers at Seoul restaurant
“Aglio Kim”, a trolley-like robot which uses artificial intelligence (A.I.), is delivering food to customers at a restaurant in Seoul, in order to minimise human contact and help ensure social distancing. Shortly after customers order through a touch-screen on the table, the 1.25-meter-tall robot, developed by South Korean telecoms company KT Corp, brings the food and uses its visual SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) capabilities to avoid obstacles and navigate around customers.