Robot acts as orchestra conductor in Seoul

An android robot, EveR 6, took the conductor’s podium in Seoul to lead a performance by South Korea’s national orchestra, marking the first such attempt in the country.

The two-armed robot, designed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, made its debut at the National Theatre of Korea. The robot, with a humanoid face, first bowed to the audience and started waving its arms to control the tempo of the live show.

However, Lee Young-ju, a member from the audience who studies traditional Korean music said the robot’s moves, though impeccable in keeping the rhythm, lacked “breath” — or the ability to keep the orchestra ready to engage collectively and instantly — which he said was essential in performance.

“It was a recital that showed that (robots and humans) can co-exist and complement each other, rather than one replacing the other,” Choi Soo-yeoul, who led the performance alongside the robot, said after the concert.

Snake sneaks inside home in Texas

San Antonio Animal Care Services officials in Texas said police received a late-night call from a family who spotted a snake in their kitchen after 2 am.

An ACS officer responded to the home and “found the snake hiding behind the dishwasher,” officials wrote in an Instagram post.

The officer moved the dishwasher out of the way and retrieved the “timid but friendly snake,” which she identified as a ball python. The slithering trespasser was transferred to a private rescue.

A collection of 70,000 pencils

Aaron Bartholmey of Colfax, Iowa has been collecting wooden advertising pencils since he was a child. Now, he claims to own more than 70,000. That’s substantially more than the Guinness World Record for the largest pencil collection — 24,000, held by Emilio Arenas from Uruguay since 2020.

Bartholmey’s most treasured pencils are those from his hometown, noting that in many instances the pencils “are the only place where there is any record of that business still, and I think it’s just a neat way to preserve history.”

Two counters from the American Pencil Collectors Society were at the Colfax Historical Society to count Bartholmey’s pencils. Now, he’s waiting to hear if the count is approved by Guinness, which estimated the review process could take up to three months.

Underwater music festival

The Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, which also spotlighted eco-conscious diving, took place at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, located about six miles south of Big Pine Key.

Established in 1990, the sanctuary protects 3,800 square miles of waters.

Hundreds of divers and snorkelers swam among Looe Key’s colourful marine life and coral formations while listening to music broadcast by a local radio station. The music was piped undersea through waterproof speakers suspended beneath boats above the reef.

The oceanic playlist included the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins” and the theme from “The Little Mermaid.”

Tunes were interspersed with diver awareness messages about ways to minimise environmental impacts on coral reefs.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 22th, 2023