Re: 2010 called...
Did you warn them?
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/2009_called.png
6157 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Oct 2015
Yup. Same problem, same parameters ➡ similar solution (no surprise there).
I am worried a bit about the folding wings, though. Doesn't that mean there is a gap in the heat shield? (Yes, I'm aware it's there by design and they will have taken the problems into account. But still, the only parts that really can't fail are the parts you don't incorporate into the design.)
"once it's developed, students can choose to talk to it for simple or routine questions, or to complement a meeting with a person".
So far that's nothing you couldn't achieve with a FAQ list and some additional brochures. ELIZA reloaded? Oh, "cognitive advisers", right. Don't get me wrong - I really welcome research in this field. I'm just tired of having every little step announced as a revolutionary breakthrough. But then, that's the kind of blurb AI has been spewing since the 1950ies...
I think it is some sort of fallout shelter (from the cold war days), probably a portable one. Somehow I have the feeling I've seen this before in the early 1980ies. Anyway, it reminds me of the 'Protect & Survive' brochures from that era.
The guy in the picture is not using a mobile phone, he is just waiting for the blast wave miraculously missing him, and the fallout settling.