Why it hasn't been smooth sailing for the Ocean Cleanup project

[MUSIC] Welcome to What the Future, on today's show. [SOUND] Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but we actually have some breaking news. We have the first results in from the ocean clean up system. That's that massive u-shaped device nicknamed Wilson that's trying to clean up the great Pacific garbage patch. So the results are in, things aren't going swimmingly. The ocean clean up group says that for some reason the trash is exiting the system as it's being collected. Now they're not exactly sure why that is. But the leading theory is that Wilson is moving too slow. The ocean clean up system actually has to move in faster than the trash [MUSIC] It's collecting for the trash to stay inside. Now this could be due to winds. But engineers say they are positive they are close to making Wilson work. They think that by opening the U shape about sixty meters wider that should solve the speed issue. They plan on starting with adjustments as soon as Thanksgiving Day. So good luck to ocean cleanup. We'll be following your progress. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program. On today's show, the little breakthrough: fifty feet below the surface of Los Angeles, shade for those haters who say that watching TV is just a mindless activity. And what may be the creepiest robot we've had on this show to date. [NOISE] I knew I should have made a left turn at Albuquerque. That tunnel Elon Musk has been digging under Los Angeles is finally finished. He posted this video on Twitter over the weekend. This is the moment his Boring Company broke through the wall at the site of its first station. Boring machines have been tunneling for the past two years. It started two miles away near SpaceX headquarters. That first station, by the way, has been O'Leary Station for a Boring Company employee who died recently. Now, Musk wants to use this as a proof-of-concept for his hyperloop transportation project. The idea is to transport people in vehicles on skates underground at up to 155 miles per hour. Earlier this month, he said the tunnel will be open to the public, December 10. [MUSIC] All right, this one goes out to my dad who said, all those hours watching TV was a mindless waste of time. Waste of time? Maybe. Mindless? Not anymore thanks to Samsung, who's working on software to control TV with your brainwaves. They've partnered with experts in neuroprosthetics on a project called Project Pontis. Using machine learning, it reads a combination of brainwaves and eye movements so the user can tell the TV what they're trying to watch. Now this is being designed for people with disabilities who often can't use standard remotes. You're looking at the second prototype here. Samsung says it's also working on a system that relies only on brain signals. For people who can't control their eyes. It hopes to start formally testing the technology next year.. Seems like I've told you about a lot of creepy robot projects on this show but this one may win the WTF award. Say hello to Affetto the robo baby head that's gonna be in my nightmares tonight.. Belive it or not, he's actually not trying to scare us. Those facial expressions are actually seven years in the making. His creator says that to date, androids haven't been able to mimical facial expressions. So the change- Change that. They study the three-dimensional movement on 116 facial points. Now, from those measurements, they say they were able to develop more realistic movements. Compare that to when we first saw Affetto in 2011. The difference is very striking. [MUSIC] So back in 2016, developers showed us this video demonstrating upper body movement. Afeto was first built to represent a one to two year old boy so my hope is that we see him walking this time next year. Okay that brings me to our question of the week a lot of you have asked if I'm a robot I think the best way to answer that is with another question. If you were building a robot, would you make him a pale white guy who gets easily sunburned with a gluten intolerance? [MUSIC] All right, one more note, don't forget this Monday, NASA's InSight lander is scheduled to touchdown on Mars. If all goes as planned, this will be the first Mars landing in more than six years. InSight will be studying the red planet's interior. It's equipped with a heat probe to burrow under the surface. And super sensitive seismometers. You can watch Insight's landing live at CNET.com, coverage begins Monday at 11 AM Pacific. [MUSIC] That's gonna do it for this show, I'm Andy Altman, thanks for watching What the Future. [MUSIC] [MUSIC].