Squishy, Soft Robots Crawl Their Way to the Cutting Edge of Science
A new breed of robots based on spineless creatures such as starfish and caterpillars could change the way humans interact with machines.
Articles from Contributor
DARPA Develops Technology to Single Out the Socially Awkward
DARPA has funded a lot of crazy, science fiction-inspired projects before, but this is the first one that will be able to determine whether or not you’re socially awkward. According to Wired, the Assessment of Asymmetric Social …
Butt Dials to 911 Are On the Rise
We’ve all been on the receiving end of a butt dial. Your phone rings, you pick it up and then all you hear is the ruffling of your friend’s phone against his or her jeans or the incoherent cacophony of a crowded bar.
Usually …
Report Says Android Market Is Number One Source of Mobile Malware
Android has rapidly become the most popular mobile OS and, consequently, the most popular target for malicious software.
Now Wikipedia’s Brandon Harris Can Follow You Around the Web
Oh Wikipedia programmer Brandon Harris, how we’ve become accustomed to your glaring visage, all but commanding us to donate money to Wikipedia with the wild hair and crazy eyes of a modern day Rasputin. Alas, when we leave …
Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime Talks Zelda, the Future of Handhelds and Wii’s Big Holiday Push
How Nintendo is looking to finish the holiday season strong before the Wii U premieres next year.
The Next Step in Robotic Neurosurgery
Millions of dollars of EU research money have yielded a robot that will one day be able to perform procedures that have never been done before.
College Student Can’t Afford iPad for Girlfriend, Builds One Instead
Wei Xinlong couldn’t afford an iPad for his girlfriend, so he did the next best thing—built one himself. According to China Daily, Wei made the homemade tablet with secondhand laptop parts and a touchscreen and battery that he bought online.
The entire thing cost 500 yuan (around $78) and took him 10 days to build from information …
Man Hacks Siri to Start His Car
Is there anything Siri can’t do (besides recognize Scottish accents)? Providing further proof that one day we’ll rely on our smartphones for just about everything, developer Brandon Fiquett hacked Siri to work with the Viper SmartStart system in his Acura TL, meaning he can start and stop his engine via voice command, as well as pop the …
Will Your Mall Be Tracking Your Cellphone Today?
Some shoppers looking for Black Friday deals will find a surprise waiting for them at the mall—sensors that track their every move.
Ride the Giant, Inflatable Ant-Roach Robot
What would it look like if some mad Dr. Moreau combined an anteater, a cockroach and a bounce house? You’d get the Ant-Roach, the 15-foot inflatable walking robot.
It was developed by Otherlab in San Francisco, a small lab that has done some pretty cool things with what it calls “pneubotics,” including this inflatable robotic arm. The …
10 Robots Inspired by Animals and Insects
All the research in the world can’t beat millions of years of evolution. Today’s roboticists are increasingly looking to nature for inspiration, creating robots that move and behave with uncanny similarity to living animals. …