Category: Technology

Because innovation is everywhere, sports manufacturer Wilson recently unveiled its 3D Airless Basketball prototype, a new basketball created as near to the specifications of its official game-used NBA balls but with no air. Or leather. Or the same aerodynamics since it’s filled with holes.

Presumably, in an attempt to prove Spider-Man is actually a highly advanced artificial intelligence robot developed by Doctor Octopus that went rogue, YouTuber b2studios took it upon himself to see if he could get a basic AI Spider-Man to swing like the superhero.

Developed by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the waterproof Mirs-X autonomous drone is capable of both flying AND swimming underwater using its same four rotors for propulsion. It positions itself vertically to swim up or down and tilts itself horizontally to swim side to side or at an angle.

Appropriately piloted by a man dressed as Elvis, the Ryse Recon electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft was recently flown over the old Las Vegas strip. And, because the hexacopter is classified as an ultralight aircraft, it doesn’t require a pilot’s license to fly.

Because the future nears (and it’s weirder than you expected), researchers at The University of Chicago have developed a smartwatch with a heart monitor that’s powered by slime mold. And you have to nurture that slime mold in order for its heart monitor functionality to work.

Developed by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s (KAIST) Department of Mechanical Engineering, the RaiBo quadruped robot was designed to be able to tackle any terrain. The robot is even capable of traversing loose sand at around 7 MPH.

The future: it’s undeniably going to be a terrifying place. If you thought today was scary, just wait to see what tomorrow brings. Case in point: this sea cucumber-inspired shape-shifting soft robot developed by researchers at Carnegie Melon and Sun Yat-sen University can melt, escape a prison cell, and reform itself outside the bars just like a T-1000 Terminator.

By feeding the original polygonal images from a Sega Saturn emulator into an image-to-image mode of the Stable Diffusion text-to-image deep learning model, artist Colin Williamson was able to turn 1993’s Virtua Fighter characters from polygonal people into much more realistic versions of themselves.

Built by Ryan Lademann and his team, a rocket-shaped quadrocopter recently set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest ground speed of a battery-powered RC quadrocopter, hitting a max speed of 257.25 MPH and an average speed (used for the record) of 224 MPH.

Just when you thought you’d heard it all, Shiftall has announced the release of the Mutalk, a mouth-covering Bluetooth microphone that digitally amplifies your voice online while muffling it to those around you. Plus, it makes you look like you’re being held captive by robots.

Bird Buddy bird feeders are smart, AI-powered bird feeders that can identify your local flying fauna when they come to eat and capture photos or videos in high definition. The feeder already exists for common backyard birds, but a model designed specifically for hummingbirds is going to be released this April, with the capability of identifying over 350 species.

Developed by a team of mechanical engineers at the University of Maryland, this 3D printed hand is dexterous enough to use a Nintendo controller, and even manages to beat Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 in the video.

Recently on display at Pack Expo 2022 (I’m sad I missed it), this high-speed donut sorting machine developed by Soft Robotics, Inc. can sort donuts by variety and handle them all without damaging its precious, doughy cargo.

Presumably, in an attempt to push the envelope in squinting, YouTuber Mr. Volt decided to find out if he could game on the world’s smallest HD monitor, a minuscule 0.7″ diagonal display that still manages to deliver 1920 x 1080p resolution.

Bitcoin mining operations are notoriously power-hungry and create a lot of heat in the process. So why not use that heat to keep you warm during the winter months with the Heatbit, a Bitcoin mining space heater?

Because why should anywhere be safe from killer robots of the future, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have gone and developed MARVEL, a quadruped robot with magnetic feet it can use to climb metal walls.