Tag: Research

I always thought the point of a drone was so it could fly around and do its work without having to touch the ground. But engineers from Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems & Technologies (CAST) have been working on an unusual drone which actually has legs.

Scientists from NC State University have created a new type of armor that could replace the rolled steel sort of military applications. The team created the new armor using a composite metal foam (CMF) that is less than half the weight of normal armor but can stop .50 cal ball and armor piercing ammo.

Growing up in my house, we had a system that would let you take over someone else’s body. Our system involved grabbing the wrists of my younger brother and making him smack himself whilst asking “Why are you hitting yourself?”

Harvard University researchers have been working on a miniature robot called the Harvard Ambulatory Microbot (HAMR) for a while now. The insect-inspired, waterproo microbot recently received an upgrade, and now it can swim and walk underwater – on land, too.

A group of Japanese scientists have created a proof-of-concept robot that may just be the best Super Soaker in the world. But instead of some kind of lawn sprinkler toy for summer fun, this one is designed to help extinguish fires, and keep firefighter safe.

Normally, humanoid robots creep me out a bit, but Ballu doesn’t. I mean it’s hard to be scared of something that reminds me more than a little of those junky balloon toys with feet KFC used to give out in the ’80s.

Growing up I watched a lot of Looney Toons cartoons and I remember one where Bugs plays a wood saw to make some Hawaiian music. I imagine that the WhammyPhone is sort of the modern equivalent of that strange musical instrument.

We have a neighbor that weirds me out when she talks to her dogs. She will randomly scream at them when they do something she doesn’t like as if she were talking to a child. I always wonder what the dogs think as they continue doing whatever they were doing to begin with, and she keeps talking.

Researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have created a very cool and very small exoskeleton that is intended to help kids who suffer from a condition called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) walk and stave off other illnesses that might risk their lives.

It doesn’t matter if you fear a Terminator style robot executioner or an insane “I’ll wear your skull” type of Saturn 3 Hector robot overlord, right now we are safe because robots can’t walk worth a crap.

These tiny little crumbs look a lot like peppermints you’d use to freshen your breath after lunch, but you don’t want to eat these ones. What you see here are tiny spheres of a sort of latex liquid that are coated in calcium-carbonate nanoparticles.

Custom mounts, docks and other connectors are simple yet impressive demonstrations of 3D printing’s potential. Right now you can either design your own connector or look for existing designs, but a group of researchers have created a third option: have a computer figure it out for you.

My first glimpse at a hologram came back in the ’80s when I was in a mall in Dallas, Texas. It was a video game with holograms that had lots of mirrors was at the arcade and I thought it was awesome.

Robots are really cool, but before they can start selling robots that will clean our houses and tend to our kids, they have to perfect them and make them safe and robust. Part of keeping an expensive robot safe is teaching it how to fall without cracking its shiny metal butt open.

DARPA has an awesome program underway to develop the next generation in prosthetics. These technologies will help soldiers and others who have lost a limb to get back to their lives with as much normality as possible.

NASA is very serious about sending humans to Mars someday. I can only hope that I am around to see that landing, it will be awesome. There are many challenges to putting us on Mars. One of the most basic issues is how to get enough food and water there to support exploration of the Red Planet.