Robear robot care bear designed to serve Japan's aging population
posted by Larra Morris
Japan is facing an aging population in the coming decades and that means more people requiring care, and less people to provide it. In an effort to meet the shortfall, RIKEN and Sumitomo Riko Company Limited have developed Robear, an experimental nursing care robot that combines advanced robotics and a non-threatening design.
Robear is based on Riken's Robot for Interactive Body Assistance (RIBA) and RIBA II assistance robots that were unveiled in 2009 and 2011, respectively. It was developed by the RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research in Nagoya, and is designed to be strong, yet gentle, with a cartoonish head and a soft design that is intended to be as un-Transformer-like as possible.
via Gizmag
Watch a robot play the violin better than you can
posted by Larra Morris
Wish you hadn't been so quick to give up violin practice as a kid? You may never get to turn back the clock, but retired engineer Seth Goldstein is showing that there's still hope of reliving those musical ambitions through technology. He recently showed off Ro-Bow, a kinetic sculpture that uses robotic fingers (specifically, electromagnetic actuators) to play digital music files on a real violin. While the machine won't have concert performers rethinking their careers, it's probably better with a bow than you were way back when -- it can handle a fast Irish jig as well as a slow, sentimental tune like "Amazing Grace." The Ro-Bow hardware would have to shrink and get a bit of polish to be useful as more than an art project, of course.
via Engadget
Kitchen towels designed to look like sushi when properly rolled
posted by Larra Morris
Designer Jenny Pokryvailo has created a series of kitchen towels that look like sushi when properly rolled. The design was submitted to Ototo, which previously produced Pokryvailo’s design for the Nessie Ladle, a soup ladle that resembled the Loch Ness Monster.
via Laughing Squid
Image: Jenny Pokryvailo
Astronomers discover mysterious black hole as massive as 12 billion suns
posted by Laura Domela
In a galaxy far, far away—12.8 billion light-years away to be more exact—is a newly-discovered supermassive black hole that weighs as much as 12 billion of our suns. The most surprising thing about the black hole, though, is not its size but its age.
Black holes grow as they age, gobbling up gas and stars that foolishly venture too close. Astronomers have found more massive black holes before, but this one is surprisingly young. Because it is so far away, we "see" the black hole as it was 12.8 billion light-years ago, or only about 875 million years after the Big Bang. Astronomers are puzzled how this black hole grew so huge in so short a time.
via Gizmodo
Image: Zhaoyu Li/Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Researchers create world's first two 3D-printed jet engines
posted by Laura Domela
Working with colleagues from Deakin University and CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), researchers from Australia's Monash University have created the world's first 3D-printed jet engine. While they were at it, they created the world'ssecond one, too. One of them is currently on display at the International Air Show in Avalon, Australia, while the other can be seen at the headquarters of French aerospace company Microturbo, in Toulouse.
via gizmag
Photo: Monash University
An ancient Babylonian customer service complaint inscribed on a clay tablet around 1750 BC
posted by Laura Domela
photo via Joe Stump
Among the artifacts at the British Museum in London is this ancient Babylonian customer service complaint which was inscribed on a clay tablet sometime around 1750 BC. The complaint is regarding problems with two shipments of copper ore, as the museum notes in their description:
Clay tablet; letter from Nanni to Ea-nasir complaining that the wrong grade of copper ore has been delivered after a gulf voyage and about misdirection and delay of a further delivery; slightly damaged.
via Laughing Squid
3D engineered bone marrow-like material produces functioning human platelets
posted by Larra Morris
Researchers at Tufts University School of Engineering and the University of Pavia (Italy) have developed a three-dimensional tissue made from porous silk, that’s capable of producing platelets for clinical use. The development is expected to have a significant impact on treatment of blood diseases.
Platelets are cell fragments containing no nucleus, produced by megakaryocytes found in bone marrow. They’re an essential component in the blood clotting process, but can also play a role in strokes and heart attacks, making an increased understanding of their production an important area of investigation. In the study, researchers aimed to create an artificial bioreactor that mimics the microenvironment present in bone marrow, facilitating the artificial formation of platelets.
via Gizmag
Image: Tufts University
