If you’re going to 3D-print rocket parts, you’ … Read More → "MIT fires a rocket motor made using 3D-printed plastic"

On Thursday the FAA released an entirely new kind of map that will open up controlled airspace for drone pilots. To date, controlled airspace was a broad five-mile radius around an airport that restricted … Read More → "The drone industry takes two steps forward"

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk is sharing yet another vision for the future, and this time it’s totally underground. The originator of the Hyperloop, purveyor of snazzy solar panels and man with a plan to connect our brains showed off … Read More → "Elon Musk shows how his Boring Company plans to tunnel under traffic"

Smart ovens are now a thing, as are intelligent beds, connected doorbells, and internet-enabled fridges. Everything, it seems, is now “smart” and “connected” — and soon the windows in your home or office could … Read More → "Growing panes: The rise of smart glass and how it could kill off your curtains"

These are a couple videos of a FANUC M-2 iA 3S Delta robotic arm that was modified by mechanical engineering student Christian Schürch to continuously remove track sections from behind a toy train and add them to the front so the train can travel around its little circle without falling off. Pretty clever.
via Read More → "Robotic arm continuously removes and adds circular track sections for toy train"

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has survived an unprecedented trip between Saturn and its rings, and has amazing pictures to show for it.

Flight controllers regained contact with Cassini on Thursday, a day after it became the first craft to cross this hazardous region. The rings are made up of countless icy particles, any of which could have smacked Cassini. The spacecraft’s big dish antenna served as a shield as it hurtled through the narrow gap, temporarily cutting off communications.

< … Read More → "Spacecraft survives unprecedented trip between Saturn and its rings"

There have been a number of 3D-printing robots rolled out lately that can squirt out a house, but Tecnalia in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) has come up with one that pays attention to what it’s doing. Called Cogiro, it is billed as the first cable-driven robot that can print large structural parts or even small buildings on site while monitoring if the work is drying properly.
via Read More → "Cable-driven robot monitors buildings as it prints them"

Chain mail was an essential tool for medieval warriors hoping to avoid a quick (or slow) death by a sword. But NASA engineers hope a similar material, with a few modern upgrades, could prove to be just as useful for spacecraft and astronauts looking to survive the rigors of outer space.

< … Read More → "NASA is developing 3D-printed chain mail to protect ships and astronauts"

Inside what look like oversized ziplock bags strewn with tubes of blood and fluid, eight fetal lambs continued to develop — much like they would have inside their mothers. Over four weeks, their lungs and brains grew, they sprouted wool, opened their eyes, wriggled around, and learned to swallow, according to a new study that takes the first step toward an artificial womb. One day, this device could help to … Read More → "An artificial womb successfully grew baby sheep"

Quietly flying under the radar in the fitness wearables market is Whoop, a manufacturer of high-end wrist-worn straps that measure data 100 times per second. In what could turn out to be one of the more bizarre licensing agreements ever, the startup struck a deal with the NFL Players Association today that will make it possible for players to sell their health data.

< … Read More → "NFL players strike a deal to sell their biometric data"