Robots and Nerf, two toys that are the staple of every child’s messy bedroom floor, are finally coming together in what could be one of the best (and safest) ways to harass your siblings, parents, and even co-workers. Because Hasbro’s new Combat Creatures let you remotely unleash a barrage of foam darts from a safe distance.

Available sometime in the fall, the Combat Creatures have a six-legged insect-like design … Read More → "Remote control Nerf-firing robots are the answer to every kid’s dream"

Back in 2011, Nike MAGs brought the futuristic looks of Marty McFly to the feet of sneaker collectors. There was just one problem: the fashionably-lit footwear fromBack to the Future II was lacking its key feature. Well, now it seems that the iconic Power Laces will finally arrive in 2015. Nike designer Tinker Hatfield confirmed that the closure is on the way next year at a recent appearance at the Jordan Brand’ … Read More → "Back to the future: Nike designer touts 2015 arrival for Marty McFly’s Power Laces"

Researchers at Harvard University have taken inspiration from the swarm construction method used by termites to create TERMES. These robots are intended as the first step in a project with the ultimate goal of creating a fully automated robotic workforce that can create complex structures without the need for centralized control.

The robots are designed “with a philosophy of simplicity” needing to perform only a few simple functions with a high degree of … Read More → "Harvard researchers create termite-inspired robot builders"

Scientists at Penn State University have successfully controlled tiny nanomotors inside living human cells. Consisting of tiny, rocket-shaped bits of metal, the nanomotors were propelled by ultrasonic waves and steered with magnets. Researcher Tom Mallouk wasn’t afraid to talk up potential future applications, saying that the technology could one day be used “to treat cancer and other diseases by mechanically manipulating cells from … Read More → "Nanomotors controlled inside living human cells for the first time"

Mentions of acupuncture have been found in ancient Chinese texts dating back to the 2nd century BCE. Oscar Palou and Alexander Müller-Rakow’s more recent adaptation isn’t nearly as squeam-inducing. Instead of pricking bodies, they’re using dozens of tiny pins to make music.

They describe their recent project, Theometrica, as a “sound interface” that … Read More → "A wild musical instrument inspired by acupuncture"

… Read More → "I can’t wait to see this robot vs. human ping pong match"

The tiny engineer superhero emergency kit will save you. Recall the countless times you desperately needed a 1 KOhm resistor to fix an amplifier at a party, only to see whoever you were trying to impress slip away with an OCaml programmer? Never again with this little kit. Consider the times when you were too drunk to recall Ohm’s Law, yet was called in to fix a … Read More → "The tiny engineer superhero emergency kit"

My girlfriend and I have been together for more than seven years, and this year I finally had a great Valentine’s idea! I’ve combined a strip of WS2812B addressable RGB LEDs with an Arduino, a real-time clock and a beautiful heart-shaped boutique paper box to make an ornament for my wonderful Valentine.

It displays the time, in seconds, in binary, since we met… ( … Read More → "Binary Love clock"

We’re all familiar with the smiley emoticon, and its power to add levity, flirtation, and occasionally passive-aggression to our texts, chats, and e-mails. But according to researchers, our brains have started to take the cluster of punctuation one step further and actually respond to it like a real face.

According to a recent study published in the journal Social Neuroscience, looking at faces crafted from colons and … Read More → "The human brain now reacts to emoticons like real faces"

Facebook today announced that users in the US now have the ability to select a custom gender for their Timeline profile pages. Aside from Male or Female, Facebook now offers “Other,” a new setting that lets users choose between ten gender options such as “cisgender,” “transgender,” and “intersex,” and define which pronoun they’d like to be referred to as — he / his, … Read More → "Facebook moves beyond ‘male’ and ‘female’ with custom gender options"