If you’re going to craft brain-like computers, it stands to reason that you’d want to replicate brain-like behavior right down to the smallest elements, doesn’t it? Sure enough, researchers have managed just that. They’ve developed an artificial synapse that imitates the real thing by both learning and remembering whenever electrical signals cross — most previous attempts at this can only manage one action at a time. … Read More → "Artificial synapse could be key to brain-like computing"

Having successfully invented the paperclip-bending machine, engineer Elis F. Stenman set out to build a new summer home for himself in Rockport, Mass in 1922, entirely from paper.

He did. It is a marvel.

The Paper House is still standing, and can be toured in the company of Stenman’s grandniece Edna … Read More → "1922 house and furnishings made entirely from varnished paper"

The Unseen, a company founded by Lauren Bowker has developed FIRE, a hair dye that changes colors based on temperature. When cool, the hair appears dark, and the hotter it gets, the lighter and more vibrant the color gets. The dye will be available in a variety of vibrant and subtle colors, and is semi-permanent so it should last through a … Read More → "Color changing hair dye responds to temperature"

How would you deal with the likelihood that robots and automation will likely lead to many people losing their jobs? For Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the answer is straightforward: tax the robots. In an interview with Quartz, Gates argues that taxing worker robots would offset job losses by funding training for positions where humans are still needed, such as child and senior care. It could even slow automation to … Read More → "Bill Gates wants a robot tax to compensate for job losses"

The lemur situation in Madagascar is nothing short of a crisis. Ninety-four percent of the population is threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with habitat loss caused by the clearing of Madagascar’s forests a big reason why. Researchers now have a new tool at their disposal, however, in the form of facial recognition software that can identify individual lemurs and inform long-term conservation … Read More → "Scientists use facial recognition software to identify wild lemurs"

For some kids, no backyard birthday celebration is complete without a bounce house. Since an inner child lurks inside every adult party guest, Travel + Leisure reports that a Belgian company called V-Formation has created what’s billed as the world’s biggest inflatable obstacle course, designed for grown-ups.

Called The Beast, the course features 839 feet (that’s longer than two football fields combined) … Read More → "Introducing The Beast, a 839-foot inflatable obstacle course for adults"

… Read More → "Robot butters toast"

There are two options for controlling a robot inside of the human body: Either you try and build some sort of intricate and tiny robot submarine with self contained propulsion and navigation, which would be really really hard to do, or you just make the robot with a tiny bit of something that responds to magnetic fields, and control it externally … Read More → "Magnetic control could help robots navigate inside your body"

Editing the genomes of human embryos should be allowable to treat or prevent serious diseases and disabilities—but only amid stringent oversight and safety protocols and only if no reasonable alternatives exist—according to a report released Tuesday by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. 

The … Read More → "Genome-edited humans get green light from expert panel"

The Snuggie has been on the market since 2008—but until recently, nobody officially knew whether the fleece coverlet with sleeves was a blanket or a clothing item. On February 10, Bloomberg BNA reports, the U.S. Court of International Trade settled the question once for all: The novelty item is, in fact, a blanket. 

Read More → "Judge rules that the Snuggie is a blanket, not a garment"