Bio-inspired robotics has been all over the place. We’ve got robots that walk, run, climb, fly, crawl, and swim. We’ve been kind of missing out on a big domain, though, and that’s animals that dig. You know, like moles. Unlike just about any other sort of robot (or animal), you could have a whole family of moles chillin’ within just a few feet of you (assuming you’re … Read More → "Self-burying robot could be hiding in your backyard right now"

These two dresses, by Montreal designer Ying Gao, aren’t really complete unless someone is staring at them.

Gao works with extreme materials—including things like light-sensitive textiles and photoluminescent thread—that test the bounds of social acceptability. Citing inspiration from Jacques Tati’s Playtime and critic Paul Virilio, … Read More → "These gaze-sensitive garments move when they’re looked at"

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may get most of the attention, but it’s hardly the only big weather event in the Solar System. Saturn, for example, has an odd hexagonal pattern in the clouds at its north pole, and when the planet tilted enough to illuminate it, the light revealed a giant hurricane embedded in the center of the hexagon. Scientists think the immense storm may have been there for years.</ … Read More → "Cassini captures gigantic hurricane on Saturn in exquisite detail"

There weren’t many skin treatment solutions that we know of some 266 to 252 million years ago. But even if there had been, they wouldn’t have been able to help Bunostegos akokanensis, a giant, plant-eating reptile that roamed the central deserts of the then-single continent of Pangea. Three recently discovered fossilized skulls of this ancient animal, dug up in Niger, … Read More → "Bumpy reptile skull rewrites the prehistoric record"

NASA’s Curiosity rover is constantly toiling away to deliver great science from Mars and make amazing new discoveries. Now, the agency has released this interactive 1.3-billion-pixel panorama to transport you right to the rover’s most recent worksite and take a spin around some of its latest experimental investigations. (Go to full screen for best Oh-yeah-I’m-on-Mars feeling</ … Read More → "Awesome billion-pixel panorama spins you around Curiosity Rover’s worksite on Mars"

Here’s why I think building a robot ape is a clever idea: like a real ape, it’s sort of a cross between a humanoid and a quadruped, in that it spends most of the time moving around on four limbs. But, it can still stand up on its hind legs and give itself some extra height and a couple of manipulators when it needs to. I’m not sure that … Read More → "Germans developing robot ape (video)"

… Read More → "Mystery Of the spinning statue turns Manchester Museum into a Hardy Boys story (video)"

Spanish researchers have found a way to mimic the shifting movement of a hamster inside a ball to get their Rosphere robot moving.

The electronics controlling the robot replace the hamster and act as a swinging weight to propel it forward.

Field trials have shown the Rosphere could help monitor soil conditions on arable land.

The Rosphere was developed by … Read More → "Rolling robot offers help to farmers"

“Land Ship Amagosa” by Jason Allemann is a LEGO walking machine inspired by the “Strandbeest” kinetic sculptures of Dutch artist Theo Jansen. Allemann has posted build instructions on his website.
via < … Read More → "Land Ship Amagosa, a Strandbeest-inspired LEGO walking machine"

For a long time, the steering wheel was a humble piece of equipment which did exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a wheel and it controls the steering. However, as the video below from Sauber shows, in the last twenty years it has evolved into a €30,000, multifunctional interface controlling far more than simply the direction the car points.
via Read More → "Evolution of the F1 steering wheel"