The latest study involving advancements in robotic technology has an end result that by all accounts is pretty amazing – a robot designed to look like a zebrafish was fully accepted into a school of other zebrafish. That is, male zebrafish swarmed around the robotic female fish in the same way they would a real fish. 
via Read More → "Robotic fish is accepted by real fish"

Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA opens its doors to the public for an annual Open House.
via Boing Boing

More info here 

Summer’s here and it’s time to get back on the bike. We could have looked at a fancy new ultralight, but the NuVinci is the bike that’s really going to shake things up. It answers a question you may not have thought to ask: what if you could pick up a new ride with a transmission that made sure you’ll never be in the wrong gear?

A NuVinci bike … Read More → "Testing the Novara Gotham: a bike with infinite gears"

Most “real time” traffic reports are outdated by the time they’re delivered, or they’re so scattershot that they have nothing to do with the course you’ve set. But BMW thinks it may have a better solution in the form of a new service called Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information (ARTTI) that promises to deliver traffic info faster and more accurately.

… Read More → "Real-time traffic info gets more real"

You’re free to ink whatever permanent monstrosity you want on your body, but when it comes to technology tattoos, be careful! Some tech tats have expiration dates. All technologies will eventually be replaced, but some will be remembered more fondly than others—and some won’t be remembered at all.

Here are a few unfortunately souls who fell victim to having obsolete— … Read More → "The 9 most terrible tech tattoos"

Finally one device combines the power of the Commodore 64 SID, Atari ST YM2149, and Amiga MOD audio into one awesome box. It’s called the RetroCade Synth, and there’s a Kickstarter that is perfect for starting your chiptune composing journey.

[Jack]‘s RetroCade synth is connects directly to the Papilio One 500k FPGA. All the classic chiptune ICs … Read More → "Putting every chiptune ever in an FPGA"

“At least in Star Wars‘ spaceships, they can walk.” I heard an 8-year-old utter that while I attempted to explain the effects of reduced gravity on the International Space Station. Well, the kid had a point, but still, Star Wars is not real. It’s science fiction. Yet it was clear which one he and his classmates preferred.

I was surprised. If someone had asked me 20 years ago what was cooler – walking or flying (ok, floating) in space, I would have chosen the latter. I … Read More → "Why do kids prefer sci-fi or science?"

Following a Freedom of Information request, the FBI has just released its records on Richard Feynman. Celebrated as an incredible intellectual, the Nobel prize-wining physicist was also a wonderful speaker, writer and, according to the files, a target which the FBI wanted to out as a communist sympathizer.

In all, there are 361 pages pf reports, including notes from background checks as well as interviews with his colleagues, friends and acquaintances. A fair … Read More → "Richard Feynman’s FBI files make fascinating reading"

The concept of the Booth Babe is a strange one. In the eyes of many tech companies, littering trade shows with semi-naked women helps sell their products, but to most people living in the modern world it seems incredibly sexist and outdated.

Now, IT World has taken a look behind the scenes at this week’s Computex, investigating exactly what it’s like to be a Booth Babe. They’ve spoken to a number of women involved in the trade, and the message seems fairly clear: the work might be easy, but it’s … Read More → "A day in the life of a booth babe"

For cardiac patients, repair of defects often requires open-heart surgery and temporary paralysis of the organ. But a set of robotic tools developed by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital could eventually enable surgeons to operate on the heart through small incisions while the heart continues to beat. 

The use of small incisions and the insertion of robotic tools are increasingly … Read More → "Tiny robots mend broken hearts"