Big ideas often start small, but Masahiro Mori’s concept of the “uncanny valley” had a particularly low-profile debut. In 1970, Mori, then a 43-year-old robotics researcher at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, published his now famous work not in a science journal but in an obscure Japanese periodical called Energy, owned by the oil company Esso. “It was an advertorial magazine,” he says. In that article, Mori envisioned a time when robots would become so sophisticated that they would look almost exactly like humans. But that “almost” … Read More → "How robotics master Masahiro Mori dreamed up the ‘Uncanny Valley’"

A team of California computer programmers has conquered the Pentagon’s latest civilian research challenge.

The military’s way-out research arm, Darpa, today announced that the team of three, called “All Your Shreds Belong To Us,” had scooped up the $50,000 prize. To do it, they’d required 33 days and 600 man hours, all to re-assemble five shredded documents. A whopping 9,000 teams entered the  … Read More → "Programmers shred Pentagon’s paper puzzle challenge"

This is just one more awesome thing Wolfram Alpha is capable of: it can take a jumbled set of letters and tell you what Scrabble words you can make with them. via Lifehacker

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Still freaked out about that whole Volt catching fire thing? Well, GM wants you to know it’s taking your concerns very seriously. via Engadget

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In an effort to “humanize the streets, and bring sunshine to people passing by”, the folks behind Eyebombing have begun attaching googly eyes to inanimate objects in public spaces. They encourage participation and have even created a page on where to buy bulk googly eyes. via Laughing Squid

Researchers at Washington State University have successfully 3D printed human bones that are suitable for use in orthopedic and dental procedures, as well as for delivering medicine for patients with osteoporosis. 

This incredible feat is the result of a partnership between chemistry, materials science, biology, and manufacturing researchers at WSU. The team created a 3D printer from scratch that is capable of printing a scaffolding made of calcium phosphate, which can be used to grow bone cells in practically any shape. Once implanted — they’ve only … Read More → "Researchers create 3D printed bones suitable for use in medical procedures"

The New York Times Company is looking around for new acquisition targets. Any businesses the company buys will be its first acquisitions in more than three years.

In a Bloomberg interview, the company’s CEO, Janet Robinson, said The New York Times Co. is particularly looking toward technology companies as it prepares for these acquisition deals.

As the parent company for a large group of print newspapers — and as a company still feeling its way to new digital revenues — it behooves the Times Co. to use acquisitions as one … Read More → "New York Times is eyeing new tech companies to acquire"

Wired.com is presenting a collection of galleries intended to help people become better geeks, nine items at a time. This is the seventh in the 9 for 9 series.

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From Star Wars to Lord of the Rings, the spectacular geek destinations in the gallery above are some of the coolest movie locations on the planet. They’re from films you’ve probably seen, but … Read More → "9 nerdy film locations you need to visit in your lifetime"

In recent months, news headlines have been dominated by one story from the world of particle physics – those befuddling faster-than-light neutrinos.

Such is the interest in those speedy sub-atomic particles that developments in the search for the elusive Higgs boson – usually covered at every twist and turn by journalists – have been all-but eclipsed.

Earlier this month, physicists announced results of a combined search … Read More → "‘Moment of truth’ approaching in Higgs boson hunt"

Don’t worry, this isn’t about teaching bacteria how to climb out of a petri dish and follow a subway map. The picture above actually shows an OLED display control circuit that was quickly and cheaply manufactured thanks to the joys of inkjet printing. Its makers at UCLA start-up Aneeve Nanotechnologies also claim their carbon nanotube circuit yields better performance than traditional silicon counterparts and should therefore be considered a competing technology. … Read More → "Researchers print a fully-functional OLED control circuit using an inkjet"