Google’s self-driving cars have not directly caused any accidents — until now.

An accident last month involving a bus was at least partly the responsibility of Google’s vehicle, according to the company.

Under what Google calls “tricky” traffic conditions, a Google-owned 2012 Lexus RX450h hit the side of … Read More → "Google self-driving car accepts blame in a crash for first time"

Artist Anish Kapoor, who has produced work using VantaBlack—the recently invented material created by Surrey-based company NanoSystems that absorbs 99.96 percent of light striking it—has now apparently been given exclusive artists’ rights to its usage, report Charlotte Griffiths and Ned Donovan for the Daily Mail.

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“I’ve never heard of an artist monopolizing a material,” said artist Christian Furr, one of the artists upset by the news. & … Read More → "Artists angered as Anish Kapoor receives exclusive rights to VantaBlack"

Smart clothing and robots alike might soon get better thanks to a breakthrough from a team of Swiss researchers. They created relatively thin electronic circuits that can be stretched like rubber up to four times their original length in any direction. In addition, it can be cycled that way nearly a million times without cracking or losing conductivity. That makes it perfect for biological sensors, artificial skin, prosthetics … Read More → "Stretchy circuits will make for better wearables and robots"

There are many hidden images of Mickey Mouse throughout Disney World. But you’ll only see this one from the air. Disney World recently completed its largest hidden Mickey. It’s a 11.5-acre arrangement of solar panels.

Disney worked with Duke Energy to develop the facility. It produces 5 megawatts, which is as much electricity as might come from 1,000 … Read More → "Disney’s new solar farm looks like Mickey Mouse"

When Steve Jurvetson and friends took “Spot”, the four-legged Boston Dynamics robot out for a walk, they encountered a confused little dog who circled the parking lot, barked incessantly and couldn’t stop staring at the foreign creature that perhaps seemed like a robotic version of himself.
via Read More → "Spot the four-legged Boston Dynamics robot teases a confused dog in a parking lot"

The site Information is Beautiful is providing an invaluable service to the film-going public: the ability to be an insufferable know-it-all during films based on true historical events. The interactive feature has carved up ten recent movies into their individual scenes and grades each scene as “true,” “true-ish,” “false-ish,” and “false.” You can set the grading system to … Read More → "This website shows you which scenes in movies based on a true story are actually true"

Software company Chaotic Moon is currently working on tattoos made with conductive ink, which they’re calling Tech Tats. While still mainly used in the medical field, we can already imagine a fully developed 303 implemented under your skin. Who needs a hoverboard when you can make acid with a tattoo?
via … Read More → "Circuit board tattoos turn your skin into a synth"

A surprisingly large number of academic studies—as in, more than one—have applied mathematical modeling to the concept of human-vampire co-existence. Using the depiction of bloodsuckers in various forms of media, from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to True Blood, these papers look at whether Earth’s vampire population would inevitably annihilate humanity, and, if so, how long … Read More → "A surprisingly large number of academic studies have applied mathematical modeling to the concept of human-vampire co-existence"

Two marine scientists have shown that autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can be programmed to make independent decisions and trigger new missions in real time based on data coming from multiple sensors. They believe this could reveal much about the life of squid and other marine creatures.

The researchers used a deep sea modular AUV model called REMUS 600 for their experiment. They were investigating whether squid, fish, and … Read More → "Underwater robot can make its own snap decisions"

Just like their human relatives, new research shows that gorillas also make melodic “yummy” noises when enjoying a meal, New Scientist reports.

The new findings, published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, were gathered by German primatologist Eva Luef of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology</ … Read More → "Gorillas hum happy tunes while they eat, new research finds"