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Magazine
In the Oct. 13 SN: 2018’s scientists to watch, superconductors heat up, the world’s oldest drawing, a sneaky superbug slayer, Ceres’ ice volcanoes, the birth of a neutron star, kidney stones close-up and more.
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Teaser
Self-driving cars see better with cameras that mimic mantis shrimp vision
10/12/2018 - 07:00 Robotics, AnimalsTo help self-driving cars drive safely, scientists are looking to an unlikely place: the sea.
A new type of camera inspired by the eyes of mantis shrimps could help autonomous vehicles better gauge their surroundings, researchers report October 11 in Optica. The camera — which detects polarized light, or light waves vibrating on a single plane — has roughly half a million sensors that...
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News
Fiberglass-spinning robots could be construction workers of the future
09/26/2018 - 14:00 Robotics, TechnologyMuch like a silkworm uses a single thread to swaddle itself in a cocoon, a new kind of robot spins a single strand of material around its body to build custom-shaped fiberglass structures.
The new robots could create customized construction materials on-site, unlike other industrious bots that assemble premade building blocks (SN: 3/22/14, p. 8). Fleets of the fiberglass-spinning bots...
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News
High-tech ‘skins’ turn everyday objects into robots
09/19/2018 - 14:00 Materials, Robotics, TechnologyA new type of soft robot gets its power from the skin it’s in.
Robotic skin that bends, stretches and contracts can wrap around inanimate objects like stuffed animals, foam tubes or balloons to create flexible, lightweight robots. Removable, reusable sheets of this artificial skin, described online September 19 in Science Robotics, could also be used to build grippers or wearable devices...
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News in Brief
This flying robot could reveal secrets of the aerial world of insects
09/13/2018 - 14:00 Robotics, AnimalsA new winged robot helps explain why airborne insects are so doggone hard to swat.
Scientists have wondered how these tiny pilots pull off such rapid twists and turns, but researchers haven’t been able to test all their ideas by monitoring real insects or using tethered robots. Now, a free-flying, insect-inspired robot, described in the Sept. 14 Science, gives researchers an alternative...
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News
Here’s what robots could learn from fire ants
08/16/2018 - 14:04 Robotics, Animals, TechnologyRobots, take note: When working in tight, crowded spaces, fire ants know how to avoid too many cooks in the kitchen.
Observations of fire ants digging an underground nest reveal that a few industrious ants do most of the work while others dawdle. Computer simulations confirm that, while this strategy may not be the fairest, it is the most efficient because it helps reduce overcrowding in...
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News
Children may be especially vulnerable to peer pressure from robots
08/15/2018 - 14:00 Robotics, PsychologyPeer pressure can be tough for kids to resist, even if it comes from robots.
School-aged children tend to echo the incorrect but unanimous responses of a group of robots to a simple visual task, a new study finds. In contrast, adults who often go along with the errant judgments of human peers resist such social pressure applied by robots, researchers report August 15 in Science Robotics...
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News
With this new system, robots can ‘read’ your mind
06/20/2018 - 00:00 Robotics, TechnologyGetting robots to do what we want would be a lot easier if they could read our minds.
That sci-fi dream might not be so far off. With a new robot control system, a human can stop a bot from making a mistake and get the machine back on track using brain waves and simple hand gestures. People who oversee robots in factories, homes or hospitals could use this setup, to be presented at the...
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News in Brief
A new soft bot mimics octopuses and inchworms to climb walls
04/09/2018 - 12:35 Robotics, TechnologyPHOENIX — Soft robots really get around. Some jump, others swim or crawl on the ground (SN Online: 12/13/16). Now, one can even scale walls.
Inspired by an octopus’s suckers, researchers have constructed an inchwormlike robot that uses a pair of suction cups to scoot around vertical surfaces. The bot can clamber across rough and smooth terrain, aboveground and underwater, carrying up to...
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News
Earwigs take origami to extremes to fold their wings
03/22/2018 - 14:10 Biophysics, Animals, Materials, RoboticsTo quickly unfurl and refold their wings, earwigs stretch the rules of origami.
Yes, those garden pests that scurry out from under overturned flowerpots can also fly. Because earwigs spend most of their time underground and only occasionally take to the air, they pack their wings into packages with a surface area more than 10 times smaller than when unfurled, using an origami-like series...
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News in Brief
Boy robot passes agility tests
12/21/2017 - 16:13 Robotics, TechnologyView the video
Robots are on their way to passing gym class.
The design of a new life-size bot named Kengoro closely resembles the anatomy of a teenage boy in body proportion, skeletal and muscular structure, and joint flexibility, researchers report online December 20 in Science Robotics. Compared with previous humanoid robots with more rigid, bulky bodies, Kengoro’s anatomically...