A new soft robot takes inspiration from natural growers. In the lab, researchers tasked it with navigating a maze, as well as other challenges.
E. Hawkes et al/Science Robotics 2017
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Magazine
In the July 8 SN: DNA traces many roads to domestication, seeking quantum supremacy, the 25th anniversary of the qubit, bones’ secret messages, how monkeys see faces, redating Homo sapiens, a record-breaking gas giant, strange dragonfly wings and more.
Math & Technology
Topic Image Rail
SMALL WONDER A new transistor, made with carbon nanotubes, is tinier than standard silicon versions. Four itty-bitty transistors sit between barriers (blue). Current flows through electrodes (red). Gates (yellow) turn current on and off
IBM
A flipbook of pictures shot by photographer Eadweard Muybridge form the basis of an animated image stored in bacterial DNA with a little help from the gene-editing tool CRISPR.
Eadweard Muybridge/U.S. Library of Congress
Math & Technology
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Numbers
Film
Hidden Figures highlights three black women who were vital to the U.S. space program
"Hidden Figures" tells the untold story of the "human computers" who were essential to the launch of the U.S. space program.Screentime
Website tests predictive powers of the hive mind
Metaculus.com asks people to make predictions about the likelihood of future events. -
Computing
News
Winning against a computer isn’t in the cards for poker pros
Poker-playing computers beat professional players at heads-up no-limit Texas Hold’em.50 Years Ago
Speech recognition has come a long way in 50 years
Early versions of computer speech recognition relied on word sounds. Now, they add pattern recognition and a lot of statistics. -
Technology
The –est
The incredible shrinking transistor just got smaller
Tiniest transistor, made with carbon nanotubes, suggests computers aren’t done shrinking down.The –est
New video camera captures 5 trillion frames every second
A new camera’s record-breaking speed offers researchers a window into never-before-seen phenomena, such as combustion reactions. -
Robotics
Science TickerThis robot grows like a plant
A new soft robot navigates its environment by growing in a manner inspired by plants.News in Brief
Gecko-inspired robot grippers could grab hold of space junk
Aboard a microgravity plane, NASA is testing gecko-inspired grippers that one day could help clear up space junk.
