Electric 18-rotor Volocopter makes first manned flight
The pursuit of personal flight took a promising, and kind of wacky, step forward today with the electric 18-rotor Volocopter lifting somebody into the air for the very first time. The maiden manned...
View ArticleCocooning caterpillars inspire new 3D printer design
As with its SmartBird, BionicKangaroo and robotic ants, Festo's Bionic Learning Network has once again looked to the natural world for inspiration during the development of a new 3D printing solution....
View ArticleSecond CRISPR human embryo study shows there is a long way to go
A team in China has announced the results of their attempts to modify human embryos using the CRISPR gene-editing technique – the second study of its kind. New Scientist asks if the study can tell us...
View ArticleBiologists discover new strategy to treat central nervous system injury
Neurobiologists at UC San Diego have discovered how signals that orchestrate the construction of the nervous system also influence recovery after traumatic injury. They also found that manipulating...
View ArticleThis human-like robot speaks two languages, moves around autonomously, and...
Another day, another humanoid robot poised to take on the service industry. Tokyo-based Hitachi unveiled a new black-and-red humanoid robot dubbed EMIEW3 last Friday. The robot can maneuver...
View ArticleBrain Chip, Electro-Sleeve Help Paralyzed Man Move His Hand
The goal of restoring movement to victims of paralysis, stroke or brain injury has consumed medical researchers for the past century. In recent years, they’ve deployed a variety of electronic devices...
View ArticleRobo-swot! This droid is the first to enrol alongside human pupils at a school
A ROBOT has been enrolled at a school and is set to study alongside other students. Pepper is the first ever robot to read human emotions and it will be helping students who struggle to communicate...
View ArticleRobots could get 'touchy' with self-powered smart skin
Smart synthetic skins have the potential to allow robots to touch and sense what's around them, but keeping them powered up and highly sensitive at low cost has been a challenge. Now scientists report...
View ArticleScientists discover how to control heart cells using a laser
Scientists from MIPT's Laboratory of the Biophysics of Excitable Systems have discovered how to control the behaviour of heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) using laser radiation; this study will help...
View ArticleResearchers can identify you by your brain waves with 100 percent accuracy
Your responses to certain stimuli -- foods, celebrities, words -- might seem trivial, but they say a lot about you. In fact (with the proper clearance), these responses could gain you access into...
View Article#27 Avatar Technology Digest / New 'e-skin' tech turns your body into a...
Welcome friends to our weekly Avatar technology digest report. As always, we are happy to inform you on the topics of cybermedicine, nano and biotechnologies, robotics and artificial intelligence. So...
View ArticleGoogle's chief futurist Ray Kurzweil thinks we could start living forever by...
Ray Kurzweil, Google's chief futurist, laid out what he thinks the next few decades will look likein an interview with Playboy. Kurzweil is one of the biggest believers in The Singularity, the moment...
View ArticleThis terrifying eel-robot will perform maintenance on undersea equipment
This swimming eel-robot does not make me happy. Watching its long, black, mechanical body move underwater, its red eyes glowing, makes my nerves twitch. The discomfort is primal. I have every sense...
View ArticleMIT uses 4D maps to help robot teams navigate moving obstacles
It’s one thing to keep robots from crashing into fixed obstacles like walls or furniture, but preventing collisions with other moving things is a much tougher challenge. Targeting teams of robots...
View ArticleScientists turn skin cells into heart cells and brain cells using drugs
In a major breakthrough, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes transformed skin cells into heart cells and brain cells using a combination of chemicals. All previous work on cellular reprogramming...
View ArticleThis humanoid robot diver is a submersible avatar
A professor at Stanford University has designed a robotic humanoid diver with articulated hands that is designed to be an underwater avatar, exploring the way a human would— while its driver remains...
View ArticleRobot Performs Soft-Tissue Surgery By Itself
With a bulky camera eye and spindly hydraulic arm, this medical robot looks like it could fit in on an automotive production line. This bot isn't building a Toyota, though. It carefully scans soft,...
View Article'Bugs' as drugs: Harnessing novel gut bacteria for human health
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have grown and catalogued more than 130 bacteria from the human intestine according to a study published in Nature today (Wednesday May 4, 2016). The...
View ArticleManipulation of specific neurons helps to erase bad memories, enhance good ones
Imagine if memory could be tuned in such a way where good memories are enhanced for those suffering from dementia or bad memories are wiped away for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. A...
View ArticleBipedal robot conquers uneven ground
Getting a robot to walk is one thing, getting it to walk without tripping on the first obstacle it encounters is quite another. Engineers at the University of Michigan are developing a set of...
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