Biomimicry is not new, but this robotic creature here from Pliant Energy Systems called Velox takes biomimicry to the next level. How so? It is amphibious. TBH, I don’t know what to make of this robot. It does not resemble any creature, but at the same time, it is obvious that it is somehow a hybrid of a crawling animal and a fish of sort. In fact, I thought it looks like a cross between the eerie-looking salamander-like robot and Festo’s eel-like robotic fish. Continue reading A New Kind Of Propulsion Makes This Finned Robot Highly Amphibious
Category Archives: SCIENCE
University Develop Incredible Drone That Changes Shape And Size On-The-Fly
Drones are suited for search and rescue operations, but they will be even better if they can pass through small openings to explore, say for example, damaged buildings. Instead of making drones smaller, which will inadvertently limit their functionality, JSK Lab at University of Tokyo proposes a segmented flying robot called DRAGON, and today, we learned that University of Zurich has one up that with a less creepy and very, very impressive drone. Continue reading University Develop Incredible Drone That Changes Shape And Size On-The-Fly
Facial Recognition Robotic Arm: Smile And You Get To Eat
You know what they say about life being a journey, not a destination? Well, apparently, the same applies to eating. Eating is not just about picking up the food and shoving it into your mouth. The process that happens between picking up the food and sending it into the mouth is deemed, ermmm, grossly underappreciated. This is one area Exertion Games Lab at RMIT, Australia, aims to explore with an interesting robotic arm called Arm-A-Dine On-Body Robotic Arms. Continue reading Facial Recognition Robotic Arm: Smile And You Get To Eat
Researchers Swallowed LEGO To Find Out How Long To Pass it Out
Here’s a ‘research study’ that is actually lighthearted. The research was conducted by six pediatricians who have the desire to answer the one burning question: how long does it take to pass out a small plastic toy if it was swallowed – if it passes out at all. For this experiment, the six pediatricians, namely Tessa Davis, Henry Goldstein, Katie Knight, Grace SY Leo, Damian Roland and Andrew Tagg, each intentionally swallowed a LEGO minifigure head. Continue reading Researchers Swallowed LEGO To Find Out How Long To Pass it Out
Diamonds And Lasers Could Enable Drones To Stay Aloft Indefinitely
For good or bad, drone is one of the most important inventions of the 21st century. The technology is marred only by battery life. However, if Swiss company LakeDiamond has its way, then there is a possibility that the drones of the future could stay aloft indefinitely. And how LakeDiamond plan to turn this fantasy science into reality? The answer is ‘diamond and laser’. Continue reading Diamonds And Lasers Could Enable Drones To Stay Aloft Indefinitely
Researchers Discovered Some Spiders Produce Milk. Wait, What???
Until today, milk secretion is believe to be a process exclusive to mammals, but then, some researchers found out that not only some cockroaches can produce milk, but the roach milk is supposedly richer in protein and whatnot. And today, researchers from three research labs in Wuhan and Yunnan, China, has discovered that some spiders can produce milk too. Well, sort of. The ‘some spiders’ is Toxeus Magnus, a type of jumping spider native to Southeast Asia. Continue reading Researchers Discovered Some Spiders Produce Milk. Wait, What???
Toilet-Scrubbing Robot: The World Welcomes You!
I do a lot household chores, including the most loathe chore in the history of mankind: toilet scrubbing. However, if a team of researchers over at the University of Koblenz-Landau have their way, this particular chore might be a thing of the past. Yes, that’s right. We are talking about a toilet-scrubbing robot. The Toilet Scrubbing Robot is not perfect yet, but it already proven to be a handy robot and perhaps, the single most important robotic development to date. Continue reading Toilet-Scrubbing Robot: The World Welcomes You!
Here’s A 3D-Printed Steak That Is Totally Vegan-Friendly
In the movie The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Touchstone Pictures, 2005), it featured one nifty piece of “kitchen appliance” that serves up food of your desire simply by popping your head into a scanning box of sort. This is not it, but what Barcelona-based Nova Meat is doing is no futuristic. Yes. Futuristic… with respect to food. The company has created a 3D-printed ‘steak’. Already, whatever hunger I may have at this point has been suppressed. Continue reading Here’s A 3D-Printed Steak That Is Totally Vegan-Friendly
Real Life Ion Drive Enables Model Plane To Fly Without Moving Parts
This is no Star Wars. The propulsion method suggested in the sci-fi series has just seen a major breakthrough. Indeed, we are talking about ion drive, the source of propulsion found in TIE fighters, but of course, that was a sci-fi thing and this is the real deal. The researchers at MIT has made history when it successfully flown an ionic wind-powered aircraft. Continue reading Real Life Ion Drive Enables Model Plane To Fly Without Moving Parts
Forget Qi, Wi-Charge Long Distance Wireless Charging Is The Future
Imagine a world where electronic gadgets never need to be charged. Imagine products like smart lock or IP camera that never need battery change. Imagine stepping into a room and placing your smartphone on the table, and it gets charged. I know right. It sure sounds far too sci-fi-ish. But what do you know? It is actually not. The technology to enable this sci-fi-like scenario is here and the company responsible for this wonder tech is Israeli company Wi-Charge. Continue reading Forget Qi, Wi-Charge Long Distance Wireless Charging Is The Future