Robotics
- Animals
This robot catches jellyfish with a gentle ‘hug’
A soft robotic hand gently catches jellyfish by trapping the creatures within its silicone fingers.
- Tech
AI can learn real-world skills by playing video games
Video games are helping AI systems work together and adapt to real-world situations.
- Brain
This brain region may make lifelike robots creep you out
Robots that look too much like real people can be unsettling. Scientists identified a brain region that may be behind these uneasy feelings.
- Computing
This robot’s parts are helpless alone, but turn smart as they team up
In a new system called “particle robotics,” many small, simple helpless units can seemingly come to life and start moving when amassed into a team.
- Fossils
This robot shows how an ancient creature might have walked
Scientists used fossils, footprints, a computer models and a life-sized walking robot to find out how an ancient creature moved.
- Oceans
This robotic jellyfish is a climate spy
Scientists have developed a robotic jellyfish to collect data about the ocean. It’s small and nimble, and gentle on marine ecosystems.
- Materials Science
Soft robots get their power from the skin they’re in
A flexible electronic “skin” embedded with air pouches or coils can wrap around inanimate objects, turning them into handy robots.
- Agriculture
Tarzan the robot was actually inspired by a sloth
‘Tarzan’ the robot saves energy by swinging. Someday, it could help with farm work by moving along wires strung across fields of crops.
- Math
Cool Jobs: The art of paper folding is inspiring science
See how bringing art and math together led to the development of robo-roaches, self-folding papers and medical implants.
- Tech
Scientists Say: Engineering
Want to build a bridge, clean dirty water, make a new drug or build a machine? You’re going to need an engineer — someone who uses science and math to solve practical problems.
- Earth
Robots and ‘green energy’ win the day at Intel ISEF
The top three awards — each worth $50,000 to $75,000 — went for a window-washing robot, low-cost big batteries and ‘green’ capacitors
- Physics
Star Wars‘ cutest droids would get stuck on the beach
On screen, R2D2 and BB-8 travel over every type of terrain. But in real life, any sandy path would stop these droids short.
