Software upgrade could let smartwatches know exactly what our hands are doing
What if your smartwatch could recognize every movements made by your hands? Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have figured out a way to capture fine-grained hand activity in smartwatch wearers. Here's why it could make smartwatches more powerful and contextually aware.
DroneBullet is a kamikaze drone missile that knocks enemy UAVs out of the sky
How do you get an enemy drone out of the sky as quickly as possible? According to anti-drone tech company AerialX, the answer involves a cross between a missile and a quadcopter. Meet DroneBullet. Here's how it works -- and why technology such as this is crucial in today's world.
Future underwater robots could charge their batteries by eating fish poop
The U.S. Navy wants to find a way to create underwater robots that can stay submerged for longer. Their idea? Giving it special batteries that can be recharged by eating fish poop. Here's how it could work, and what a team of researchers have demonstrated so far with the project.
A.I. is getting scary good at generating fake humans. Watch this demo
Researchers from Japan have shown off a new artificial intelligence system that is able to create photorealistic, high-res videos of people who don't actually exist outside of a computer. Here's how its Adversarial Generative Network technology works -- and what this advance means.
Smart clothes could let you change your temperature with the touch of a button
A team of researchers from the University of California, Irvine, are developing a smart material which can regulate its temperature, potentially with the tap of a smartphone app. Here's how it works -- and what it could mean for the future of smart clothes as we know them.
How IBM’s cutting-edge A.I. put a losing soccer team on a winning streak
If you’ve seen the 2011 movie Moneyball, you’ll be familiar with the way that data crunching can be used to create a winning sport team against the odds. That's what IBM attempted recently when it turned the power of its Watson A.I. to improving the chances of a UK soccer team.
Stanford researchers have taken us one step closer to a universal flu vaccine
Getting yearly flu jabs isn’t ideal, but it is necessary. That's because the flu virus continually mutates. Researchers from Stanford University may have just made a breakthrough in the journey to develop a universal flu vaccine. Here's how it works, and why it is so exciting.
Who needs a toothbrush when you have a swarm of tooth-cleaning nanobots?
Imagine being able to clean your teeth with an army of tiny nanorobots. It might sound crazy, but that's exactly what researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are working to develop. And they're much further along than you might think. Check out their work in action.
Amazon is using smart technology to track warehouse worker productivity
Think that Amazon's warehouse robots are the only use of technology in the company's fulfillment centers? New documents reveal how human workers are also quantified in terms of their personal productivity. Here's how it works -- and what some of the implications might be.
NASA and partners will simulate a potentially deadly asteroid strike this week
Think that it is only Hollywood filmmakers who speculate about what would happen if Earth was ever struck by an errant asteroid? Think again! This week, the world's sharpest minds are meeting to help figure out how Earth would prepare for a hypothetical killer asteroid strike.
The holy grail of robotics: Inside the quest to build a mechanical human hand
Building an ultra-accurate robot hand has long been the Holy Grail for robotics experts. Now the world's most advanced robot hand, the so-called Dexterous Hand, has gotten even better -- thanks to some amazing haptics tech that allows it to be operated from across the world.
Groundbreaking A.I. can synthesize speech based on a person’s brain activity
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco have developed a way to use artificial intelligence to turn brain signals into spoken words. It could one day pave the way for people who cannot speak or otherwise communicate to be able to talk with those around them.
Age-verification tech could usher in vending machines for beer and weed
Ever dreamed about being able to get an ice cold beer from a conveniently placed vending machine? One of the problems with this idea is how customers prove that they're of drinking age. San Francisco-based startup Civic thinks that it's come up with the perfect solution.
Harvard looks to the natural world to make its snake robots even faster
Researchers from Harvard have found a way to make their snake-inspired soft robots faster and more efficient. The secret? Using a Japanese paper craft called kirigami to create an outer shell that grips the ground, just like the scales on a real snake skin. Check it out.
Japanese taxis will use facial recognition to target you with ads as you ride
Japanese startup Premium Taxi Vision is trying to reinvent in-taxi advertising for 2019, by using facial recognition technology to identify the key characteristics of riders and then presenting them with appropriate ads. Smart concept or privacy headache? You make the call!
A battery-free pacemaker harvests and stores energy from heartbeats
Researchers in China and the United States have developed a new battery-free pacemaker which gathers its required electricity from the energy of heartbeats. While not yet ready for humans, it was recently demonstrated successfully in pigs. Here's why that's so important.
Alphabet’s Wing drones now have FAA approval to deliver packages in the U.S.
Alphabet Wing, the drone delivery startup owned by Google’s parent company, announced that it has become the first company to receive Air Carrier Certification from the FAA. This means that Wing can begin commercial deliveries from local businesses to homes in the U.S.
Geoengineering is risky and unproven, but soon it might be necessary
From light-scattering aerosols in Earth’s upper atmosphere to artificial chemical sponges created to suck carbon-dioxide out of the air we breathe, geoengineering aims to purposely change the world's climate using technology. Here's why its proponents think it must happen.
How 3D printing has changed the world of prosthetic limbs forever
When he was 13 years old, Christophe Debard had his leg amputated. Jump forward to the present day, and his experiences have led him to create the startup Print My Leg. It offers open-source designs for 3D printed leg prostheses to whoever needs them. Welcome to a growing revolution.
Burgers are just the beginning: Embracing the future of lab-grown everything
You’ve almost certainly heard of the 'farm to fork' movement, but what about 'lab to table'? Welcome to the world of lab-grown meat: the fast-evolving dream of bringing customers their favorite edible dead animal without actually having to kill any animals in the process.
Meet the gene-edited bacteria that could make cannabis plants obsolete
Ever wanted to brew cannabis like you brew craft beer? At the University of California, Berkeley, synthetic biologists have managed to engineer brewer’s yeast so that it produces the main cannabinoids found in marijuana. Here's why that's so darn exciting -- and what it means.
U.S., U.K. embrace autonomous robot spy subs that can stay at sea for months
Unmanned robot spy submarines that are able to stay at sea for months at a time may be coming to both the United States and its ally across the pond, the U.K. Both nations are hard at work on developing this technology for carrying out underwater data-gathering surveillance missions.
U.S. police are testing out Batman-style bola guns to catch criminals
U.S. police are taking a page out of Batman’s playbook with a new grappling hook gun which fires a cord able to tie up assailants in the blink of an eye. Called the BolaWrap, it is a pistol-sized device capable of shooting out an 8-foot kevlar cord at a speed of 640 feet per second.
NASA is building an inflatable space robot named King Louie
Don't expect the robots which thrive in space to look the same as the ones that we're used to here on Earth. The latest illustration of this is King Louie, a NASA-funded inflatable robot which could travel to the stars in deflated form and then be blown up when and where required.
Yale scientists restore cellular activity in a pig’s brain hours after its death
In what some may view as a porcine version of Frankenstein, Yale University scientists have restored circulation and cellular activity in a pig’s brain four hours after its death. Don't start running for the hills in fear of zombie pigs just yet -- the study is likely to be used to study brain function
How emotion-tracking A.I. will change computing as we know it
Affectiva is just one of the startups working to create emotion-tracking artificial intelligence that can work out how you're feeling. From gaming to cars to healthcare, here are some of the ways that emotion-tracking tech promises to revolutionize computing as we know it.
New gunfire-detection system alerts police of shooters in seconds, not minutes
The Safe Zone Gunfire Detector is a fast gunfire-detection system with the ability to provoke a response to an active-shooter situation within a matter of seconds. In doing so, it could help avert potential tragedies in public places like schools, malls, or anywhere a mass shooting could occur.
Scientists manage to 3D print an actual heart using human cells
Scientists at Tel Aviv University have achieved a world-first by 3D printing a small-scale heart, complete with blood vessels, ventricles, and chambers. The heart was printed using human cells, something that would make it far less likely to be rejected by a transplant patient’s body.
Sweden is building a road that recharges electric buses that drive over it
One of the biggest hassles for electric car owners is having to charge them. To get around this, the Swedish transport administration is exploring special roads which charge vehicles’ batteries as they drive over them. It will test the idea with a short sample stretch.
Watch the fearsome DroneHunter X3 pluck rogue UAVs out of the sky
How do you stop enemy drones in their tracks? DroneHunter X3 is a new autonomous anti-drone technology which outruns and captures rogue drones in midair. Check it out as it does its thing during a recent outdoor showcase test run at Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City.
The next clash of Silicon Valley titans will take place in space
By launching their own attempts to bring internet access to every last person on Earth, tech giants from Amazon to Facebook have a major new mission. It's also one that will put them into competition with one another -- only this time in space. Here is what you need to know.
Blue the robot could help fold clothes or unload your dishes for under $5,000
Ever dreamed of having your very own dedicated helper robot? Roboticists from UC Berkeley have created a new commercial robot called Blue, which could one day help unpack your dishwasher or fold your clothes. Best of all, it's not going to be quite as expensive as you might expect.
Even a true rock god can’t smash this unbreakable 3D-printed metal guitar
Rock stars love to smash guitars. Geeky engineers love to build things using the latest high-tech materials and tools. What happens when both parties meet? Probably something like the unbreakable 3D-printed metal guitar recently developed by global engineering firm Sandvik.