Inflating smart pills could be a painless alternative to injections
Could an inflating pill containing hidden microneedles be a replacement for painful injections? The creators of the RaniPill robotic capsule certainly think so -- and they've got the human trials to help back them up. Here's how the next generation medical device works.
Racing to catch a flight? Robot valet at French airport will park your car
Hate searching for parking at the airport when you need to catch a plane? At France’s Lyon Airport, startup Stanley Robotics has unveiled a new outdoor automated robotic valet system. It means that customers can drop off their car and then leave robots to take care of the rest.
A.I.-generated text is supercharging fake news. This is how we fight back
Last month, OpenAI announced a text generating A.I. so scarily accurate they claimed it would be dangerous to release it. Now researchers have developed a tool to help spot text written by bots. Here's what it means for the future of fake news in an age of smart machines.
It’s not time travel, but scientists can turn back clock on a quantum computer
Physicists from Russia, the U.S. and Switzerland have demonstrated that they can wind back the clock on a quantum computer a fraction of a second in time. Don't get too excited about the prospect of human time travel any time soon, though! Here's what their experiment involved.
Check out MIT and Harvard’s unusual new Venus flytrap robot gripper
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have developed a new kind of suction-based soft robot gripper that is capable of picking up and moving an assortment of objects. Check it out in all its Venus flytrap-inspired dexterity.
This streaming music service pays artists in Bitcoin, plants trees if you listen
Feedbands is an environmentally friendly subscription streaming music service that pays artists in Bitcoin, and plants trees in exchange for authenticated listens from customers. Here's what you need to know about this planet-saving quintessentially millennial sales pitch.
Google employee sets world record by calculating pi to 31 trillion digits
Google Cloud developer Emma Haruka Iwao has broken the world record by calculating pi to 31.4 trillion digits. The work was carried out using cloud computer number crunching over a four-month period in Google’s Osaka, Japan, office. What better way could there be to celebrate Pi Day?
U.S. hops on Boeing ban bandwagon, grounds 737 Max planes until further notice
The U.S. government issued instructions that Boeing must ground all 737 Max aircraft operating inside the United States. The ban comes days after a deadly crash of an Ethiopian airliner killed 157 people, prompting countries around the globe to issue their own orders until the cause of the crash can be determined.
Yes, data is the new oil and the fight to reclaim it from tech giants starts now
From Europe to the United States, a growing number of new privacy laws promise to change the behavior of data-grubbing giants -- and the internet as a whole. Welcome to the revolution. Here's what you need to know about GDPR, CCPA, and their high-profile tech supporters.
MIT has a robotic mini-cheetah that can do backflips. Humanity is doomed
Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a four-legged mini cheetah robot that is able to pull off picture-perfect backflips. Here are some of the other tricks it can perform for good measure. Check it out in all its nature-inspired robot glory.
Want to see the future of transport? Watch this drone taxi go airborne
Want to travel to work in a flying taxi that looks like something out of a James Bond movie? Vahana, an ambitious startup founded by aerospace giant Airbus, wants you to as well. As its 50th successful test flight shows, it's likely to happen sooner rather than later.
Thailand’s ambitious new solar plants will float on dams and reservoirs
Thailand has some big plans for solar energy. The country's state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is planning to build floating solar power stations at eight dams. The first one could start construction as early as next month. Here's what you need to know.
Google has found a way to use A.I. to boost the usefulness of wind energy
Google and DeepMind have developed a deep learning artificial intelligence that's able to predict wind power output 36 hours ahead of the power being generated. The results could prove useful for strengthening the business case for the use of wind power. Here's why that's the case.
Defunct Soviet space probe will crash back to Earth after 47 years in orbit
According to experts, a failed Venus probe that was launched by the Soviet Union almost half a century ago could crash back down to Earth as early as this year. The Kosmos 482 probe was unsuccessful in leaving Earth's orbit in 1972, and has been doing laps of our planet ever since.
FedEx’s new autonomous delivery robots can hop curbs and climb stairs
Courier delivery service FedEx has announced its entry into the fast-growing field of delivery robots with the SameDay Bot. The company's delivery bots are capable of roaming the streets autonomously, and can even hop curbs and climb stairs to deliver packages to your front door.
Chinese government may have helped fund controversial CRISPR babies experiment
The controversial CRISPR babies experiment in China might have been carried out with the support of the Chinese government. According to a new report, three governmental institutions may have contributed funding to the gene-altering experiments, which were internationally criticized.
Meet the robot that will almost certainly steal your data entry job
For all the talk of paperless offices, go into just about any modern workplace and you’ll almost certainly find stacks of documents piled up on shelves. Ripcord is a robotics startup which has developed a machine for scanning documents at record-breaking speeds. Here's how it works.
Boaty McBoatface’s new Antarctic mission will be its toughest yet
Autonomous submarine Boaty McBoatface will undergo its third mission this fall. The goal? To explore the ocean cavity beneath Thwaites Glacier in western Antarctica. Data gathered during the mission will help to better forecast the effects of warming ocean waters on the glacier.
Makers of the AK-47 assault rifle have built a kamikaze drone as their sequel
Russian weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov, the company behind the world famous AK-47 assault rifle, has developed a smart kamikaze drone. Here's how the autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle works -- and how it could potentially change the face of modern warfare as we know it.
3D printing snacks from food waste? Sounds gross, but it’s actually brilliant
A pair of entrepreneurs behind the startup Upprinting Food have come up with a way to help solve the world's food waste problem. They want to give old food a new lease of life by turning into a material which can be used for 3D printing new foodstuffs. Here's how it works.
South Korea is getting a world-class robot museum that will be built by robots
A new, cutting-edge history of robotics museum in Seoul, South Korea, is being built by robots. Here's how the Robot Science Museum is being constructed using machine intelligence -- and exactly when interested parties can expect to pay the finished location a visit in person.
Looking for a good read? Here are the best, most eye-opening books about tech
Sometimes it's sensible to put down the gadgets and pick up a good old-fashioned book -- to read about the latest gadgets, of course.
Sick of fruits and veggies going bad? This second skin doubles their life spans
The world has a food spoilage problem. Could Apeel Sciences help with its concept of giving fresh produce a 'second skin' to keep it fresh for up to twice as long? Philanthropists including Bill and Melinda Gates certainly seem to think it can. Here's how Apeel's approach works.
Controversial CRISPR baby experiment may have resulted in brain enhancements
The ethical minefield that is China’s CRISPR baby saga continues to rage on. Scientists in the U.S. have now expressed concerns that the procedure may have also resulted in changes in the babies’ brains, which could affect cognition and memory. Here's what new research suggests.
Engineer turns his old Apple lle into an wheeled robot, and even gives it a sword
How do you breath new life into an unused 30-year-old computer? Software engineer Mike Kohn found a way by transforming his old Apple IIe into a wheeled robot that looks like the mutant offspring of a vintage computer and a Roomba. Check it out in all its 1980s era glory.
Kickstarter campaign aims to help make 3D-printed space habitats for Mars
Mars X-House sounds like kind of reality TV show pitched somewhere between astronaut training and Big Brother. In fact, it’s an ambitious project to create a prototype future Mars habitat using 3D printing. And, thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, you can help be a part of it.
This ridiculous new flamethrower makes Elon Musk’s look like a cigarette lighter
Move over Elon Musk! The XL18 Flamethrower is a flame-shooting beast on steroids. It can fire off bursts of flame more than 110 feet in length and eats around half a gallon of fuel per second. The best (and possibly scariest) part? You can order it over the internet today.
Baristas beware, Bbox cafe uses robots to brew your morning coffee
Want your morning coffee and pastry prepared by robot? Bbox, a new coffee shop in downtown Berkeley, California, lets customers place their order by app and then uses cutting-edge robots to take care of the rest. Here's how it works -- and what it means for the future of cafes as we know them.
Hilarious new Kickstarter aims to fix Scorcese’s last scene in The Departed
An avid fan of The Departed and apparent hater of rat-as-symbolism imagery has launched a Kickstarter campaign to digitally erase the rodent from the end of Martin Scorsese’s 2006 Oscar-winning movie. Here's how he plans to go about it doing it -- and exactly how much that will cost.
Immune cell discovery takes us one step closer to a universal flu vaccine
The effects of the flu virus can range from debilitating to deadly. A group of international researchers have made a discovery which could take us one step closer to the universal, one-shot flu vaccine that people around the world have been dreaming of. Here's what they discovered.
DeepSqueak is a machine learning A.I. that reveals what rats are chatting about
Just as Aquaman can talk to fish, so too can researchers at the University of Washington chat with rats. Or, at least, they can better understand what rats are squeaking about thanks to a deep learning artificial intelligence system with the ingenious name DeepSqueak. Here's how it works.
FDA warns about the dangers of anti-aging blood transfusions
It turns out that injecting old people with blood from healthy youngsters may not be the answer to health rejuvenation after all. That’s according to the FDA, which says that these claims are not only most likely junk science, but that they also pose some major health risks.