SeaBubbles’ new electric hydrofoil boat is the aquatic equivalent of a Tesla
What do you get if you combine Tesla-style electric vehicles, flying cars and a cool sleek water-going vessel? Probably something a bit like SeaBubbles, the French 'flying' boat startup which offers a distinctly 21st-century electric take on the classic hydrofoil. Check it out.
No faking! Doctors can now objectively measure how much pain you’re in
Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered the blood biomarkers that can objectively reveal just how much pain a patient is in. The results could not only take the subjectivity out of diagnosis, but may help battle the opioid prescription crisis as well.
Hong Kong’s vision for a smart prison is a full-blown Orwellian nightmare
Hong Kong wants to bring its prisons into the twenty-first century by introducing new wearable, location-tracking wristbands, and a robot arm whose job is to comb through poop looking for contraband. Here's how the next-gen correctional facilities plan to use their new tech.
No strings attached: This levitating lamp uses science to defy gravity
Created by Italian design studio idea3D, the Levia lamp is a cool industrial-looking lamp which boasts a levitating bulb. Looking for a table light that will dazzle visitors? You've come to the right place. Here's how you can get your hands on a Levia lamp as soon as possible.
Here’s how Facebook taught its Portal A.I. to think like a Hollywood filmmaker
When Facebook introduced its line of Portal screen-enhanced smart speakers, it wanted to find a way to make video chat as intimate as sitting down for a conversation with an old friend. Here's how its engineers tried to pull off the feat using some smart A.I. and a bit of human creativity.
A.I.-powered website creates freakishly lifelike faces of people who don’t exist
No, this isn't a missing person. It's a face generated by a new artificial intelligence on the website ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com. Just in case you needed a reminder of how freakishly good A.I. is becoming at generating realistic images of people. Here's how the A.I. works.
Photosynthesizing artificial leaf may be the air-cleaning tool we’ve dreamed of
Engineers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have invented an artificial leaf which promises to be up to 10 times more efficient than the real thing when it comes to carrying out photosynthesis. The results could both clean up our air and provide a cost-effective type of fuel.
Words are so 2018. The Peeqo robot speaks exclusively in GIFs and video clips
Move over, Amazon Echo and Google Home! Peeqo is a cute robot that will answer your spoken word questions by displaying a specially selected short video or GIF. Because, you know, it’s 2019 and nobody feels comfortable talking to one another the old-fashioned way anymore.
NASA’s ‘Refabricator’ lets astronauts recycle 3D-printed tools to make new ones
The International Space Station just received a fancy new gadget in the form of a Refabricator, an integrated recycler and 3D printer. It is designed to turn recyclable plastics into 3D printable material that can be used on long-haul space missions. Here's how it works.
With CabinSense, cars will soon know who’s riding in them and respond accordingly
What if your car could know who is sitting in every seat and customize the entertainment and safety options accordingly? That’s what Israel-based company Eyesight Technologies promises with its newly announced CabinSense in-car Occupancy Monitoring System. Here's how it works.
After a record-setting 15 years, NASA ends Opportunity rover’s tour of Mars
NASA has officially called it quits on its record-setting Mars rover Opportunity, eight months after last hearing from the lander. The space agency had been attempting to make contact with the rover since communications went dark following an intense dust storm in 2018.
Groundbreaking new technique can turn plastic waste into energy-dense fuel
The world has a waste plastic problem. Chemists from Purdue University have a potentially game changing solution: They want to turn it into a high-quality gasoline or diesel-like fuel. Here's the process they've developed to make that ambitious dream a possible reality.
Caltech’s bird-inspired robot uses thrusters to help stay on its feet
Researchers have developed a new bird-inspired robot that uses thrusters on its torso to help it stay on its feet. The resulting movement is somewhere between hovering and walking. Here's why Leonardo could solve a challenge that has been facing robot designers for years.
Forget police helicopters, California cops are using drones to spot suspects
In a joint venture involving California’s Chula Vista Police Department and drone cloud platform Cape, police drones were used to aid in the arrest of 20 suspects over the course of three months. Here's how the drones were used and what this means for their future in law enforcement.
Atomo’s ‘molecular coffee’ is brewed without needing to harvest coffee beans
Coffee beans, huh? Who needs ‘em? Apparently not the folks behind Seattle-based startup Atomo, who recently took to Kickstarter with their promise of a 'molecular coffee,' which offers the great taste of a cup of Joe, minus the need for a single coffee bean to be harvested.
This insect-sized drone can fly without any moving parts. How? Physics
Researchers from UC Berkeley have built one of the smallest flying robots ever made. Not only does the insect-scale robot boast no moving parts whatsoever, but its atmospheric ion thrusters allow it to move completely silently. Could it be coming soon to a sky near you?
Mars One Ventures’ promise of a one-way ticket to planet goes up in red dust
Mars One Ventures -- a Swiss company that once promised to establish a permanent human settlement on the Red Planet -- has filed for bankruptcy. It marks the end of a company that claimed it had big things in its future, but which ultimately fizzled under its grand expectations.
U.K. company sets a record for world’s largest 3D-printed rocket engine
U.K. startup Orbex has unveiled the world’s largest 3D-printed rocket engine. The rocket is up to 30 percent lighter and 20 percent more efficient than other similarly sized rockets. It can also better withstand high temperature and pressure. Here's how it will be used.
This oddball Japanese robot will fold your clothes and do your laundry
Hate doing your own laundry? A Japanese robotics startup, Mira Robotics, created a telepresence robot which lets you hire another person to remotely fold your clothes for you, via machine. Here's how it works and when you'll hopefully be able to give it a go for yourself.
The next big challenge for Google’s A.I. is a card game you’ve never heard of
DeepMind, the Alphabet-owned deep learning company, has previously built machines that can master games like Go. What does it think is the next big frontier for machine intelligence? Mastering a cooperative card game about fireworks, called Hanabi. Here's why it's such a challenge.
Tokyo 2020 is on track to create Olympic medals with recycled electronics
The committee behind the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has revealed that it is on target to be able to forge all winning athletes’ gold, silver and bronze medals from recycled electronics waste, consisting of discarded and obsolete electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops.
Magical new nanotube-infused fabric cools you in summer, warms you in winter
Scientists at the University of Maryland have developed a next-generation textile that's able to automatically change its properties to either trap in or release heat, depending upon the conditions. In doing so, it promises to keep us at the perfect temperature year-round.
FDA hails ‘Tumor Monorail’ that coaxes aggressive tumors away from the brain
Researchers have developed a so-called 'Tutor Monorail' which can successfully fool aggressive brain tumors into exiting the brain and instead migrating into an external container. The groundbreaking development has just received a 'Breakthrough Device' nod from the FDA.
Energy-harvesting gizmo powers medical implants using your own heartbeat
Engineers at Dartmouth College have built a tiny energy-harvesting gadget that's able to convert the heart’s kinetic energy into electricity which could be used to power an assortment of implantable devices. Here's how it works -- and why it could finally make the cyborg dream a reality.
In the future, welding robots could be controlled by operators’ thoughts
Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a brain-computer interface system that makes it possible for a person to control a welding robot using only their thoughts. Here's how it works, and why it could turn out to be useful in the workplace.
We’re another step closer to made-to-order human kidneys
Researchers from Japan have demonstrated that it is possible to successfully grow functional mouse kidneys inside rats using donor stem cells. The medical breakthrough could one day lead to human kidneys being grown in other animals and then transplanted into patients.
Smart toilet seat is flush with possibilities to monitor patients’ health
Researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology have developed a smart toilet seat that can monitor the heart health of users during their time spent sitting on it. Here's how it works, and why it could prove to be as effective as some hospital monitoring equipment.
MIT pill inflates in your gut so you can’t digest it. Here’s why that’s awesome
Researchers at MIT have developed a new ingestible smart pill which can rapidly expand into a soft hydrogel object the size of a ping-pong ball after it’s been consumed. It can then monitor your body's core temperature -- and perhaps one day other medical conditions -- from the inside.
Real-time fact-checking is coming to live TV. But will networks use it?
Forget closed captioning; how about an automated fact-checker on your TV? That's something researchers from Duke University are hoping to introduce in time for 2020's election year. Here's how it might work, and why the truth problem could be A.I.'s biggest challenge yet.
Breakthrough A.I.-powered stethoscope diagnoses pneumonia like a robot doctor
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have invented a new, 21st-century version of the stethoscope, which can help better diagnose conditions like pneumonia using some smart machine-learning technology. Here's how it works and why it could turn out to be such a game-changer.
Grab a magnifying glass and feast your eyes on the world’s tiniest walking robot
Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed what may well be the world’s tiniest four-legged crawling robot. measuring just 2.5 mm x 1.6 mm x 0.7 mm. For those keeping track at home, that's smaller than the size of an ant’s head. Check it out in diminutive action.
China’s new robotic submarine doesn’t just chase typhoons, it dives into them
Scientists in China really have developed an unmanned submarine that’s designed to travel into potentially deadly typhoons and other extreme weather types and fire off weather-monitoring rockets. Here's how it works, and what could make it such a useful weather-monitoring tool.