Robots

Take a Long, Romantic Walk With This Sweaty Robotic Hand

Real-life robots are still relatively primitive compared to those featured in science fiction, but that hasn’t stopped us from building bots that can take care of most of our physical needs. (Yes, including that.) In Japan, there’s even now a robot that can simulate going on a walk and holding hands with your significant other,…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Walmart To Continue Exploiting Human Workforce Instead of Robot One

The human workers whose jobs restocking the shelves at Walmart were nearly rendered obsolete by a sophisticated fleet of robots dealt a surprising retaliatory blow to the robots on Monday by, somehow, rendering them obsolete first. After a five year-long partnership, Walmart announced that it had terminated its agreement with robotics company Bossa Nova Robotics…

Tech News Brianna Provenzano

Disney Made a Skinless Robot That Can Realistically Stare Directly Into Your Soul

One of the obvious giveaways that you’re interacting with a robot is their blank dead-eyed stare. The eyes don’t connect with yours the way they would if they were, you know, human. A research team at Disney is trying to fix that using subtle head motions and eye movements that make the robot seem more…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Universal’s Battlestar Galactica Movie Lives Again, With X-Men‘s Simon Kinberg

Universal has spent so long trying to get its Battlestar Galactica movie off the ground we’ve literally had an announcement about a new TV show set in its universe that’s had time to get going with its own showrunner. But now the studio is bringing the movie back to life again, with a little help…

Movies James Whitbrook

Boston Dynamics Will Sell Robot Arm to Go With Its Robot Dog Next Year, Which Is Totally Fine

Back in June, Boston Dynamics made more than 150 units of its robotic dog Spot available for sale to outside companies and research facilities. The idea was to see what type of real-world applications those companies and facilities would use it for, and get feedback on the capabilities of Spot itself. While Boston Dynamics did…

Tech News Joanna Nelius

This Satyrlike Robot Brings Boxes to You Like a Metal Mr. Tumnus

Agility Robotics has announced a $20 million funding round for a robot that looks like a Greek myth crossed with a cyberpunk fever dream. The robot, called Digit, is designed to work alongside meat humans in environments where people congregate but that might be difficult for robots to manage. “Digit, Agility Robotics’ humanoid robot with…

Tech News John Biggs

Your FedEx Packages May Soon Arrive By Autonomous Cargo Plane

It’s 2020, and while the skies aren’t full of flying cars like we thought it would be by now, something else straight out of science fiction just got closer to reality: pilotless cargo planes delivering whatever stupid shit you ordered online. FedEx is partnering with Reliable Robotics to incorporate the firm’s unmanned aircraft into its…

Tech News Alyse Stanley

DC’s New Raised by Wolves Comic Gives More Context to Its Religious War

In HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves, humanity’s last real hope for survival lies in the existence of a group of children who are all being cared for by Mother and Father, a pair of androids programmed to be influential nurturers by the same humans whose ideological differences ultimately led to the Earth’s destruction. Though Mother…

Books & Comics Charles Pulliam-Moore

This Robotic Backpack Takes the Load Off

As we enter the fall hiking season, we may find ourselves carrying the bare necessities in a heavy backpack: a sleeping bag, a can of bug spray, a small stove, or even a case of White Claw. Until now, you and your muscles would have to lug all this junk through the woods. Now a…

Tech News John Biggs

Tokusatsu Nights Are Alright for Fighting

Giant robots are cool. Giant superheroes, too. Giant monsters? Also cool. But you know what makes them cooler? Fighting. At night. This not particularly trenchant insight came to me recently while watching an episode of the current Ultraman series, Ultraman Z. This year has, among other things, found me in the truest throes of returning…

io9 James Whitbrook

This Tiny Robo-Beetle Is Powered by Booze

Screw batteries and charging cables—2020 has been such a rough year that even the robots are turning to drink. This beetle-inspired microbot is fueled by methanol, the kind of alcohol you’d find in antifreeze as opposed to a barrel, according to researchers with the University of Southern California’s engineering department in a Science Robotics report…

Tech News Alyse Stanley

This Lightning-Fast Robotic Tongue Ensures You’ll Snatch the Last Container of Clorox Wipes

Watch any kid play with a tape measure and you’ll understand where researchers from the Seoul National University of Science and Technology found the inspiration for their new chameleon-like robot that can snag objects with its artificial tongue over 30 inches away in less than 600 milliseconds. Snatcher, as the robot’s called, wasn’t just inspired…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

In Monsters of Man‘s First Trailer, Robots Engage in Some Criminal War Games

A corrupt CIA operative and a robotics company decide to test out their new animatronic army in a remote part of the jungle. But when it turns out some American doctors have seen their crimes, it becomes a race to survive so the truth can be known. io9 can exclusively reveal the first trailer for…

Trailers Beth Elderkin

This Case Gives Your Phone Robotic Legs So It Can Crawl to a Wireless Charging Pad

By now our brains are all wired with smartphone battery anxiety, and panic starts to set in when power drops below 50%. In one of the more bizarre ways to keep those stresses at bay, a team of researchers have developed a new smartphone case with a set of tiny robotic legs that allow a…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

This Little AI-Powered Robot Pet Is So Cute It Hurts

I’m not sure if Moflin is supposed to be a robotic hamster, guinea pig, baby bunny, or some alternate take on a Tribble, but goddamn this robo-pet is cute. Launched as part of a Kickstarter campaign from Vanguard Industries that went live earlier this week, Moflin looks to follow in the steps of Sony’s Aibo…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

The Chip That Can Smell Can Now Help Robots Feel Touch

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have created an artificial robot skin that can process touch 1,000 times faster than humans can, according to Engadget. The skin is powered by Intel’s neuromorphic research chip, Loihi, which Cornell University researchers were able to program to recognize the scent of hazardous chemicals a few months…

Tech News Joanna Nelius

Take a Brief Vacation From Reality With These 6 Short Sci-Fi and Horror Films

Dreaming of other planets, other realities, or other timelines? So far, 2020 has us wishing we could be literally anywhere else. Here’s a temporary escape hatch: these awesome new short films, all of which share glimpses of a future where so much more has gone wrong. At least we aren’t there… yet? 1) Triangulation We’ve…

Movies Cheryl Eddy

Teaching Robots There Are No Toilets in the Kitchen Makes Them Better at Navigating a House

If you’re visiting a friend and find yourself sleepily stumbling through their house in the middle of the night, basic common sense tells you that if you see a fridge, you’re probably in their kitchen. But a toilet? More than likely you’re in a bathroom. It’s a common sense approach to navigation that robots are…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Researchers Created Tiny Camera Backpacks for Beetles

Every year, companies like GoPro manage to pack more and more functionality into smaller and smaller action cameras that are less obtrusive to wear. But a team of researchers from the University of Washington has managed to build a live-streaming wireless camera that’s so small even an insect can wear it. The camera, developed at…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Grant Imahara, Mythbusters Host and Star Wars Roboticist, Dies at 49

Grant Imahara, cohost of the wildly popular TV show Mythbusters, died on Monday at the age of 49, according to a report from the Hollywood Reporter. The cause of death was reportedly a sudden brain aneurysm. Trained in electrical engineering, Imahara worked at George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic during the 1990s and 2000s, building…

Tech News Matt Novak

Take a Long, Romantic Walk With This Sweaty Robotic Hand

Walmart To Continue Exploiting Human Workforce Instead of Robot One

Disney Made a Skinless Robot That Can Realistically Stare Directly Into Your Soul

Universal’s Battlestar Galactica Movie Lives Again, With X-Men‘s Simon Kinberg

Boston Dynamics Will Sell Robot Arm to Go With Its Robot Dog Next Year, Which Is Totally Fine

This Satyrlike Robot Brings Boxes to You Like a Metal Mr. Tumnus

Your FedEx Packages May Soon Arrive By Autonomous Cargo Plane

DC’s New Raised by Wolves Comic Gives More Context to Its Religious War

This Robotic Backpack Takes the Load Off

Tokusatsu Nights Are Alright for Fighting

This Tiny Robo-Beetle Is Powered by Booze

This Lightning-Fast Robotic Tongue Ensures You’ll Snatch the Last Container of Clorox Wipes

In Monsters of Man‘s First Trailer, Robots Engage in Some Criminal War Games

This Case Gives Your Phone Robotic Legs So It Can Crawl to a Wireless Charging Pad

This Little AI-Powered Robot Pet Is So Cute It Hurts

The Chip That Can Smell Can Now Help Robots Feel Touch

Take a Brief Vacation From Reality With These 6 Short Sci-Fi and Horror Films

Teaching Robots There Are No Toilets in the Kitchen Makes Them Better at Navigating a House

Researchers Created Tiny Camera Backpacks for Beetles

Grant Imahara, Mythbusters Host and Star Wars Roboticist, Dies at 49

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Countdown to the Moon 🔴

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