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Robots

Soldiers schlepping heavy gear could one day use suits like these to help them walk farther, carry more, and experience less fatigue.

This Soft Exosuit Could Help People Walk Farther, Easier

Researchers at Harvard are developing an energy-saving supersuit that you might just wear one day

A gecko uses millions of tiny hairs to cling powerfully to surfaces. A new device exploits this adaptation by using ultraviolet light as a switch.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Scientists Can Turn This Gecko-Inspired Gripping Device On or Off With the Flick of a Light

The mighty lizard inspires yet another innovation that could prove a boon to robotics and manufacturing

When Robots Take All of Our Jobs, Remember the Luddites

What a 19th-century rebellion against automation can teach us about the coming war in the job market

Isaac Asimov at age 70.

If Isaac Asimov Had Named The Smartphone, He Might Have Called It The “Pocket Computer Mark II”

The sci-fi author correctly predicted a number of innovations that have come to pass

A cow is milked by a robotic voluntary milking system.

Rise of the (Cow Milking) Robots

The largest robotic dairy farm in the United States will be up and running in Michigan next year

The Robodoc married robots and computers to revolutionize the complicated task of joint replacement surgery.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Why This Robotic Medical Device Belongs in a Museum

William Bargar and Howard “Hap” Paul revolutionized joint replacement surgery by developing a robot to do the job

Eric the robot stands tall once again

Cool Finds

Britain’s First Robot Lives Again

A recreation of the spark-spitting Eric the Robot is once again delighting audiences

Brian Helmuth and his lab at Northeastern University engineered the little black data loggers from polyester resin.

Robot Shellfish May Tell Us About Climate Change’s Impact on Marine Species

Climate scientists at Northeastern University have developed “robomussels” with sensors to track temperatures in mussel beds

Cool Finds

How Many Comedy Writers Does It Take to Help A.I. Tell a Funnier Joke?

Jokesters from Pixar and the Onion are on the case to make artificial intelligence seem more human

Who says you can't buy friendship?

Cool Finds

Toyota Hopes This Adorable Robot Will Make Japan Less Lonely

Meet your $390 best friend

The subtle and nuanced female form, as captured by Georgia O'Keeffe.

The Quest to Build the First Robotic Vagina

Your reproductive tract is a biological miracle, and researchers are trying to recreate it

Meet Octobot.

New Research

This Robot Is Soft and Squishy Inside and Out—No Wires or Batteries Necessary

“Octobot” uses a deceptively simple fuel source and inspiration from the depths of the sea

Girls get taught simple circuits, but how they decorate their robots is up to them.

Robotics Can Get Girls Into STEM, but Some Still Need Convincing

The lack of women leaders in STEM creates “a catch-22 death spiral.” Robotics teams try to change that

Winners at last year's Google Science Fair

Google Thinks These 20 Teenagers Could Change Our World for the Better

These kids from around the globe have created innovative new technologies, from malaria-testing apps to water-saving agriculture systems

Meet SwagBot, the Robot Cowboy That Can Herd and Monitor Cattle On Its Own

University of Sydney engineers have developed a four-wheeled robot to keep tabs on massive farms in Australia’s outback

A mudskipper clings to a rocky embankment.

Awkward Robots Show How Tails Propelled First Land Walkers to New Heights

A 3D-printed bot designed to move like amphibious fish suggests that the first land animals needed tails to climb slippery slopes

The FarmBot Genesis Brings Precision Agriculture to Your Own Backyard

Developed by a team from California, this machine plants seeds, pulls weeds and waters plants individually

Robot librarians might one day help human librarians track down misplaced books.

Cool Finds

This Robot Librarian Locates Haphazardly Placed Books

It’s the next best thing since the Dewey Decimal System

Cool Finds

Are the Fancy New Curling Brooms Fair? Robots and Lasers Will Help Figure It Out

So-called “Frankenbrooms” are causing tension amongst the world’s curlers

The scalding solution that pipes from the vents does not boil because of the mass of water pushing down from above.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Scientists Explore Breathtaking Hydrothermal Vents in Virtual Reality

With a high-tech remotely operated vehicle, a team is able to map a dark, hot and toxic vent field on the ocean floor

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