View the video Get a grip. A new robotic gripping tool based on gecko feet can grab hold of floating…
New pelvic exoskeleton stops people from taking tumbles
View the video A wearable robot could prevent future falls among those prone to stumbles. The new exoskeleton packs motors…
New video camera captures 5 trillion frames every second
View the video A new video camera, the fastest by far, has set a staggering speed record. It films 5…
Speech recognition has come a long way in 50 years
Computers that hear Computer engineers have dreamed of a machine that would translate speech into something that a vacuum tube…
Winning against a computer isn’t in the cards for poker pros
In the battle of wits between humans and machines, computers have just upped the ante. Two new poker-playing programs can…
Year in review: AlphaGo scores a win for artificial intelligence
In a hotel ballroom in Seoul, South Korea, early in 2016, a centuries-old strategy game offered a glimpse into the…
Zippy new jumping bot catches air again and again
View the video Meet the robot that can do parkour. Salto, a lightweight bot that stands on one skinny leg…
Caterpillar robot uses squishy, 3-D printed legs to inch and crawl
View video A robot caterpillar can use squishy legs to sense the world. Roboticist Takuya Umedachi and colleagues designed the…
Rise of reusable rockets signals a new age of spaceflight
The era of reusable rockets is poised for liftoff. As of December 7, the aerospace company SpaceX had reported six…
Cells snack on nanowires
Human cells can snack on silicon. Cells grown in the lab devour nano-sized wires of silicon through an engulfing process…