Technology, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 31, 2006

Robots of the Future: Soft and Flexible

Unlike C-3PO's hard, metallic body or the Terminator's living tissue over a metal endoskeleton, robots of the future may be entirely soft-bodied. A new research initiative is aiming to make robots mushier and more like animals in order to improve their flexibility and usefulness in areas ranging from medicine to...

Dec 31, 2006

Nosy Robots Smell Like Moths

Is it possible for a robot to follow a scent? Massimo Vergassola and his colleagues at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France think so. They have derived a new algorithm using a method they call infotaxis that is similar to the strategy employed by moths. The simplest approach to locating...

Oct 31, 2008

Was That a Real Hologram on CNN?

A live hologram-like presentation of reporter Jessica Yellin was used in election coverage on CNN. Yellin was in Chicago covering the Obama campaign, and CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was back in the studio. Yellin describes her 'hologram' experience: There are thirty-five high-definition cameras ringing me, in a ring around me,...

Jul 31, 2008

Scientists Create World's Thinnest Balloon

Scientists have created the world's thinnest balloon, made of a single layer of carbon just one atom thick. The fabric that the balloon is made of is leakproof to even the tiniest airborne molecules. It could find use in aquariums smaller than a red blood cell, through which scientists could...

Jun 30, 2008

Robot Caddy Packs Clubs, Stays Quiet

The Shadow Caddy robot is a remarkably simple technological answer to the problem of hauling your golf bag for eighteen (seemingly endless) holes. The new golf robot is operated using a transmitter; once you start it up, the robot will follow you as long as you have the transmitter clipped...

Jun 30, 2008

The Flaws of Human Flight

Man has dreamed of flying probably for as long as he could dream. Early attempts to get off the ground were frequently based on the flapping action of birds, and they were often hilariously flawed. Even today, after breaking the sound barrier and putting men on the moon, human flight...

Jun 30, 2008

New Cookware Speeds Microwaving Time

A new material designed for use in microwaves heats foods and beverages more quickly and saves energy, its inventors say. A microwave oven bombards food with microwave radiation, which is absorbed by certain molecules, including water, fats and sugars. The microwaves, powerful enough to kill viruses and bacteria, vibrate those...

May 31, 2008

New Math Tricks: Knitting and Crocheting

Coral reefs can be crocheted. The atmosphere can be knit. And a stop sign can be folded into a pair of pants. Welcome to the intersection of math and handicraft. Unexpectedly, handicraft in general, and yarn work in particular, has started to help provide answers to a wide range of...

May 31, 2008

Sea Creature Inspires Flexible Fabric

A biopolymer that switches from rigid to flexible has been created by Case Western University researchers. It mimics the structure of sea cucumbers, which are able to change their skin from soft and flexible (for getting through narrow spots) to hard and rigid (armor to protect them from predators). It...

Apr 30, 2008

Microbes Could Build 'Iron Man' Circuits

How is the Iron Man suit made? We admire the result in the movie (still number one this week at the box office); the comic book version states that the Iron Man suit circuits were created using a process called biological circuit fabrication: Micro-Scale suit tiles fabricated by genetically engineered...

Apr 30, 2008

New Robot Walks Like You

A new robot that walks like humans is one of the most advanced of its kind. Attempts to get robots moving like people typically result in very stilted gaits and limited range of motion. Human walking is really very similar to falling forward in a controlled fashion, researchers at TU...

Mar 31, 2008

Robot So Like You

MIT's Nexi robot expresses emotions the same way you do - with your highly mobile face. Nexi's head and face were designed by Xitome Design with MIT. The expressive robotics started with a neck mechanism sporting 4 degrees of freedom (DoF) at the base, plus pan-tilt-yaw of the head itself....

Mar 31, 2008

Internet Full of 'Black Holes'

You’re pounding the keyboard, double-clicking away, sighing and grumbling, but to no avail: That devilish little hourglass icon refuses to give way to the Web site you’re trying to reach. Most Internet users have encountered trouble reaching online destinations, but they often attribute the problem to their wireless network cutting...

Mar 31, 2008

U.S. Baby Meets 'Robot' Dad in Iraq

Army Staff Sgt. Erik Lloyd, who is stationed in Iraq, used a remote-controlled telepresence robot to see and interact with his family and seven day-old son in Texas. The (rather good-looking) camo-enhanced device has a live video uplink and responds to remote control. This technology has been around for quite...

Dec 31, 2007

How to Tell If You Are Addicted to Technology

They're not called Crackberries for nothing. Some people may be as addicted to Blackberries and other personal electronics as junkies are to drugs, according to John O'Neill, director of addictions services for the Menninger Clinic in Houston. These over-wired people are so focused on their gadgets, they neglect relationships with...