Over the years, Germany’s Festo has engineered some incredibly cool and functional bio-inspired robots, including ones that mimic ants, butterflies, flying jellyfish, and seagulls. On March 27, the electrical automation company added to the impressive list with two new creations — a realistic flying fox bat and a somersaulting robotic spider....
Read news articleWhen the 2018 March Madness — the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament — began, Pizza Hut knew that avid fans wouldn’t want to miss a second of the games. So, for the second consecutive year, the company partnered with custom sneaker designer Dominic Chambrone, aka “The Shoe Surgeon,” to create stylish footwear that could be used to order pizzas. Dubbed Pie Tops II, the limited high-tops were available in two different colors: a red version to match Pizza Hut’s signature red logo and a more neutral tan color to emulate the pizza crust....
Read news articleLooking for a true out-of-this-world vacation? Then you are in luck. On Thursday, April 5, Texas-based start-up Orion Span announced they were taking reservations for Aurora Station, the world’s first luxury hotel in space, which is expected to launch in 2021 and begin welcoming visitors by 2022....
Read news articleExperts estimate that by the year 2050, the world’s population will swell from the current 7.3 billion to over 9.5 billion, with just nine countries accounting for half the growth. If accurate, conventional farming methods, which revolve around growing one or two crops annually, will be unable to sustain the increase in food demand. Now, some Australian scientists may have found a way to cost-effectively accelerate crop yields with a technique called speed breeding, inspired by NASA’s experiments to grow wheat in space....
Read news articleMarvel’s Black Panther superhero T’Challa, the king of East African dynasty Wakanda, is not the only one ascending to the throne. Since its February 16 release, the film has collected over $1.2 billion at the box office worldwide, making it the 14th highest grossing movie ever. It is also the fourth highest grossing superhero movie, surpassed only by Iron Man 3 ($1.215b in 2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4b in 2015) and The Avengers ($1.5b in 2012)....
Read news articleAlways wanted to be part of an important space mission? Now, thanks to NASA’s recently launched “Hot Ticket” program, you can get your “moment in the sun” — literally, by simply submitting your name. The space agency will put all the names received on a microchip which will accompany the Parker Solar Probe on its mission to observe our fiery star’s atmosphere from up close – something that has never been attempted before....
Read news articleExperts believe that the optimal time to teach kids language skills is when they are infants. Most times the task is easily accomplished with parents reading or talking to their babies. However, in some cases that is not possible due to busy work schedules or when kids are born deaf. In the latter case, parents either have to quickly become adept at sign language or risk the child facing potential learning delays in the future. Now, an adorable blue-eyed robot, a human avatar, and some high-tech neuroscience may be able to assist parents and guardians with this crucial developmental task....
Read news articleWhile we often hear of humans losing their jobs, a robot being fired for incompetence is almost unheard of. However, that is exactly what a Scottish grocery store was forced to do after its newly-employed humanoid robot proved woefully inept at performing the assigned tasks....
Read news articleFirst-time shoppers at Seattle-based Amazon Go may feel as though they are stealing. That’s because the 1,800 square-foot grocery store, which opened its doors to the public on January 22, has no cashiers or even checkout counters. Instead, as the name indicates, customers merely grab what they need and go! But before you start celebrating, the goods are not free — the cost of the purchase(s) is/are calculated electronically using Amazon Inc.’s proprietary “Just Walk Out” technology....
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