Forget Silicon. This Computer Is Made of Fabric
The jacket can raise and lower its own hood—without chips or batteries—and might one day help disabled wearers move.
Why DeepMind Is Sending AI Humanoids to Soccer Camp
The Alphabet-backed AI firm is using virtual games to help its digital creations move more like humans.
Swarms of Mini Robots Could Dig the Tunnels of the Future
The underground excavation industry is exploring mini robots, plasma torches, and superheated gas to replace the massive boring machines now in use.
The Farthest Star Sheds New Light on the Early Universe
A cosmic fluke helped Hubble spy Earendel, a giant star at the edge of the known universe that could tell us more about what happened after the Big Bang.
This Cheetah Robot Taught Itself How to Sprint in a Weird Way
Researchers got the machine to run nearly 13 feet per second. It ain’t graceful, but this powerful technique is preparing robots for the chaos of the world.
Here Come the Underdogs of the Robot Olympics
Can a scrappy team of robotics undergrads play to win against the best-funded labs in the world? At the Darpa Challenge, it’s anyone’s game.
See Little Robots Get Swole in This Virtual ‘Gym’
The bizarre robots look like cobbled-together Tetris pieces. A new system “evolves” them to run, climb, and throw stuff better.
This Drone Uses Piercing Talons to Perch—or Snatch Things
What do you get when you slap 3D-printed raptor legs on a quadcopter? A robot that can land like a falcon to keep an eye on the forest.
This Intrepid Robot Is the WALL-E of the Deep Sea
Here’s how engineers got the car-sized Benthic Rover II to roam the seafloor 13,000 feet deep without immediately breaking down.