Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and University of California, Irvine scientists teamed up to develop BirdBot, a robot leg that is not only energy-efficient, but needs fewer motors and theoretically, could be scaled to a large size. It was modeled after a flightless bird, or more specifically, the ostrich, and there is no motor in the foot, just a spring / cable mechanism.
Elon Musk took to the stage yesterday to showcase the latest Neuralink technology and during that presentation, a monkey appeared to type using only its mind. The experiments were performed on six monkeys, and despite not knowing how to spell, they were able to move a cursor using only their minds to arrange the pre-written words in the correct order.
Insect-like robots are military-ready, while honeypot ants are just plain fascinating. Why? They’re the world’s only ant species that make a honey-like substance, as the liquid stored inside them can be used later by their fellow workers when food is otherwise scarce.
Scuba diver Andrea Humphrey is no stranger to aquatic life, but her most recent encounter with a giant Pacific octopus was unexpected to say the least. It happened in the 3-meter (9.8-foot) water off Vancouver’s Campbell River and as she went in for photos, the creature just started crawling closer for a friendly greeting.
UK-based startup JoiPaw specializes in developing video games for dogs to help stimulate their minds and hopefully, stave off dementia. Your pets wear an Apple Health-inspired tracker that measures their health and sends alerts to their owners if any abnormal behavior is detected. If they play games on the console, a treat is dispensed when successful.
YouTuber Mark Rober has built machines to defeat scammy arcade machines, and most recently, Squirrel Maze 3.0 for his backyard Squirrelympics event. This definitely made use of his skills acquired as a former NASA engineer, as it consists of seven different events, such as a spinning balance beam as well as the long jump.
Scientists from the Curtin School of Molecular and Life Sciences have discovered a new bee species that has a dog-like snout, called leioproctus zephyr. Author of the research paper, Dr Kit Prendergast, named it after her own dog Zephyr. It’s a part of the genus Leioproctus, which consists of over 300 species of bees located across Australasia and South America.
No, these aren’t robotic insects, just real bumble bees that were recorded playing with and manipulating wooden balls. This new study placed 45 bumble bees in a flight arena where they were given the option of either walking through a clear path to reach their reward or into a colored chamber with the wooden balls.
Scientists have discovered that green tree frogs in Chernobyl are turning black to better handle radiation left from the nuclear power plant accident in 1986. Melanin is a dark brown to black pigment that naturally protects organisms from UV as well as ionizing radiation by absorbing it and dissipating the radiation energy.
Photo credit: Hemant Dabi
A camouflaged leopard typically isn’t anything to scoff at, that is unless…you’re looking at wildlife photographer Hemant Dabi’s image of one hiding in a rock and dirt mound. This defense mechanism is used to blend in with their surroundings, so much so that Dabi almost missed the animal himself if it wasn’t giving off an alarm call.