Researchers at Bilkent University in Turkey have recently created a small quadruped robot called SQuad, which is made of soft structural materials. This unique robot, presented in a paper published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, is more flexible than...
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have recently created PATRICK, an untethered soft robot that artificially replicates the structure and behavior of the brittle star, a marine invertebrate closely related to starfish. This unique bio-inspired robot, presented...
Electrical energy derived from renewable sources could be used to rearrange bonds in carbon dioxide (CO2) and water molecules into complex hydrocarbons, which can then be burnt to produce new energy and CO2, ultimately enabling a carbon cycle. Copper is a catalytic...
In recent years, 3-D printing has opened up interesting new possibilities for the large-scale production of electronic components, as well as of a variety of other objects. To this end, research teams worldwide have been trying to create materials and structures that...
Light sources and detectors are key components of countless technological devices on the market today. For instance, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are often used as a source of light in displays and other technologies, while photodiodes are used to detect light in...
Rydberg atoms, which are atoms in a highly excited state, have several unique and advantageous properties, including a particularly long lifetime and large sensitivities to external fields. These properties make them valuable for a variety of applications, for...
The global demand for rechargeable batteries has grown exponentially over the past decade or so, as they are needed to power the increasing numbers of portable electronic devices such as smart phones, laptops, tablets, smart watches and fitness trackers. To work most...
Micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) could have numerous useful applications, for instance, assisting humans in completing warehouse inventories or search and rescue missions. While many companies worldwide have already started producing and using MAVs, some of these flying...
While research in the field of robotics has led to significant advances over the past few years, there are still substantial differences in how humans and robots handle objects. In fact, even the most sophisticated robots developed so far struggle to match the object...
In recent years, lithium-based batteries have become widely used to power a wide range of electronic devices, including tablets, smart phones and portable computers. These batteries have different compartments, called cells, each of which contains a positive electrode...