This groundbreaking bionic eye system restores lost vision with a retina chip
Clinical trials of a pair of smartglasses designed to help legally blind people to see again are currently taking place in the United States. The breakthrough glasses feature an embedded camera, which beams visual information to a microchip implanted in the wearer’s retina.
Smart assistive driving tech allows one truck driver to control multiple trucks
Connected vehicle company Peloton Technology has developed some impressive new assistive driving technology that allows one driver to control multiple trucks at the same time. Here's how it works -- and why it could turn out to be a game-changer for the trucking industry.
Deepfake-hunting A.I. could help strike back against the threat of fake news
Deepfakes are an amazing use of A.I. technology in action. They're also a terrifying glimpse at the future of fake news. At Drexel University, researchers have developed a neural network which can spot these manipulated images with a high degree of accuracy.
SpaceX’s latest resupply launch to the ISS was a success against the odds
SpaceX’s latest resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been a resounding success, as one of Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rockets took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Thursday afternoon, one day after the company had to scrap the launch due to poor weather
Ingredient found in red wine could help astronauts thrive on the Red Planet
How do future astronauts cope physically with a potentially nine-month journey to Mars in a cramped spacecraft, followed by extended periods on the Red Planet? Wine. Lots of wine. Well kind of. A new study suggests that an ingredient in wine could keep Mars astronauts healthy.
Bill Nye’s Lightsail 2 is ready to surf through space on solar winds
LightSail 2, a crowdfunded spacecraft launched by Bill Nye the Science Guy’s nonprofit Planetary Society, has unfurled its solar sail in space. In doing so, it demonstrates the feasibility of so-called solar sailing, in which a spacecraft orbits the Earth using sunlight as its fuel.
Clever new haptic vest could let rescue dogs take commands from miles away
Researchers in Israel have developed a haptic vest for dogs. It allows owners to communicate instructions to their pooch through specific vibration patterns. In doing so, it could be possible to communicate information to dogs in scenarios when other forms of communication are not available.
Harvard University has a bold new plan to make Mars livable for humans
Want to live on Mars? Researchers from Harvard University have a bold new way to make it happen. They suggest that an insulating material, referred to as a silica aerogel, could be used to make growing plants on Mars feasible. Here's why it makes more sense than many proposals.
Prepare for liftoff! Here are all the moon missions happening in the next decade
Fifty years after the Apollo 11 mission first put astronauts on the moon, the next 10 years is looking poised to be the most significant period in lunar history in decades. What do we have to look forward to? Here, we outline what the next decade looks like as the Space Race heats up once again.
A.I. cameras could help stomp out wildfires before they become disastrous
This summer marks one year since California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire season ever. Could cutting-edge technology help avoid future incidents? The folks behind Bee2FireDetection certainly believe that it can. They’ve developed technology aimed at helping spot fires earlier.
Trippy VR demo reads your brain waves to create sleep-inducing visuals
Struggle to get to sleep at night? Researchers in the Exertion Games Lab at Australia’s RMIT University have been experimenting with ways to combine a person’s brain activity with virtual reality headsets to create a kind of VR lullaby machine. Here's how it works -- and what's next.
Implant restores sight in blind patients by beaming images directly to the brain
Engineers have developed a new neural implant which could help completely blind people by bypassing non-functioning optical nerves and inputting images directly into their brain. It has already resulted in partial sight being restored to six participants in an experimental study.
IBM’s Wimbledon-watching A.I. is poised to revolutionize sports broadcasts
IBM has developed a smart artificial intelligence with an appreciation for what makes a great tennis match. On display at the recent Wimbledon, it was used to create highlights packages. Here's how IBM developed it -- and why tools like it are the future of sport broadcasting.
Genetically modified plants could help get to the root of climate change
Salk Institute researchers have been investigating ways to engineer plants so that they grow with more robust and deeper roots, capable of storing increased amounts of carbon underground for longer. This could reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Here's what they have done.
It sounds like utter madness, but you can now buy a flamethrower drone
The TF-19 WASP Flamethrower Drone is a quadcopter attachment for commercially available drones which, according to its creators, 'allows users to ignite aerial and ground targets from miles away.' It's available to buy starting tomorrow. Now what could possibly go awry?
MIT’s new drone can hover like a quadcopter, soar like a plane
Researchers at MIT have developed a new type of drone which can turn on a dime from hovering like an ordinary quadcopter to swooping and gliding like a fixed-wing airplane. In doing so, it could solve some of the biggest challenges which exist with modern drones. Here's how.
Like the real thing, this robot ant colony is more than the sum of its parts
Researchers from Switzerland's EPFL institute have built a robot ant colony, consisting of tiny 10-gram robots which are able to communicate with one another, assign roles among themselves, and work together to complete tasks. Here's why they could prove to be so useful.
Stallone in Terminator 2? How one deepfake prankster is changing cinema history
Ever wanted to see The Shining with Jim Carrey instead of Jack Nicholson? How about Stallone in Terminator 2: Judgement Day? Thanks to the unnerving magic of deepfake AI technology, this kind of fantasy recasting is now possible -- as one creator ably demonstrates.
Bacteria could help mass-produce wonder material graphene at scale
Researchers from the U.S. and the Netherlands have figured out a way to produce wonder material graphene by mixing oxidized graphite with bacteria. Their method is cost-efficient, time-efficient, and sustainable -- and may just make graphene a whole lot more available in the future.
MIT whiz kids got a robot to take on the viral #BottleCapChallenge
What do the ultra-smart students at MIT CSAIL think about when they’re not hard at work? It turns out that it’s much the same stuff the rest of us ponder: namely, the latest silly viral meme challenge. Unlike us, however, they've managed to get a robot to take a shot at it.
Scientists use bounced lasers to determine whether a glass of water is pure
Scientists from the University of Missouri and Mexico’s Universidad de Guanajuato have come up with a high-tech way to work out whether water is pure using bounced lasers. The approach involves using a tattoo removal laser machine to flash out a series of brief bursts of light.
Move over, Spot. Anymal is a four-legged dog robot with all kinds of new tricks
Boston Dynamics isn’t the only company building impressive dog robots. Swiss robotics company Anybotics has also created its own quadruped robot -- and it's pretty darn impressive. Here's what it's capable of, and the kinds of jobs that it excels at performing.
U.K. military is getting serious about lasers and other energy weapons
The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense is cranking up its investment into cutting-edge laser weapons in an effort to revolutionize the battlefield for the 21st century. Here is what you can expect from the next generation of laser and radio frequency directed-energy weapons!
This wearable sensor sips sweat to work out whether a person is dehydrated
A new smart sensor can tell whether a person is becoming dehydrated by analyzing the potassium and sodium in their sweat. Here's how it works -- and how it could be a possible game-changer for everyone from athletes to soldiers to those individuals who work outside jobs.
Researchers have built a robot whose sole mission in life is to pick lettuce
Researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Cambridge have developed an A.I.-powered robot that’s able to identify and pick iceberg lettuce. It joins the growing number of robots that are designed to help harvest fresh produce, ranging from strawberries to cucumbers.
Amazing smart glass can recognize numbers, no added tech required
What if it was possible to carry out facial recognition using just an ordinary piece of glass, with no added sensors or other tech? It sounds crazy, but that’s exactly what researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been working to bring to life. Here's how it works.
Japanese researchers use deep learning A.I. to get driftwood robots moving
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have figured out a way to take everyday natural objects and get deep reinforcement learning algorithms to figure out how to make them move. Here's how they did it -- and why it's such an exciting development for robotics as we know it.
This robot arm for a wheelchair does everything from open doors to apply makeup
Canadian tech company Kinova Robotics has developed a lightweight, carbon fiber robotic arm which attaches to wheelchairs. Boasting three fingers and six degrees of freedom, it can be used for carrying out a wide range of everyday tasks that a lot of would take for granted.
What’s that liquid? IBM’s flavor-identifying ‘e-tongue’ will tell you
Computer scientists at IBM Research have developed an A.I.-assisted e-tongue. The sensor-filled portable device promises to identify different liquids based on their taste alone -- whether that's bottled water, raw materials or, err, bodily fluids. Here is how it works.
Animal-A.I. Olympics will test bots against the latest animal intelligence tests
The Animal-A.I. Olympics is a competition open to everyone which aims to test top artificial intelligence agents by putting them through cognition tests designed for animals. Here's what you need to know about it -- including the all-important details about how to enter.
Neuroscientists discover the part of the brain behind the uncanny valley effect
Neuroscientists and psychologists in the U.K. and Germany have identified the exact part of the brain in which the 'uncanny valley' phenomenon takes place. Here's how they demonstrated it -- and why the instinct to be creeped out by humanoid robots is an important part of our evolution.
Amazon worker’s A.I.-powered cat flap stops his pet from bringing in dead animals
To stop his pet cat Metric bringing dead animals into the house, Amazon employee Ben Hamm rigged up an A.I.-powered cat flap, connected to a smart camera and locking system. Here's how it works -- and how you can go about building your own version if you're so inclined.