robots

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Lego Robot Builds Stuff—With Legos

Machine could theoretically self-replicate, make Lego-Terminators

(Newser) - Could this be the first step toward a robotic apocalypse? A software engineer has created a machine made of Legos that builds objects made of Legos, based on 3D models. The MakerLegoBot (see video in gallery) takes advantage of the brand's new Mindstorms set, which incorporates motors and moving parts....

Robot Beats Up Volunteers
 Robot Beats Up 
 Volunteers 
IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE
Oct 14, 2010 8:25 AM CDT

Robot Beats Up Volunteers

Researchers actually trying to create robots incapable of harming humans

(Newser) - Six Slovenian volunteers have been getting beaten up by a robot in the name of science. The men have been punched repeatedly in the arm at different strengths by said robot and rating the resulting sensation on a scale that ranges from "painless" to "unbearable." The robotic...

Team Builds Robot Skin
 Team Builds Robot Skin 
Sep 13, 2010 4:16 AM CDT

Team Builds Robot Skin

May eventually be used on robots, artificial limbs

(Newser) - Scientists have developed a new type of artificial skin, which may one day cover robots or bring sensation to prosthetic limbs. This "robot skin," or e-skin made of semi-conductor materials, is flexible and is pressure sensitive, reports the Telegraph. The findings suggest researchers may be able to build...

MIT Builds Robots to Clean Oil Spills

Tech is too late for Gulf, but may prove useful

(Newser) - A fleet of robots to clean up oil spills for us: Sounds pretty nice, right? Thanks to some smart people at MIT, we'll soon have exactly that. Researchers have developed a robotic prototype called Seaswarm that can autonomously navigate waterways, sucking oil off the surface of the ocean using super-absorbent...

South Korea Border Robots Ready to Kill

With shrinking population, S. Korea manufactures soldiers

(Newser) - Two killer robots are patrolling the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea—and they belong to the South. The robots, produced at a cost of $330,000, are equipped with surveillance, tracking, firing, and voice recognition capabilities. South Korea is using them as a test run for a...

Robot-Assisted Prostate Surgery Linked to Problems

Study finds potential issue with non-invasive surgery option

(Newser) - Men who undergo minimally invasive, robot-assisted prostate surgery were more than twice as likely to suffer from impotence and incontinence a year and a half later, compared to those receiving conventional surgery, a new Harvard study has found. Some 4.7% of those treated with laparoscopic surgery, using remote-controlled techniques,...

Surrogates : Silly But Suspenseful
 Surrogates: 
 Silly But Suspenseful  
movie REVIEW
Sep 25, 2009 10:30 AM CDT

Surrogates: Silly But Suspenseful

Bruce Willis, in weird wig, tops 'smart' sci-fi flick

(Newser) - Critics are lukewarm about Surrogates, the new sci-fi flick starring a surprisingly hirsute Bruce Willis, in which humans command tricked-out robots who do their work and play for them.
  • It's a "preposterous movie that luxuriates in its own silliness," says Stephanie Zacharek of Salon. There's a "heavy-duty
...

Sims Creator Leaving EA for Think Tank

'Stupid Fun Club' incubator will partner with video-game giant

(Newser) - The creator of The Sims is departing Electronic Arts to focus on "strange products and ideas," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Will Wright plans to work full-time at his Stupid Fun Club think tank, which develops ideas for film, games, and TV. Wright says he has already cooked...

Robots Begin Takeover of Retail Warehouses

Enslave no one, but do increase efficiency

(Newser) - The age of robots is upon us. Or at least, you might think so if you walked into one of the dozen retail warehouses currently manned by Kiva System’s robotic workers. The bots, which look a bit like a giant orange toaster, zip autonomously around the warehouse, completing orders...

Leave Space to Robots
 Leave Space to Robots
OPINION
Jan 24, 2009 2:58 AM CST

Leave Space to Robots

President Obama would be well-served by removing costly manned exploration goals

(Newser) - Barack Obama is poised to chart a new direction for America’s exploration of the final frontier, writes the Economist. While George W. Bush supported continuing manned space exploration in the tradition of the previous century, Obama is considering scrapping some of NASA’s planned upgrades to the space shuttle...

I, (Gay) Robot? Radar Rates the Androids

Just how fabulous are the robots of the silver screen?

(Newser) - Gay marriage in California and Brokeback Mountain's emergence on the opera scene all point to an America that’s "getting its gay on," writes Evan Mulvihill in Radar—including its androids. Using a 'Homometer' (0: asexual; 1: beer and steak; 5: bisexual; 10: flaming), he takes a look...

Army to Speed High-Tech Gear Into Combat

New weapons could hit Iraq, Afghanistan by 2011

(Newser) - The US Army has moved up the timetable for its high-tech weapons program, hoping to get new devices into the field by late 2010, 5 years ahead of its original schedule, Popular Mechanics reports. It’s also shifting focus away from conventional warfare tech like tanks and artillery and toward...

Home Is Where the Robot Is
Home Is Where the Robot Is
Jun 21, 2008 5:01 AM CDT

Home Is Where the Robot Is

New breed of metal humanoids can see, touch, and don't mind housework

(Newser) - A kinder, gentler, smarter Frankenstein may soon be mowing your lawn and folding your unmentionables. Manufacturers are developing a new generation of metallic humanoid that will not only carry heavy objects, but pull their weight around the house and at work, the Economist reports. These new-age robots can touch, see,...

Shuttle to Launch Giant Robot Into Space

It's 12 feet tall, and its name is Dextre

(Newser) - When the shuttle Endeavour launches at 2:28am tomorrow, it will carry what has been pure sci-fi until now: a giant space robot. After astronauts assemble it, Canada’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as “Dextre,” will roam the outside of the International Space Station completing repairs considered...

Terrifying Robot Is Ready to Massage Breasts

Business proposal lists many potential customers

(Newser) - The developer of a new robot designed to massage women's breasts is full of ideas for the gadget, reports the Gizmodo blog. Wang Wei of Beijing BUBBY Robot Technologies suggests numerous potential customers for the Breast Massage Robot, including "girls who are reaching or having reached puberty, hope to...

A.I. Will Match Human Brain in 20 Years

But nanobots in our neurons will make us smarter, too

(Newser) - One engineer and futurist says it’s only a matter of time before machines are as smart as people, and people are part machine, the BBC reports. Ray Kurzweil claims that artificial intelligence will produce human-level smarts and even emotions by 2029. Humans, meanwhile, will inject nanobots into their brains...

Robots Battle for Championship
Robots Battle for Championship
Dec 3, 2007 4:05 PM CST

Robots Battle for Championship

Tokyo's 12th Robo-One Grand Championship match

(Newser) - Robots battled for the title of world champion Saturday at Tokyo's 12th Robo-One Grand Championship match, where amateur-built bipeds competed to stay on their feet. With companies giving up on consumer robotics projects due to high costs, "the future of robotics depends on amateurs," the chairman of the...

Robots, Start Your Engines
Robots, Start Your Engines
Nov 2, 2007 12:30 PM CDT

Robots, Start Your Engines

University and research lab teams to compete on mock city course

(Newser) - Some of the most high-tech vehicles in the world will compete for big money by zipping around a race course tomorrow, all without one low-tech component—a human driver. Eleven robotic vehicles will race in a simulated city environment at a former Air Force base in California, Forbes reports. The...

Feed Me, Seymour! Lab Decodes Floral Intelligence

Plant 'brains' may help build better robots

(Newser) - Plants have signaling and response systems that could make major contributions to robotics and communications research. The controversial field of “plant neurobiology” starts from the assumption that plant biology mirrors the human nervous system—and has a lot to teach scientists and engineers, Wired reports. The head of the...

Get Ready for Robot Love
Get Ready for Robot Love
Oct 13, 2007 12:28 PM CDT

Get Ready for Robot Love

Relations with the shinier-sex 'inevitable' according to study

(Newser) - It’s a small step from Roomba to betrothed, says researcher David Levy, whose Ph.D. thesis predicts humans will have sex with and marry robots within half a century. Robots have moved from factories to homes—witness the popularity of Roomba vacuum cleaners—and are becoming more human in...

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