Universal robotic gripper - StumbleUpon Robert Barker/University Photography The human hand is an amazing machine that can pick up, move and place objects easily, but for a robot, this "gripping" mechanism is a vexing challenge. Opting for simple elegance, researchers from Cornell, the University of Chicago and iRobot Corp. have created a versatile gripper using everyday ground coffee and a latex party balloon, bypassing traditional designs based on the human hand and fingers. They call it a universal gripper, as it conforms to the object it's grabbing, rather than being designed for particular objects, said Hod Lipson, Cornell associate professor of mechanical engineering and computer science. The research is a collaboration between the groups of Lipson, Heinrich Jaeger at the University of Chicago, and Chris Jones at iRobot. John Amend The robotic gripper conforms to the shape of the item it is lifting. "This is one of the closest things we've ever done that could be on the market tomorrow," Lipson said.
Deadly Leopard Seal Tries to Feed Live Penguins to Photographer (Video) "Bloody Hell! That's the biggest leopard seal I've ever seen!" Leopard seals are pretty scary predators, especially if you're a penguin. The Seal Saw Him as a Useless Predator Here's is a video of Nicklen explaining what happened, with many incredible photos. For more photos by Paul Nicklen, check out his website. See also: Beijing Zoo Puts their Animals on the Menu
Caltech scientists first to trap light and sound vibrations together in nano... PASADENA, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a nanoscale crystal device that, for the first time, allows scientists to confine both light and sound vibrations in the same tiny space. "This is a whole new concept," notes Oskar Painter, associate professor of applied physics at Caltech. Indeed, Painter points out, the interactions between sound and light in this device—dubbed an optomechanical crystal—can result in mechanical vibrations with frequencies as high as tens of gigahertz, or 10 billion cycles per second. "And all of this," he adds, "can be done on a silicon microchip." Optomechanical crystals focus on the most basic units—or quanta—of light and sound. What hadn't been done before was to put those two types of crystals together and see what they are capable of doing. "We now have the ability to manipulate sound and light in the same nanoplatform, and are able to interconvert energy between the two systems," says Painter.
How Jellyfish Work" Jellyfish are probably some of the most unusual and mysterious creatures that you'll ever encounter. With their gelatinous bodies and dangling tentacles, they look more like something from a horror movie than a real animal. But if you can get past the weirdness -- and the fact that getting too close to one results in a nasty sting -- you'll discover that jellyfish are pretty fascinating. In this article, we'll learn all about these mysterious animals and find out what to do if you do happen to get in the way of a stinging jellyfish tentacle. Marine Life Image Gallery Jellyfish live mainly in the ocean, but they aren't actually fish -- they're plankton. Jellyfish are also members of the phylum Cnidaria, (from the Greek word for "stinging nettle") and the class Scyphozoa (from the Greek word for "cup," referring to the jellyfish's body shape). Jellyfish are about 98 percent water. A jellyfish's body generally comprises six basic parts: Several dozen jellyfish larvae can hatch at once.
Extraordinary lightning sprites discovered striking other planets, not just... By Daily Mail Reporter Updated: 17:29 GMT, 22 November 2011 It was only a couple of decades ago scientists discovered the existence of upwards lightning or ‘sprites’ 30 to 55 miles above the surface of the Earth. And now researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered 'sprites' are not a phenomenon specific to our planet. Jupiter and Saturn experience lightning storms with flashes 1,000 or more times more powerful than those on Earth, says researcher Daria Dubrovin. Extraordinary: This sprite, or upwards lightening, was created in a bottle after recreating the conditions of Jupiter As offshoots of electric discharges caused by lightning storms, sprites are a valuable window into the composition of our atmosphere. Researchers are keen to know more about the possibility of lightning on other planets, explains Dubrovin, not only because it impacts the technological equipment used by space programs, but because it is another clue that could indicate the presence of extra-terrestrial life.
New Week Nudibranch! - Blue Dragon image credit: redbubble.com image credit: nectonsub.com.br image credit: the doubtful guest image credit: | Dan | image credit: redbubble.comHabitat: around the world in temperate and tropical waters I’ve decided to start a tradition that every Monday I will post a new species of nudibranch. This particular one I’ve chosen to feature is commonly known as a Blue Dragon nudibranch. So what do you think? edit: reader Gabriele has pointed out another common name for this nudibranch – the Sea Swallow! Be sure to check out the Home page for more crazy creatures! Kilobots - tiny, collaborative robots - are leaving the nest (w/ video) (PhysOrg.com) -- The Kilobots are coming. Computer scientists and engineers at Harvard University have developed and licensed technology that will make it easy to test collective algorithms on hundreds, or even thousands, of tiny robots. Called Kilobots, the quarter-sized bug-like devices scuttle around on three toothpick-like legs, interacting and coordinating their own behavior as a team. A June 2011 Harvard Technical Report demonstrated a collective of 25 machines implementing swarming behaviors such as foraging, formation control, and synchronization. Once up and running, the machines are fully autonomous, meaning there is no need for a human to control their actions. The communicative critters were created by members of the Self-Organizing Systems Research Group led by Radhika Nagpal, the Thomas D. "Plus," he adds, "tiny robots are really cool!" So, what can you do with a thousand tiny little bots? Explore further: Can robots have social intelligence?
Amazing jellyfish lake Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake located on Eil Malk island in Palau. Eil Malk is part of the Rock Islands, a group of small, rocky, mostly uninhabited islands in Palau’s Southern Lagoon, between Koror and Peleliu. It is notable for the millions of golden jellyfish which migrate horizontally across the lake daily. photo source Jellyfish Lake is connected to the ocean through fissures and tunnels in the limestone of ancient Miocene reef. photo source Two species of scyphozoan jellyfish live in Jellyfish Lake, moon jellyfish and the golden jellyfish. photo source The golden jellyfish are most closely related to the spotted jellyfish that inhabit the nearby lagoons. photo source The moon jellyfish were identified as Aurelia aurita by Hamner. photo source photo source photo source photo source
Scientists Develop World's Lightest Metal, 100x Lighter than Styrofoam... This, we assure you, is a real photograph. Researchers at the University of California Irvine have developed a material that is as strong as metal yet 100 times lighter than Styrofoam. The material is constructed from a micro-lattice of nickel phosphorous tubes that is 99.9% air. “Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture,” said William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL. The new metal’s lattice work does more than make it lightweight, it allows the material to be extremely resiliant.
controlled-kinect-new-tele-operated-cleaner-bot-picks-clutter from popsci.com A new household servant robot made by the world's largest manufacturer of industrial 'bots can help people with disabilities or limited mobility move things around. It's controlled via Kinect, with the robot aping the Kinect user's body gestures. Yaskawa Electric wants its SmartPal VII to live in the homes of elderly people, where it can assist with everyday clutter maintenance and a host of other tasks. The robot follows a Kinect user's hand movements, but it figures out on its own how to mimic them by moving its waist, wheels and arm. Check it out below, and see if you can find the creepy-looking cardboard grandma watching over the whole thing. [DigInfo via IEEE Spectrum]
Heads Up, Hoverboarders: Here Comes Quantum Levitation | Motherboard - StumbleUpon Few motifs of science fiction cinema have been more appealing to us than the subtle defiance of gravity offered by futuristic hovercraft. So every once in a while we check in to see how humanity is progressing on that front, and whether the promise of hoverboards will be delivered by 2015 as evidenced in Back to the Future Part 2. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re definitely getting off the ground, so to speak. Get ready to hover your brain around the art of quantum levitation. That’s right, quantum. Because of its chemical properties, a superconductor (when brought to low enough temperatures using, say, liquid nitrogen) exhibits this effect, causing the energy from the magnet below to warp around the superconductive object in a way which “locks” it in space. Even more impressive and ripe for practical transportation use: When the superconducting object is placed along a magnetic rail, it exhibits frictionless momentum. Connections:
Robot Skin Can Feel Touch, Sense Chemicals, and Soak Up Solar Power | Fast... When you meet your robot overlord, it may be wearing super-intelligent skin designed by a Stanford researcher--a solar-powered, super-sensitive, chemical-sampling covering that makes your meatbag covering look pathetic. Zhenan Bao is behind the advances, and the recent development centers on a stretchable solar cell system that can expand and shrink along two different axes, making it perfect for incorporation into artificial skin for robots, human prosthetic limbs, or even clothing. Bao's earlier successes with artificial skin have resulted in a highly flexible and durable material, which is part of a flexible organic-chemistry transistor, built on a thin polymer layer. When the skin is subjected to pressure, the current flowing through the transistors is modified as tiny pyramid shapes molded into the polymer layer compress, resulting in a super-sensitive transducer that can apparently detect the pressure from a house-fly's feet.