Want to Get Along With Robots? Pretend They’re Animals
Robotics ethicist Kate Darling surveys our history with animals—in work, war, and companionship—to show how we might develop similar relationships with robots......»»
Physicists propose path to faster, more flexible robots
In a May 15 paper released in the journal Physical Review Letters, Virginia Tech physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug d.....»»
Cats playing with robots proves a winning combo in novel art installation
Cat Royale project explores what it takes to trust a robot to look after beloved pets. Enlarge / A kitty named Clover prepares to play with a robot arm in the Cat Royale "multi-species" science/art installation . (credit: Blast T.....»»
Spiny legged 308-million-year-old arachnid discovered in the Mazon Creek locality
More than 300 million years ago, all sorts of arachnids crawled around the Carboniferous coal forests of North America and Europe. These included familiar ones we'd recognize, such as spiders, harvestmen and scorpions—as well as exotic animals that.....»»
Sea otter study finds tool use allows access to larger prey, reduces tooth damage
Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools to access their food, and a new study has found that individual sea otters that use tools—most of whom are female—are able to eat larger prey and reduce tooth damage when their preferred prey b.....»»
Fossil captures starfish splitting itself in two—showing this has been happening for 155 million years
One of the wildest wonders of nature is the ability of some animals to reproduce by splitting in half. There is still so much we don't know about this process. So the discovery of a 155-million-year-old starfish fossil frozen partway through this pro.....»»
Researchers uncover how jelly sea creatures might shape modern robotics
Scientists at the University of Oregon have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire new designs for efficie.....»»
NASA eyes levitating robot train for the moon
NASA is considering building a railway on the moon that uses levitating robots to move payloads around the lunar surface......»»
Avian flu detected in New York City wild birds
A small number of New York City wild birds carry highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, according to a study published in the Journal of Virology,. The work highlights that the interface between animals and humans that may give rise to zoonotic infe.....»»
Young whale"s journey highlights threats facing ocean animals
A young whale's journey across the Mediterranean highlights the many threats facing ocean animals, researchers say......»»
Team compares robot-assisted language learning systems and human tutors in English conversation lessons
Advancements in large language models, robotics, and software such as text-to-speech, have made it possible to develop robots that can understand language, interact physically, and communicate verbally. These breakthroughs have opened up possibilitie.....»»
Nepal"s nature threatened by new development push: conservationists
Nepali conservationists condemned on Thursday new regulations permitting hydropower and hotel projects in protected nature reserves, saying they threatened to damage the habitats of tigers and other endangered animals......»»
Milking venom from Australia"s deadly marine animals
Imagine feeling like an elephant is sitting on your chest, you can't breathe, there's a sense of impending doom and the pain is so intense you want to die......»»
Mongolia"s wildlife at risk from overgrazing
The icy peaks of Jargalant Mountain are supposed to belong to snow leopards, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 1,000 in Mongolia, but hard-pressed herders are increasingly pushing into the vulnerable animals' traditional habitat......»»
Rivian"s Q1 net loss widens to $1.45B as Illinois plant retools for lower-cost EVs
CEO RJ Scaringe said Rivian had successfully retooled its Normal factory with new robots and new parts suppliers to cut costs and increase line speed. He declined to comment on reported talks with Apple Inc......»»
Deep sea mining could be disastrous for marine animals
In a recent study published in Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, researchers of Wageningen University & Research and the University of Bergen have shown that release of deep-sea mining particles can have severe detrimental effe.....»»
Why parrots sometimes adopt—or kill—each other"s babies
Infanticide and adoption in the animal kingdom have long puzzled scientists. While both males and females of many species are known to kill the babies of their rivals to secure sexual or social advantage, other animals have been observed caring for t.....»»
Unraveling isopods" culinary secrets and why it matters for ecosystems
New research on desert isopods' dietary preferences is the revelation of the complex factors influencing their food choices. By understanding how these animals meticulously regulate their nutrient intake and prefer biological soil crusts over plant l.....»»
Identifying priorities to leverage smart digital technologies for sustainable crop production
Drones monitoring fields for weeds and robots targeting and treating crop diseases may sound like science fiction but is actually happening already, at least on some experimental farms. Researchers from the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence at the Unive.....»»
Listening to giants: The search for the elusive Antarctic blue whale
Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth, measuring up to 30 meters long and weighing up to 200 tons—as much as a Boeing 787. Yet it's the sound they make, not their size, which gives their location away......»»
Animal behavior research better at keeping observer bias from sneaking in—but there"s still room to improve
Animal behavior research relies on careful observation of animals. Researchers might spend months in a jungle habitat watching tropical birds mate and raise their young. They might track the rates of physical contact in cattle herds of different dens.....»»