Stories

Many of our daily activities involve our hands’ prehensile abilities. While able-bodied people don’t think twice when using a spoon or lifting a glass, these actions are nearly impossible for someone unable to grasp things with their fingers.

NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), a sort of GPS system for space, relies on atomic clocks for extreme accuracy. Any modern navigation system must accurately time radio signals to triangulate a location. But the need for accuracy is even higher in space, where great distances can compound even tiny errors.

Northwestern University engineers have developed the smallest-ever remote-controlled walking robot — and it comes in the form of a tiny peekytoe crab.

A more accurate, less-invasive technology allows amputees to move a robotic arm using their brain signals instead of their muscles. Researchers have created a small, implantable device that attaches to the peripheral nerve in a person’s arm. When combined with an artificial intelligence...

Imagine a more sustainable future, where cellphones, smartwatches, and other wearable devices don’t have to be shelved or discarded for a newer model. Instead, they could be upgraded with the latest sensors and processors that would snap onto a device’s internal chip — like LEGO bricks incorporated into...

Researchers have discovered a single-molecule switch that can act like a transistor and store binary information. The molecule is around five square nanometers in size — more than one billion of them would fit onto the cross-section of a human hair.

It is 5 p.m., and you arrive home from work when it is peak demand for the grid. Your electric vehicle (EV) is 50% charged — you could either plug it in and charge right away or, if it works for your plans, schedule the vehicle to charge at a better time for the grid.

A group led by Jane Wang, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the Cornell University College of Engineering, has untangled the intricate physics and neural controls that enable dragonflies to right themselves while they're falling.

Researchers have developed a camera-like imaging device that can be inserted into blood vessels to provide high-quality 3D images to help scientists better understand the causes of heart attack and heart disease progression and could lead to improved...

Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g., prosthetic limbs).