Which electric car is right for you? If you look at the automotive market today in search of an electric vehicle (EV), you might be overwhelmed by the different options and price ranges (and literal ranges). Though the EVs on the market offer a limited range—except for the impressive Tesla S—they are slowly improving in […]
Apple & FitBit Still Jockey for a Win in the Wearables Space
FitBit and Apple are quite competitive in the wearables market, with FitBit only growing since the company went public in June. Apple hasn’t said how many Apple watches it sold since their much-lauded release, but consumers seem to prefer the FitBit and have a better idea of what it does and how it works, Yahoo […]
Will the Internet of Things Overwhelm Both Minds and Networks?
Will the “triviality” of the Internet of Things make it too expensive to operate? This roundup shows off a collection of creative thoughts about the IoT, including Motherboard’s look at the cost of the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands. More low-power IoT networks will pop up as needed, but they’ll still come at a […]
$100k Grant Goes To Scientific Mentorship Program
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has donated a $100,000 grant to the Society for Science & the Public, finding teachers and professional mentors for low-income students interested in scientific research. Read More: How Do We Get More Kids Into STEM? The grant is designed to close the Excellence Gap, the difference between the amount of […]
Porous, Flexible Robotic Components Inspired by Plants
Today in robotics news, 3D printers use material inspired by organic structures to create smoothly moving mechanisms. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany and Harvard University use tiny chambers in a material inspired by plant cells to expand and move. Talem Technologies has been given a $70,000 grant […]
Robot ‘Supermarket’ Opening in China
A complex in China will be turned into a "robot supermarket," a marketplace and incubator where robotics developers can interact with the public, is expected to open in the city of Foshan in September. It will be located in the Shunde District, a thriving hub of industrial robotics. In other news, Boston-based Rethink Robotics will […]
STEMBox Kickstarts Science Subscription Service
A new subscription service sends science projects to young girls interested in STEM, and it needs help on Kickstarter. STEMBox was created by Cristina McAllister, a research scientist in the field of gene therapy. She wanted to combine her own interest in science with a drive to get more young girls involved in exploring science […]
Google Engineer Predicts Cyborg Brains will Turn People into Search Engines
Google is working on finding the line between human and machine. Director of Engineering Ray Kurzweil has written a book about creating machine intelligence that corresponds to the human brain. One day, he imagines, nanobots could interface directly with the brain, letting people communicate effortlessly with machines. Google has also gifted $500,000 to help Carnegie […]
Australian University Encourages Girls Studying STEM
Students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia gathered to work on an engineering puzzle – how to create a mechanical hand that could lift a paperclip and a styrofoam cup, using only household objects. These weren’t just any students, though – the program was designed to encourage more girls to explore […]
Hydrogen-Powered Toyota Has Top Fuel Efficiency But Limited Infrastructure
Toyota’s Mirai runs on hydrogen and gets the equivalent of 67 miles per gallon, but with a limited infrastructure for hydrogen-powered travel, its appeal may be limited to to curious, tech-savvy early adopters in California. The Mirai will be available for purchase this fall, with an added incentive for the $58,000 car – $15,000 of […]