Last year, researchers in the US created the world’s first living machine, called xenobots. Composed of bundles of stem cells from the African clawed frog (xenopus laevis), the new life form was programmed to accomplish tasks and move microscopic objects around. Now, they can reproduce. “One [xenobot] parent can begin a pile and then, by chance, a second parent can push more cells into that …
With 250+ parts, this robot kit (intended for children age 10 and over) is perfect for aspiring engineers and DIY enthusiasts. Kids will learn spatial reasoning and engineering knowhow while building their robots, which can be assembled, dismantled and recreated over and over. Beyond practical skills, children will develop their imaginative and creative abilities, too. Entirely solar-powered, there are no batteries needed—just sunshine and an …
Last week at the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, Aidan Miller unveiled the world’s first highly-realistic humanoid robot artist, Ai-Da, who wrote poetry inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. Using algorithms programmed with Dante’s epic, the robot integrated his speech patterns alongside her lexicon of vocabulary to produce her own deeply moving work. The poetry debuted in conjunction with Eyes Wide Shut, an exhibit on surveillance, which …
