Science

Bumming rides, hitchhiking robot completes Canadian journey

By Xander Landen

A hitchhiking robot completed a 3,700-mile journey across Canada Sunday, capping off a research project that explores the relationship between robots and humans.

Watch: Harvard scientists develop tiny robots that can swarm

By Charles Pulliam-Moore

Borrowing a page out of nature’s handbook, a team of researchers at Harvard University have developed a fleet of miniscule robots that can arrange themselves into complex configurations without the use of a core artificial intelligence. Equal parts automaton and…

The internet is getting too big for its routers

By Charles Pulliam-Moore

The problem? The global routing table has just grown past the 512k mark by about 15,000, causing widespread network instability. Verizon is primarily responsible for the creation of the new entries that pushed the net over the edge, but in…

Why are so many lullabies also murder ballads?

By Jenny Marder

Judging by lyrics alone, the lionshare of lullabies are not sweet and soothing; they are dark and creepy and macabre. So why are so many lullabies murder ballads? And as it relates to their primary function -- to lull the…

NASA’s carbon dioxide imaging mission shows first sign of success

By Anna Christiansen

A NASA spacecraft dedicated to measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has achieved final orbit, producing its first science data this week.

Panda triplets born in China

By Andrew Troast

Chinese zoo officials in the southern city of Guangzhou’s Chimelong Safari Park have officially announced the birth of extremely rare panda triplets.

Robin Williams’ death rekindles questions about creativity and depression

By Colleen Shalby

Williams is not the only creative genius to have suffered from depression. That much is clear from history.

Study: More coffee may prevent your ears from ringing

By Xander Landen

Drinking coffee may prevent tinnitus, or chronic ringing of the ears, according to new research from Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston. Doctors previously thought that people with tinnitus should give up drinking coffee, in fear that caffeine may increase…

IBM Researchers develop processor modeled after the human brain

By Charles Pulliam-Moore

Using the same kind of silicon used to make traditional computer chips, the “neurosynaptic processor” is designed to distribute various computing functions associated with memory storage and communicating across more than 4,000 individual cores. When linked together, the chips…