Electronics-Free Soft Robot Has Potential for MRI, Mineshafts
Plus, an AI for diabetes platform raises millions, Ford plans to stop selling gas-powered vehicles in Europe, and Baltimore ends its controversial drone surveillance program.
Cutting the Cord
Soft robots aren’t new more flexible than the word “robot” typically conjures, they can squeeze into tighter spaces than their traditional counterparts. But soft robots have always needed some kind of heavy electronics, like circuit boards, to work, which tie them via cables and cords to other machines. But engineers from the University of California, San Diego have developed a soft robot that doesn’t need any electronics at all. Instead it runs on a lightweight pneumatic system that uses pressurized air for movement and power, giving it potential for spots where traditional robots don’t work, like mineshafts and MRI machines.
West Virginia Bill Sets Sights on Social Media Censorship
Can the government regulate information shared by social media companies during an election? According to one West Virginia lawmaker, the answer is yes. The ACLU, however, says not so fast. Shutterstock/klevo
A new West Virginia bill proposes regulations against censorship of information by social media companies during an election, with some “criminal and civil penalties depending on the nature of the violation.
Known as House Bill 3307, the legislation looks to create two things: 1) the Social Media Integrity and Anti-Corruption in Elections Act and 2) the Stop Social Media Censorship Act.
The first act would require social media companies to make election-related content on their platforms transparent and provide political parties and candidates with equal opportunities to share information online without being affected by policy- or partisan-based censorship.
Answer: Take a listen and find out. by News Staff / April 16, 2021 Shutterstock
A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found a way to put music to spiderwebs, and the result is something you have to hear for yourself. Just like spiders themselves, some people might find the tune interesting, while others may be creeped out by it.
Lead by Markus Buehler, professor of engineering, the team used artificial intelligence to recreate the sounds of the vibrational patterns that spiders use to interact with their environment. First, they would create 3D models of spiderwebs while the spiders were busy using them, such as for feeding or conducting repairs. Then they would listen for patterns in the vibrations and use algorithms to put sound to them.
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What makes this snake-like robot so special?
Answer: It can swim! Shutterstock/Andrey Suslov
If you haven’t heard of Carnegie Mellon’s snakebot, it is basically what its name suggests. A long cylindrical robot that moves much like a snake, the snakebot has been engineered to do a number of things over the years including grabbing objects and climbing sand dunes. But the university’s latest iteration of the snakebot is taking it to new depths, literally.
The Hardened Underwater Modular Robot Snake (HUMRS) was made waterproof with adapted water-resistant modules that had been used to make the snakebot resistant to non-ideal conditions in the past. The team then added turbines and thrusters to propel the bot through the water, and presto!, they had a fully submersible swimming robot.