The Grumpy Owl

So humans can invent a fleet of  autonomous solar-powered, sea-swarm robots made “with ultra-light nanowire mesh that can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil” and use these to clean up an oil spill in 30 days but we can’t figure out a way to actually use solar power to meet our energy [...]

There’s a new PR video for the Geminoid F robot that was released in April . Built by the famous Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, this robot is a cheaper version of previous fembots.  It costs $110,000 and, while it purports be an exact replica of this woman, it cannot walk. I, for one, wonder [...]

Zurich researchers have created hexagonal robots that can dock together on ground and and fly in a connected swarm.  The Distributed Flight Array Robots (PDF) use magnets to dock and propellers to fly.  Their altitude is  controlled by having a human in bright yellow gloves catch them when they go too high.  When moving, they [...]

Since the ocean will be completely made of oil sometime in the next couple of weeks, it’s a good thing that we’ve rendered fish obsolete.  Researchers have developed a robot fish to direct their primitive, meat counterparts. “The new robot fish will be able to help steer schools of fish away from hydroelectric turbines, oil [...]

For $15,000 your office can buy a robot that any employee can then log into and manoeuvre.  It can attend meetings for you while you sit at home, surfing porn and tweeting in your cheesie stained underwear.   You look through its eyes and it displays a live webcam of your face. Not a bad idea. [...]

German scientists have discovered that household robots with knives are more dangerous than robots without them.  Not so surprising,  Everything is more dangerous with a knife attached. Like, a shark is dangerous but a shark covered in knives?  That’s crazy dangerous. Even non-dangerous things, like Teddy Bears, become more dangerous when knives are attached. The [...]

pc nicked from here By 2015, Japanese business group SOHLA, hopes to put a humanoid robot on the moon.  They plan to use a bipedal robot but it’ll be pretty tough.  Even on Earth, bipedal robots are clumsy.  So why go to the trouble? SOHLA board member Noriyuki Yoshida explains: “Humanoid robots are glamorous, and [...]

KRAFTS BY CHRISTOPHER GOLEBIOWSKI on yay!everyday.

The Russians want to build a gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea.  There’s just one little problem:  There’s still over 150,000 unexploded WW2 bombs in that sea. Enter the robots. pic nicked from here Bactec Int. has been contracted to clear the Baltic Sea of the 70 mines that block the pipeline. “When the robot [...]