Robots

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The spider 'necrobot' is used to lift up part of an electrical circuit.

Dead spiders reanimated as creepy 'necrobots'

By Harry Baker published

Researchers have turned dead wolf spiders into machine grippers that can be used to pick up a variety of objects, including other spiders, by blowing air into their lifeless corpses.

Study co-author Agnieszka Wykowska pictured with the deceptively "self-aware" robot iCub.

Human-like robot tricks people into thinking it has a mind of its own

By Harry Baker last updated

In a new study, participants became convinced that a human-like robot had achieved self-awareness. But in reality, it was being controlled by researchers.

Robot next to a needle

This sideways-scooting robot crab is so tiny it fits through the eye of a needle

By Harry Baker published

Engineers have designed a mini robot crab that can be made to walk sideways using lasers. The tiny eight-legged critter is the world's smallest remote-controlled robot.

As Pac-man-shaped Xenobot “parents” move around their environment, they collect loose stem cells in their “mouths” that, over time, aggregate to create “offspring” Xenobots that develop to look just like their creators.

Pac-Man-shaped blobs become world's first self-replicating biological robots

By Stephanie Pappas last updated

Biological robots made from frog cells can self-replicate like no other organism, by moving around raw materials to build more of themselves.

Who's a good boy?

Meet Au-Spot, the AI robot dog that's training to explore caves on Mars

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

Robotic "Mars Dogs" could use artificial intelligence and sensors to investigate the Martian surface and map hidden lava tunnels.

See spot stand.

New robot 'explorer' dog will only set you back 63 stimulus checks

By Brandon Specktor published

Boston Dynamics' robot dog 'Spot' is now for sale for a cool $74,500.

A manufactured quadruped measuring 650 to 750 microns in diameter — just a little smaller than the head of a pin — was built from amphibian stem cells.

World's First 'Living Machine' Created Using Frog Cells and Artificial Intelligence

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

Scientists used computer algorithms to "evolve" an organism that's made of 100% frog DNA — but it isn't a frog.

The red circles on this map represent seismic events, which helped floating "MERMAIDs" determine the shape of the magma under the islands.

Floating Robots Spotted a Huge Plume of Magma Under the Galápagos

By Rafi Letzter published

The discovery could help explain why the Earth isn't a huge ball of ice.

Artist’s rendering of the Europa "tunnelbot."

Scientists Proposed a Nuclear 'Tunnelbot' to Hunt Life in Europa's Hidden Ocean

By Rafi Letzter published

A group of scientists wants to send a nuclear-powered "tunnelbot" to Europa to blaze a path through its thick shell of ice and search for life.

Humanoid Robot Atlas Can Now Do Parkour and That's Not at All Terrifying

By Mindy Weisberger published

Atlas, the humanoid robot that can run like a person, recently demonstrated a few new tricks.

An illustration of the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator, in Switzerland.

No, Particle Accelerators Will Not Destroy the Planet, But Humans Might

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

"The stakes are very high"

This Machine Will Hug Your 'Soft Bodies' and Force Them to Be Twitchy Robots

By Rafi Letzter published

Say goodbye to your favorite teddy bear. It's robo-Teddy now.

Robots that measure just a fraction of an inch in length could be used in search-and-rescue operations after national disasters, or to inspect hazardous environments.

Bug-Sized Robot Competitors to Swarm DARPA's 'Robot Olympics'

By Mindy Weisberger published

Are you ready for the insect-sized-robot Olympics?

This robotic hand, developed to precisely and gently fold around sea life, snagged a soft little sea creature.

This Robot Just Wants To Hug A Jellyfish Without Committing Jellymurder

By Rafi Letzter published

Its designers hope the device will make it much easier to collect delicate animals in the ocean without hurting them.

The world's first robot citizen, Sophia speaks at the Brain Bar festival in Budapest, Hungary.

Here's What Sophia, the First Robot Citizen, Thinks About Gender and Consciousness

By Chelsea Gohd published

Can robots have gender? Sophia has an opinion.

No Vision, No Problem for This 'Blind' Cheetah Robot

By Mindy Weisberger published

Stumbling blocks don't deter this persistent — and blind — four-legged robot.

Wireless 'RoboFly' Looks Like an Insect, Gets Its Power from Lasers

By Mindy Weisberger published

A new type of flying robot is insect-sized, weighs about as much as a toothpick, and is powered by lasers.

Meet Kim, the First Spider to Jump on Demand

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

A female jumping spider went to great lengths in a leaping experiment.

Humanoid robot Atlas is on the move.

Watch Out: This Robot Could Run After You

By Mindy Weisberger published

You can run from Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot Atlas, but it wouldn't do you any good — the robot can run after you.

In its ROV mode, Aquanaut has two arms for doing work.

Former NASA Engineers Building Real-Life Underwater Transformer

By Rafi Letzter published

A transformer designed to do grunt work for the oil industry and military is coming, and it's… admittedly kind of fun to look at.