A typical robot may struggle to discover objects in its surroundings when it relies on computer vision alone. However, by taking advantage of all of the information available to it - such as an object's location, size, shape and even whether it can be lifted - a robot can continually discover and refine its understanding of objects.
Columbia Engineering researchers have developed a technique to isolate a single water molecule inside a buckyball, or C60, and to drive motion of the so-called "big" nonpolar ball through the encapsulated "small" polar H2O molecule, a controlling transport mechanism in a nanochannel under an external electric field.
Seven years ago, Duke University engineers demonstrated the first working invisibility cloak in complex laboratory experiments. Now it appears creating a simple cloak has become a lot simpler.
Scientists at the University of Manchester says that natural emissions and manmade pollutants may have an unexpected cooling effect on the world's climate by making clouds brighter.
Half the size of a paperclip, weighing less than a tenth of a gram, it leaps a few inches, hovers for a moment on fragile, flapping wings, and then speeds along a preset route through the air.
When individuals create and modify their virtual reality avatars, the hardships faced by their alter egos can influence how they perceive virtual environments.
Scientists at Princeton University used off-the-shelf printing tools to create a functional ear capable of "hearing" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.
By using light, researchers at UC Santa Barbara have managed to manipulate the quantum state of a single atomic-sized defect in diamond – the nitrogen-vacancy center – a method that allows for more unified control than conventional processes.
Quantum computing is controlled by the laws of quantum physics. Nevertheless, such technology offers the potential to perform complicated calculations, or search large amounts of data, at a speed that exceeds by far those that today’s fastest supercomputers are capable of.
Since the 1960's, participants of group riots have been viewed as rational individuals driven by a sense of injustice. However, Dr. Christian Borch claims this approach is misleading, at least in today's world.
Predecessors to dinosaurs missed the race to fill habitats emptied when 9 out of 10 species disappeared during Earth's largest mass extinction 252 million years ago. Or did they?
US residents who believe in the scientific consensus on global warming are more likely to support government action to curb emissions, regardless of whether they are Republican or Democrat.
Movement of the ring-like molecule pyrrole over a metal surface runs counter to the centuries-old laws of 'classical' physics that govern our everyday world.
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have managed to design a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.
A research team led by Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab has created a computer algorithm that simulates virtual creatures evolving their squishy, muscle-like features in order to teach themselves to walk.
A team of Harvard researchers has managed to create a type of nanoscale device capable of converting an optical signal into waves that travel along a metal surface.
Researchers are developing a new type of semiconductor technology for future computers and electronics based on "two-dimensional nanocrystals" layered in sheets less than a nanometer thick that could potentially replace today's transistors.
A team of scientists led by Austrian physicist Anton Zeilinger has conducted a potentially groundbreaking experiment with photons by closing an important loophole.
The Maya are famous for their complex, intertwined calendric systems, and now one calendar, the Maya Long Count, has been empirically calibrated to the modern European calendar.
