Watch a robot solve a Rubiks Cube in 0.637 seconds

We humans are social animals, so we take our behavioral cues from people around us. A new bit of research suggests we'll take those cues from robots, too. In their new paper entitled "The Robot Made Me Do It" (paywalled here), a group of scientists described an experiment they conducted, where subjects were asked to… READ THE REST

The "pushup robot" makes you do push-ups. See if you can deduce from the above photograph exactly how it does this. "This robot makes your life harder," writes the apparent creator. READ THE REST

From Reuters: The town of Takikawa, on the northern island of Hokkaido, purchased and installed two Monster Wolf robots after bears were found roaming neighbourhoods in September. City officials said there had been no bear encounters since. Bear sightings in Japan are apparently at a five-year high, with dozens of attacks and 2 fatals so… READ THE REST

Lots of people think they can write. But a quick check of social media posts, blogs, and even some astonishingly mainstream media outlets prove that isn't always the case. Writing isn't easy. Writing well is even harder. And, writing well on a tight timeline is tougher still. But, if you've got the talent and ability… READ THE REST

Why is the sky blue? How do birds fly? How were swear words invented if we're not allowed to say them?  If you've ever been a parent to or anywhere within a 100 foot radius of an inquisitive kid, then that's only the slimmest sample of the questions that might get posed to you on… READ THE REST

While we're by no means finished with the global COVID-19 nightmare, it's reassuring that it seems most of the world has adapted to certain difficult realities of life under the virus — one of those being the crushing shortage of medical-grade N95 respirator masks that brought U.S. hospitals and other medical facilities to a virtual… READ THE REST