Our hands are a pretty major feat of evolution (opposable thumbs! dexterity!), and it's hard to artificially replicate everything they can do. Especially when it comes to super fine motor skills like picking up very flat, thin or small objects. As part of DARPA's ARM program, iRobot and collaborators at Harvard and Yale are working on versatile robot "hands" that can bear significant weight while also producing subtler gestures. Read More >>
Gone are the days when we could look at cutting-edge robots and at least take some satisfaction in the fact that the human body was still superior. It seems like DARPA is getting closer and closer to outdoing Mother Nature, this time with its ARM-H robot hand that's as impressively dextrous as it is cheap and durable. Read More >>
Well. You sort of squirt out some water. Special water from a special pouch. Then round up the biggest globule and rub it around, before wiping your hands with the special 100 per cent cotton NASA space towel. We're sure there's a better and more efficient way. Washing your hands can't always be this much fun. This is basically Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield mucking about. [YouTube] Read More >>
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