There’s an old jargon term I love: “technical butt sniffing,” which is when two geeks size up each others technical mojo. This vid brings a whole new meaning to the term, as two bio-mechanical critters, one dog and one crab, try to determine who has more DOF. [via]
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Here’s an episode of EngineeringTV featuring a gecko-inspired wall-walker being developed at Carnegie Mellon University. Waalbot Wall Climbing Robot
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This “AirJelly” floating mechanical creature is a joy to watch: AirJelly houses two lithium-ion polymer accumulator batteries rated at 8 V and 400 mA, which can be completely charged in half an hour and are AirJelly’s sole source of power. A connected central electric drive unit transmits the force to a bevel gear wheel and […]
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Lenore, of Evil Mad Scientist Labs, glimpses the pattern that connects in a spool of monolithic capacitors: These capacitors… exhibit the opposite spirals of phyllotaxis that are probably most familiar from the face of a sunflower. Who knew capacitors could be so lovely? Electronic Phyllotaxis
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From New Scientist: This could just be the first of many battles to come between natural flying predators, and man-made flyers inspired by nature. Robotic dragonfly toys made by WowWee Robotics are being snatched by birds of prey. One boy had his grabbed by a Red-tailed hawk not long after unwrapping one on Christmas day. […]
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