Episode #653
News Items
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week: Tuba
Science or Fiction
-
Item #1
Fiction
Engineers have unveiled a fully autonomous robotic weeder that can target and remove individual weeds with >99% accuracy. https://www.techexplorist.com/robotic-weeders-farm-near/
-
Item #2
Science
Scientists successfully tested an implantable robot that can be used to stretch and lengthen organs such as the esophagus or intestines. https://vector.childrenshospital.org/2018/01/implanted-robot-could-help-grow-stunted-organs/
-
Item #3
Science
Scientists have developed a system of soft artificial muscle for robots that produces 6 times greater force per unit area than mammalian skeletal muscle. https://wyss.harvard.edu/artificial-muscles-give-soft-robots-superpowers/
Skeptical Quote of the Week.
‘Even when I have no power over important events in my life, I gain a feeling of control from understanding them. And I, too, have a sense of wonder. For me, discovering the workings of nature is a vibrant, satisfying experience that is both intellectual and emotional. To recognize the astronomical relationship between the Sun and the Earth, or to understand the optical phenomena that create its rosy light, does not strip the sunset of its beauty.’ —– Prof. Stuart Vyse, ‘Beleive in Magic: Psychology of Superstition’