Hasta La Gadget!

Just because it hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it can’t; at least that’s what a Scottish research group is hoping as it attempts to create reproductive synthetic cells made completely from metal. At this stage, the idea of sentient metallic life remains a distant sci-fi dream, but researchers at the University of Glasgow have already birthed iChells — inorganic chemical cells. These bubbles, formed from the likes of tungsten, oxygen and phosphorus, can already self-assemble, possess an internal structure, and are capable of the molecular in-and-outs expected of its biological counterparts. Researchers are still tackling how to give these little wonders the ability to self-replicate, and possibly evolve — further cementing our doom post-Robot Apocalypse. Check out our future synthetic overlord’s first steps in a video after the break.

Continue reading Scientists attempt to give spark of life to all-synthetic metal cells

Scientists attempt to give spark of life to all-synthetic metal cells originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Robopocalypse is coming — just not in the way you’d feared. DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox have joined movie-making forces to reanimate Daniel H. Wilson’s fictional (for now) literary account of a future, robot-helmed doomsday. The studios have thrown some guy named Steven Spielberg behind the lens of this cinematic cautionary tale, and plan to scare the bejeezus out of us all when it premieres July 3, 2013 — that’s if we make it past the Mayan end of the world. No casting was mentioned in the project’s announcement, so we’ll continue to cross our toes in the hopes a certain daytime show couch jumper and film star-turned-pilot don’t join in on the blockbuster fear-mongering.

Continue reading Robopocalypse coming soon to a theater near you, Spielberg to smother it in PG

Robopocalypse coming soon to a theater near you, Spielberg to smother it in PG originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You won’t have to leave your post on the couch, but you will have to lift a finger to your smartphone in order to tidy up with LG’s ‘RoboKing Triple Eye’ VR6180VMNV robot vacuum. Unlike it’s purple cousin who spends his time looking inwards, this little guy is always looking outward with its three cameras, capturing video and sending it to your smartphone or PC over WiFi. The robot uses sensors to create a plan of attack map of your home, allowing you to move it around by clicking the filthiest parts. Like a well-trained puppy, the dust buster also responds to voice commands from up to 5 feet away and it doesn’t even bark — only emitting 48dB of sound while sucking up dust. Of course, laziness of this caliber doesn’t come cheap, as it costs 899,000 Korean won, or around $840 bones.

LG launches ‘RoboKing Triple Eye’ smartphone-controlled vacuuming robot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We prefer our robots stick to the household cleaning chores, a little DJing action even, and then go right back to the closet. But, when we first glimpsed this emoting automaton from Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, our fears of the day of robot reckoning subsided slightly. The ETRI-built robot (or ETRO for short) is currently “employed” as an ambassador for human-robot relations at Daejon’s National Science Museum, treating amused passersby to outspoken professions of love backed by its LED-lit facial expressions. Originally designed as a reading robot back in 2003, version 2.0 of this humanoid helper was created with a greater cause in mind — showcasing robotics as promising Korean growth industry. Rather than let those economic concerns muddle our whimsy, let’s just focus on the AI-assisted cuteness in the video below.

Continue reading ETRO robot wears its heart on its face, promises to love you

ETRO robot wears its heart on its face, promises to love you originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aww, look! Bakebot’s soooo cute! He’s actually cooking things these days, thanks to MIT grad student Mario Bollini, who recently upped the creature’s skill level in an effort to grab more calories with less effort. Little did he know, however, that teaching a self-contained machine how to feed the future uprising wasn’t exactly the best long-term move. No, that creeping feeling of fear isn’t unwarranted.

Darren: “01001111 01001101 01000111 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001111 01001011 01001001 01000101 01010011!”
Terrence: “Bakebot’s lessons with the master chef were going so well, until his Bork to binary translator failed”
Brian: “Bakebot love kitten. Bakebot eat kitten.”
Brad: “Stephanie! Johnny no add vanilla!”
Sean: “It’s so unfair! I have eight other senses, but I’d trade them all — even smision — to be able to taste.”
Christopher: “Rachel Ray hit a wall with 15 minute meals, so we found a faster, more charismatic replacement. Meet Rachel Number 5.”
Michael: “Here I thought the robot apocalypse would be powered by nuclear fusion and laser beams, turns out it’ll be running on profiteroles and delicious cakes.”
Jon: “I’m toasting bread in my head right now…seriously”
Zach: “You want me to wear a what? Why don’t you trying sticking a fan in your scalp. Then you can tell me to wear a hairnet.”
Joseph: “How do ya like my ganache now, Martha???”
Daniel: “A robot may not injure a cupcake or, through inaction, allow a cupcake to come to harm.”
Richard Lai: “How do you like them cookies, Firefox?”
Jose: “How am I supposed to add a teaspoon of sugar with this underperforming Kinect camera?”
Kevin: “Enough with the cakes, what was Leia saying about our only hope?”
Dana: “I. Love. A. Little. Bourbon. In. My. Cookies. Don’t. You.”
Richard Lawler: “Death to all humans. Sweet, delicious, chocolatey… death.”
Don: “Just don’t call him Iron Chef. He hates that.”
Billy: “Ace of Cakes was canceled because I annihilated the host.. now I must weaponize that Millennium Falcon cake.”
Zachary: “Jobless MIT grad narrowly avoids soup kitchen, emerges from basement with replacement mother.”

Caption Contest: Bakebot learns to actually bake things, feed the looming robot army originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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