Japan has long been the world leader in robotics research, but in recent years it's also been leading the way when it comes to cutting-edge medical technology.
Over the past 20 years, robotics have revolutionized surgery, and new innovations are continuing to push the boundaries of medicine.
Why leave home when you can send out a sexy, stylish robot version of yourself to do anything you tell it?
On an April day in Boulder, Colo., Michael Laine sat onstage in front of a large audience, struggling to hold back tears. That afternoon he was supposed to be presenting to the attendees of the Conference on World Affairs, but at the moment, Laine was finding it hard to concentrate. "Two hours ago I lost a $3 million building," he declared to the room. "And now I don't have a place to live."
Lucky 13: NASA, the U.S. space agency, is counting on it.
Picture this: The European champions and current highest-ranked soccer team in the world, Spain, are beaten 3-0...by a team of robots.
Ever wonder how your fingers can tell that silk feels different from paper, which feels different from wood?
Regrowing a fingertip cut off in an accident sounds like something from a futuristic movie. But with innovative technology developed by the U.S. Army, such regrowth is possible today.
As 3D images illuminate the viewfinder, a joystick delicately maneuvers a pair of robotic arms. It may sound like a video game, but Dr. Nikhil Shah is actually performing cancer surgery.
Scientists have trained a group of monkeys to feed themselves marshmallows using a robot arm controlled by sensors implanted in their brains, a feat that could one day help paralyzed people operate prosthetic limbs on their own, according to a study out Thursday.
Japan has long been the world leader in robotics research, but in recent years it's also been leading the way when it comes to cutting-edge medical technology.
Over the past 20 years, robotics have revolutionized surgery, and new innovations are continuing to push the boundaries of medicine.
Why leave home when you can send out a sexy, stylish robot version of yourself to do anything you tell it?
On an April day in Boulder, Colo., Michael Laine sat onstage in front of a large audience, struggling to hold back tears. That afternoon he was supposed to be presenting to the attendees of the Conference on World Affairs, but at the moment, Laine was finding it hard to concentrate. "Two hours ago I lost a $3 million building," he declared to the room. "And now I don't have a place to live."
Lucky 13: NASA, the U.S. space agency, is counting on it.
Picture this: The European champions and current highest-ranked soccer team in the world, Spain, are beaten 3-0...by a team of robots.
Ever wonder how your fingers can tell that silk feels different from paper, which feels different from wood?
Regrowing a fingertip cut off in an accident sounds like something from a futuristic movie. But with innovative technology developed by the U.S. Army, such regrowth is possible today.
As 3D images illuminate the viewfinder, a joystick delicately maneuvers a pair of robotic arms. It may sound like a video game, but Dr. Nikhil Shah is actually performing cancer surgery.
Scientists have trained a group of monkeys to feed themselves marshmallows using a robot arm controlled by sensors implanted in their brains, a feat that could one day help paralyzed people operate prosthetic limbs on their own, according to a study out Thursday.
I'm no Apple lover. Sure, I dig the design coup that is the iPod Touch, the lovely software interface of the Apple operating system, the content of the iTunes service. And I truly believe Steve Jobs is a living, breathing American genius. But Apple's hardware has always been frustratingly limited, particularly for small businesses.
Two of the best workers at Blue Chip, a manufacturing shop in Columbus, don't take lunch breaks. These model employees draw no salary, work unlimited shifts, and weld at lightning speed. Their performance isn't just superhuman it isn't human at all. "My robots are wonderful," says Steve Tatman, vice president of engineering at Blue Chip (bluechipmanufacturing.com). "Since adding them to the team, we've become more competitive and more efficient."
In the aftermath of Tuesday's tear of a space station solar array during deployment, NASA has recast its spacewalk plans for the remainder of Discovery's stay at the international space station.
How does a small liberal arts college in Maine overwhelm computing legends in the sport of canine soccer?
The United States may keep shedding jobs to foreign countries, but it cranks out new occupations like no one else. Here are just five of the hottest you can get into now.
After six weeks of strategy and sweat, a coalition of high school teams from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Nevada took the top prize at the FIRST Robotics competition, otherwise known as the "Superbowl of Smarts."
"Robot coming through. 'Scuse me, robot coming through."
If your idea of a robot is a metal-plated humanoid jerkily walking into walls then think again. Scientist are creating a new generation of "soft" machines that can change their shape and size, move in ever more agile ways and even split themselves into smaller robots.
In a packed lecture hall at Cornell University, Dr. Ash Tewari recently showed a 3D video of a robotic claw surgically removing a prostate, as medical professionals watched stoically and reporters squirmed in their seats.
From rebellious mechanoids taking over our lives to subservient droids that do our bidding, concepts of robots are often stuck in versions of fictional dystopia. But as fanciful as it seems, the issue of robot rights to protect both them and us is currently being debated by scientists and governments. But can robots ever know good from bad and what should we be more concerned about, robots abusing us, or bringing out our worst traits?
A new breed of nanobots is being designed to assist doctors by going where no surgeon or technology has gone before. Working at the scale of molecules, these micro-machines are taking their cues from bacteria and the way in which they find their way around the human body. If they are successful, they could bring about a new type of molecular surgery and a different perspective to our own inner space.
A new breed of nanobots is being designed to assist doctors by going where no surgeon or technology has gone before.
Mark Tilden was an iconoclastic figure in the world of robotics before he left the laboratory to find a mainstream market for his inventions.
A car that can drive itself is the fantasy of any designated driver, but the dream of owning a vehicle that does all the driving while you sit back and relax is one step closer to reality, as in-car artificial intelligence being developed by a team at Stanford University is ready to be used on city streets in the ultimate test of robot cars.
Posted October 16, 2006
A new telescope will give astronomers their most detailed view ever of the universe, enabling them to see back in time almost to the "Big Bang."
Robotic arms could be the future for surgery, and the future looks bright, but it won't come cheap.
Even without sailing to distant lands, modern-day scientists and researchers are charting new territory.
Heaven or Hell? In the first of a three part series CNN hears how some scientists believe the future will be better than our wildest dreams.
"What effects do you think research into genetics, stem cells, robotics and cybernetics will have on society?"
The panel for the first CNN Future Summit program is set. Originating from Singapore, the one hour program will focus on the long-term impact of research into the fields of robotics, cybernetics, genetics and stem cells.
"Will science eventually build robots indistinguishable from human beings?"
Ask a roboticist about the future and they'll tell you that in a few decades, robots will be everywhere.
How would you feel if the surgeon operating on you was a robot?
"Ultimately technology could allow even a monkey to do an operation -- the learning curve is getting shorter, the possibility of mishaps is getting smaller," says Dr. Ara Darzi of St. Mary's Hospital in London. "These [robotic] systems won't allow you to do the wrong thing."
Robots are already a part of our lives, and in the future, will fill our homes and world. We want to know what you think about the future of robotics in our world.
Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of robots. Science-fiction, so often the medium through which society explores the potential impact of new technology, has always been obsessed with robots, and some of the most enduring sci-fi characters have been robots, from R2D2 and C3PO, to The Terminator and Data.
Ever since our ancestors first started making tools, humanity has been trying to go beyond its limitations to improve on the way our bodies interact with nature.
It's Sunday night, and my wife and I are watching "The Sopranos." This is appointment television. No calls, please.
"And let's go out over the motel roof so we can get the seams ... go out a little further... alright that's good, hold there."
John Fox was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. After researching different treatments on the Internet, he elected to have laproscopic radical prostatectomy surgery -- a procedure less intrusive than traditional treatments. Here is his story:
The three newest inhabitants at the London Aquarium move like all others in nearby tanks, but the brightly colored fish are robots.
They look like big, high-tech toys. But robotic airplanes and helicopters with cameras, microphones and sensors can provide crucial information for emergency responders in the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
MIT scientists are hoping to create a "workout area" for stroke sufferers that incorporates smart therapeutic robots to help patients regain movement of their bodies.
For six young women from Spelman College in Georgia, a competition to teach robotic dogs how to play soccer has also taught them a lot about their own abilities to break down stereotypes.
The KR 500, designed to lift car parts, is sold by Kuka Robotics, Europe's largest manufacturer of automated industrial machines. In 2000 several Kuka engineers wondered aloud whether the KR 500 co...
Those with two left feet may soon be able to take ballroom dancing lessons from a partner with three wheels.
A London hospital has two new members of staff -- two robotic "doctors" that can carry out ward rounds in place of human physicians.
Here is what some of you predict will happen in the next 10 or 20 years. Got a vision? E-mail it to us at Vision. Please keep your e-mail to 100-150 words, include your first and last name and where you are from, to increase the likelihood of it being published.
We will be seeing a transition from an information economy to something called a "care" economy -- and that is quite different.
For football fans with a spare €25,000 ($32,500), German scientists have created the ultimate tech-toy -- a robotic foosball machine.
Organizers say this weekend's FIRST LEGO League World Festival might help save the planet, but for the thousands of kids putting their robots up against those of their peers, this is just plain fun.
A team of French scientists working with collaborators at the University of Michigan (U-M) and Ohio State University have created a robot that walks and balances just as a human does.
The robots at the 2005 World Expo have something to prove: that they can be human too.
British scientists are developing a tiny robot to fit inside MRI machines, which will improve the accuracy of biopsies taken to screen for prostate cancer.
The eye-popping visuals of "Robots" swirl, zing and ping right off the screen. Director Chris Wedge ("Ice Age") and his talented team at Blue Sky Studios have created an entire world populated by robots of all shapes and sizes. They've also gathered an amazing group of talented actors to give voice to their unique creations.
They gleam with a candy-colored shimmer, beautifully molded shapes of chrome and metal. Even the clunky ones have a lovingly polished finish.
A White House decision to cut funding for a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and dump the observatory into a remote stretch of ocean waters at a future date is sure to incite debate in scientific, engineering, and policy making circles.
Scientists at the University of the West of England (UWE) have designed a robot that does not require batteries or electricity to power itself.
Scientists at the University of the West of England (UWE) have designed a robot that does not require batteries or electricity to power itself.
Of the 750,000 industrial robots in use around the world, about half are developed in earthquake-prone Japan.
Like most people, all I've seen of "I, Robot" is the trailer and some commercials.
From "The Terminator" and "Lost In Space" to "Voltron" and "BattleBots," countless movies, TV shows and video games have relied on one piece of conventional narrative wisdom: Robots are really, really cool.
At the movies, the best way to stop an asteroid from wiping out Earth is to lob a few nuclear missiles at the rocky beast or blow it apart from the inside with megaton bombs.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe told U.S. lawmakers worried about the Hubble Space Telescope's future that robotic servicing of the orbiting observatory appears to be more feasible than agency officials initially believed.
Nobody won. Nobody even came close.
Of more than 100 entries, only 15 robotic vehicles, ranging from a motorcycle to a mega-military truck, made the final cut.
Move over Bionic Man and make room for BLEEX -- the Berkeley Lower Extremities Exoskeleton, with strap-on robotic legs designed to turn an ordinary human into a super strider.
I've always loved robots. An impressionable 9-year-old when The Day the Earth Stood Still hit the local movie theater, I practiced saying "Klaatu barada nikto" to keep my cigar-box-and-Erector-set ...
HERE'S the good news: American business's campaign to improve quality is paying off so well that in many areas the Japanese no longer enjoy a clear lead. Now the bad news: While the quality gap nar...
FOR A LONG TIME robots have been stuck on the factory floor, toiling away at such repetitious, brute-force chores as welding car bodies and lifting heavy steel bars. Now they're breaking loose. Lik...
THE FUTURISTIC SETTING could serve for a James Bond thriller. Within huge, bumblebee-yellow assembly plants in a pine forest at the foot of Japan's Mount Fuji, the yellow robots of Fanuc Ltd. work ...
BEHIND General Electric's factory automation headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia, rises a hill that employees used to call America's answer to Mount Fuji. The locals call it Piney Mountain. I...
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