This bit of robotics from the folks at Spacebit is known as "The Walking Rover". It's effectively a moon spider - albeit with 4 legs instead of 8, and a box-like body of metal rather than organic. It's powered by the sun via solar panels and stores energy on rechargeable batteries. It weighs around 1.3kg, works with Swarm Intelligence, is part of a Modular Robotics Platform, and it can jump.
Researchers have been working for more than ten years to create an artificial retina that might help the blind see again. Researchers from Stanford University may have found a solution to one of the most limiting issues with designing an artificial retina that can be implanted into the eye - heat. An artificial retina has a very small computer chip inside that has metal electrodes sticking out of it.
An aerodynamic bicycle has been used to set world records for top speed for cyclists. The bike was designed using software from a company called Neural Concepts, a spin-off of the Computer Vision Laboratory in the EPFL School of Computer and Communication Sciences. On September 13, a new world record for women's cycling speed was set.
Scientists have been studying a structure on the surface of Venus called the Ovda Fluctus lava flow. The study shows that the lava flow is made of basaltic lava and weakens any notion that Venus might have once had an Earth-like climate with oceans of liquid water. Past studies have suggested that Venus might have once been warm and wet based on the chemistry of its atmosphere and the presence of highlands.
NASA has announced that its ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) spacecraft has successfully launched and arrived in orbit. ICON is a first-of-its-kind mission that is meant to study a region of space known as the ionosphere. This region of space is important because it can change, and those changes can disrupt communications and satellite orbits.
If you're looking for a way to help experts make an impact on our planet, the ESA has pointed toward Lost at Night, a project that needs the public's help identifying areas of light pollution captured in images taken from space. The project intends to raise light pollution awareness, and it is now asking the public to help researchers in this field by cataloging the images.
Scientists have been trying to understand what they describe as a recycling process inside the Milky Way. Supernovas and stellar winds blow gas out of the galactic disc, but that gas falls back onto the galaxy to form new generations of stars. Scientists were surprised to find that there is a surplus of incoming gas.
NASA has been studying the solar system and has found that on the boundary of the solar system, pressure runs high. The pressure in the region is the force that plasma, magnetic fields, and particles such as ions, cosmic rays, and electrons exert on each other as they collide. This force was found to be greater than expected by NASA scientists.
Barely two weeks ago, Elon Musk proudly revealed the success, changes, and plans for SpaceX's deep-space Starship program. Almost ironically, NASA was not too happy with the focus on yet another project that the popular space company is engaging it, not when SpaceX is also supposed to be working on manned flights for NASA. The very public spat between the two institutions naturally made rounds on the Internet and, perhaps to show they're still on good terms, NASA made a visit to SpaceX HQ and affirmed its positive outlook for the first manned mission to the ISS from US soil.
Northrop Grumman has built a satellite called the Mission Extension Vehicle or MEV 1. MEV 1 is designed to dock with an aging spacecraft in orbit above the Earth and extend that spacecraft's life. The way the MEV 1 will extend the life of the spacecraft already in orbit is by docking with it and adding solar-electric thrusters.
The capability that smartphone cameras have today is a great thing. What isn't so great is the thick lenses that some smartphones use that require some smartphone makers to leave thicker bumps on the rear of the smartphones to house the lens. Scientists at the University of Utah have invented a new kind of optical lens that is much thinner and lighter than conventional lenses.
Researchers at ETH have developed a very compact infrared spectrometer that is small enough to fit on a computer chip and still provides "interesting possibilities." The researchers say that the chip would be usable in space and everyday life. One example is integration into mobile phones.