Experience tech

Small wonder that scientists want to copy the cockroach, one of the most durable creatures around.  But Harvard roboticists are now one-upping the insect with Harvard's Ambulatory Microbot (HAMR).  The new, next-generation HAMR can walk on land, swim on the surface of water, and walk underwater for as long as needed. What gives HAMR its terrain flexibility are the multifunctional feet, made of electrowetting pads (EWP). The focus of electrowetting is reducing the surface tension in a liquid/solid interaction via electricity. That is, an electric charge makes it easier for materials to break a water surface. With its electrowetting pads submerged and activated, the HAMR can move across the surface of the water. With four pairs of asymmetric flaps and custom-built swimming gaits, the HAMR paddles in a manner that's similar to a diving beetle. HAMR’s size is key to its performance. If it were much bigger, it would be challenging to support the robot with surface ten...

Cab aggregator Uber on Saturday proposed measures to address concerns expressed by the West Bengal government over its fare policy, including "self-regulation" of dynamic pricing to minimise impact on riders. The West Bengal Transport Department, based on complaints from users on exorbitant fares during peak hours, had reportedly sent a 30-point questionnaire to Uber and another ride hailing firm Ola, seeking response on the surge pricing mechanism. In a statement, the US-based Uber said, "We have submitted our response to the West Bengal Transport Department and enumerated the measures that we have decided to initiate to address the concerns of the government, and by extension, our riders." "During periods when there is a high imbalance in the availability of Ubers vis-a-vis the number of people requesting a ride, we propose to self-regulate the dynamic pricing multiplier between 1.9x to 2.9x to minimise impact on riders," Regional GM (India &...

Image: AudioKit AudioKit Synth One, a free and open-source iPad synth, is now available for download in the Apple App Store, developer  Matthew Fecher has announced . The Synth One, which Fecher describes as “the largest free and open-source iOS music project in history,” is a professional-level polyphonic synth created by a team of over 100 volunteers over the course of several years. The Synth One is a robust piece of free software, and many of the volunteers involved are professional sound designers and techs who have worked with artists like Neon Trees, Rihanna, M83, and software companies like Valhalla DSP. Right now, it works with audio routing tools Audiobus 3 and Inter-app Audio so you can bring the sounds into other apps like Cubase and GarageBand, but the team says it also  plans to add AUv3 and Ableton Link support  down the road (the ETA on this, however, is unknown). In a video that describes the inspiration behind creating a free, open-source synth,...

A Google executive has admitted the search giant lost out on buying GitHub. Speaking at a Fortune Magazine event yesterday, Diane Greene Google’s head of cloud made an interesting admission. “I wouldn’t have minded buying them, but it’s OK,” said Greene,  Bloomberg reports . Previous  rumors suggest  Google was also trying to acquire GitHub, alongside Microsoft’s bids. GitHub founder Chris Wanstrath reportedly chose Microsoft because of his relationship with CEO Satya Nadella. GitHub is a large code repository that has become very popular with developers and companies to host projects, documentation, and code. Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and many other big tech companies use GitHub. There are 85 million repositories hosted on GitHub, and 28 million developers contribute to them. Google earlier this month to comment on whether it will still continue to use GitHub, but a company spokesperson said at the time “We do not comment on ongoing acquisi...

Boeing has dreams of a hypersonic passenger plane, and it looks like something straight out of science fiction. The  hypersonic aircraft  could have "military or commercial applications" and is just one of several such vehicles Boeing engineers are studying to develop superfast transportation technology, the company said in a statement. In an artist's concept, the plane looks sleek and futuristic, with extremely swept-back wings, twin tails and a sharp, pointed nose. Hypersonic aircraft are capable of traveling at speeds of Mach 5 and beyond. Mach 5 is about five times the speed of sound, or 3,806 mph (6,125 km/h) at sea level. NASA's space shuttles, for comparison, traveled at Mach 25 when re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The U.S. military has tested  hypersonic weapons that hit Mach 20  in the past. [Supersonic! The 11 Fastest Military Airplanes] Boeing unveiled its hypersonic passenger plane concept Tuesday (June 26) in Atlanta at the 20...

Photo Credit: Honda It has played football with former US president Barack Obama and danced for German leader Angela Merkel, but Honda's ASIMO robot may have reached the end of the line. Launched in 2000, the humanoid machine resembling a shrunken spaceman has become arguably Japan's most famous robot, wheeled out to impress visiting politicians over the years. But Honda said Thursday it may scrap future generations of ASIMO, now on its seventh iteration. "We will still continue research into humanoid robots, but our future robots may not be named ASIMO," Honda spokesman Hajime Kaneko told AFP. The comment came after Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that the Japanese carmaker had terminated ASIMO and dissolved the team making one of the world's most famous humanoid robots. NHK suggested increasingly intense competition in the field as a reason, pointing to the example of US-based Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot which can jump on to ...

Open-world action-adventure Shenmue 3 for PS4 and Windows PC doesn't have a release date, but developer Ys Net has made the game's specifications available to its backers to let them choose between getting the game on PC or PS4. While most of the system requirements are middling at best, one that stands out is the storage space. You'll need 100GB of free space to install Shenmue 3 on PC. Shenmue 3 minimum PC specifications OS : Windows 7, 8, 10 64-bit Processor : Intel Core i5-4460 (3.40 GHz) or better; Quad-core or better Memory : 4GB RAM Graphics : Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti or better (DirectX 11 card and VRAM 2GB required) DirectX : Version 11 Network : Broadband Internet connection Storage : 100 GB available space Sound card : DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card Additional Info : requires Steam client to activate Ys Net notes the system requirements may change without notice as development continues.  Previously, it was revealed that the game...