Corey Tamas is a communications consultant, a father, and professional musician in Ottawa, Ontario. More by Corey Tamas
Though chip transistors have traditionally been made with silicon, a team from USC has developed carbon nanotubes that could replace silicon and allow for faster transistors.
Chongwu Zhou, a professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, leads a team at USC that clocked the carbon nanotubes at 25GHz, a dramatic speed advantage over the second-fastest nanotube transistor (a design from French Institut d’Électronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie, which peaks at 15GHz).
Cassandra Khaw is an entry-level audiophile, a street dancer, a person who writes about video games for a living, and someone who spends too much time on Twitter. More by Cassandra Khaw
Mad physicist/Flickr
It's safe to say that everyone has, at the very least, seen a Lego block. It's hard to miss them. They're everywhere. Especially on the Internet. If you want to retain some sense of satisfaction in regards to that house you built back when you were five, though, you might want to not read any further. However, if you're interested in seeing the incredible things people have been working on, look no further than our weekly overview of the best creations from the Lego universe.
Elizabeth Fish is a freelance writer who happens to run a hyperlocal news website in Lincoln, UK. She also covers all things geeky for TechHive. More by Elizabeth Fish
The University of Pennsylvania’s RHex bot leaps across chasms or over obstacles by performing multiple jumps in order to gain momentum before it makes its big leap. And since it can scurry around, it can get a running start if need be, too. Its C-shaped legs can rotate 360 degrees to help the 20-inch machine spring into action.
Corey Tamas is a communications consultant, a father, and professional musician in Ottawa, Ontario. More by Corey Tamas
Putting together Ikea furniture is a cruel test of mettle that most of us must brave sooner or later, but science has (finally) done something worthwhile by creating an Ikea-furniture-assembling robot.
The Distributed Robotics Laboratory at MIT calls it the “IkeaBot.” As the name suggests, it’s a robot that slaps together your Ikea furniture, allowing you the luxury of watching while sipping coffee and being grateful.
Kevin is a small-time tech hound, amateur photographer, and a general know-at-least-something of all things geeky hailing from New York. More by Kevin Lee
We’re now one step closer to a completely automated classroom. Xerox recently pulled the wraps off a new program called Ignite that will turn photocopies into test grading machines.
And we’re not just talking about those bubble-checking Scantron machines that we've known about for far too long. The new custom software can actually decipher hand-written responses for everything from English essays to your math homework. In addition to checking if your answers are right, the software can also provide detailed reports on how a student is doing and mark any areas that need improvement.
Kevin is a small-time tech hound, amateur photographer, and a general know-at-least-something of all things geeky hailing from New York. More by Kevin Lee
Back in February, the giant Chelyabinsk meteorite just about exploded over central Russia, serving as a rude awakening that these falling space rocks can do some serious damage. A week later, we got another reminder almost everywhere on our planet has been pelted by these falling alien stones.
If that was not enough to make you squirm in your seat, a data designer named Carlo Zapponi has created a new meteor-centric animation called Bolides, named after the fireball-lke nature of these falling space rocks. This interactive animation makes the sky look like it’s raining hellfire and brimstone as it creates a timeline of every recorded meteorite that humans have seen hit the Earth since 861 AD.
Kevin is a small-time tech hound, amateur photographer, and a general know-at-least-something of all things geeky hailing from New York. More by Kevin Lee
We’ve already got airborne drones to deliver piping hot treats like tacos and burritos. After munching away on all that tortilla-wrapped goodness, you're bound to be rather parched. Have no fear! This is where the beer-copter comes into save the day by airdropping cold brews to the thirsty masses.
In other words, it’s quite literally going to rain beer thanks to small flying robots.
Mad physicist/Flickr
