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.
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
If you ever watched the action hero movie Thor, you may remember Mjolnir, his amazing electrified hammer. Who wouldn’t want a giant hammer that can summon lightning? As it happens, it is possible to make a really good replica with Tesla coils.
Jacob Siegal spends a vast majority of his time surrounded with and invested in technology and media, so he decided he may as well start writing about it. You can find more of his writing at Game Rant and his topical tweets @JacobSiegal.
Remember last month when Space Mountain at Disneyland closed down? The devastating aftermath of the ride’s closing can now come to an end: the Associated Press reports that Space Mountain has since reopened. I guess that means this This Week in Space's temporary hiatus is over as well. On to the space news!
Corey Tamas is a communications consultant, a father, and professional musician in Ottawa, Ontario. More by Corey Tamas
What if you could focus on one person's voice in a crowded shopping mall? Or focus on just the drummer at a concert? Students from the Royal College of Art developed a pair of head-mounted devices can do just that.
The gear, called "Eidos," can improve your selective perception and even augment basic human sight and hearing. It works by isolating visual and sonic information from extraneous input, and then enhancing it from there. For example, you can use it to highlight patterns in movement by setting the headgear to show trails behind moving objects.
