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ICYMI: Lightest building material, eco-bikini and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-6370").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Boeing says it has produced the lightest material structure and the video demonstrates it by balancing a portion of its metal structure on top of a dandelion. A prototype for a swimming suit also acts as a water cleaner, absorbing pollutants with super-hydrophobic carbon-based material. And Makerarm combines everything we love about 3D printers with all kinds of other use cases because its robotic arm can be outfitted with many other tool heads.
Ford studies space robots to improve communication with connected cars
Ford has joined forces with Russia's Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University for a three-year research project aimed at improving vehicle connectivity, with inspiration coming from an unlikely source: space robots. By studying the way robots interact, Ford hopes to develop its cars' communications systems so that tasks like contacting emergency services after an accident will be performed even if the vehicle is damaged or the data connection is lost. What's most fascinating are the so-called "mesh networks" which allow robots to maintain a flow of information amongst themselves and with their controllers on Earth and aboard the International Space Station in the event of a disrupted connection. This knowledge could prove useful to Ford in terms of improving emergency response protocols as well as vehicle-to-vehicle communications. To learn more, check out the video and press release after the break.
Space Observer to innocently watch you at San Jose's airport
It's every child's dream to one day walk through a trio of space robot legs as entering Silicon Valley, and if a proposed art project goes through, said dream will become a reality for budding tech superstars who land in Mineta San Jose International Airport. The $300,000 initiative would see a so-called Space Observer built and showcased prominently in the venue, allowing patrons to walk underneath its two-story-tall body and emit all sorts of "oohs" and "ahhs." The monolithic space robot would sport three legs and propeller-tipped kinetic camera arms, the latter of which would collect live video to be displayed on embedded monitors within its body. San Jose Public Art Director Barbara Goldstein has already stated that "it won't follow you anywhere," but it's not like she really has the power to control what this obviously sentient creature does / doesn't do.
