KansaiUniversity
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Robots that can sweat and get goosebumps give us goosebumps
While most scientists are attempting to give robots facial expressions, a group from Japan's Kansai University is working on another aspect that makes them more human: physiological reactions. According to IEEE Spectrum, Dr. Tomoko Yonezawa and her team are developing robots that can sweat and get goosebumps in the same situations we do. In fact, the researchers have already developed three prototypes: one is a machine that gets goosebumps in the presence of cold breeze or if told a scary story. Another's a head that sweats if it feels anxious (which we'd love to see paired up with that robotic armpit that stinks when it sweats), and the third is a teddy bear called Breatter that uses a built-in fan to produce breath when it speaks. The team believes that by giving robots these involuntary reactions, we'd be able to accept them more rather than if they act more like, well, soulless automatons. Now if only someone can create a human-like robot that doesn't take us on another trip to uncanny valley... [Image credit: Getty Images]
Nissan's new charging technology will juice your EV in ten minutes, ten years from now
Nearly a month after unveiling its revamped quick charger, Nissan has now announced that it's working on new technology that would make EV charging... well, quicker. A lot quicker. Developed alongside researchers from Japan's Kansai University, the manufacturer's approach would allow drivers to fully charge their plug-ins in just ten minutes, without taking any toll on a lithium-ion battery's storage or voltage. Nissan says it could achieve this by tinkering with a charger's capacitor -- more specifically, by replacing its carbon electrode with one based on a composite of tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide. Industry insiders, however, say this technology may not reach the commercial level for another ten years -- substantially longer than ten minutes.
