Image: Simulating the darkness of space

A Halloween view inside one of the darker recesses of ESA's technical heart. Shaded to resemble the blackness of deep space, the GNC Rendezvous, Approach and Landing Simulator, or GRALS, is seen being used to test vision-based ...

No more Iron Man—submarines now have soft, robotic arms

The human arm can perform a wide range of extremely delicate and coordinated movements, from turning a key in a lock to gently stroking a puppy's fur. The robotic "arms" on underwater research submarines, however, are hard, ...

Dutch city to unveil world's first 3D-printed housing complex

The southern Dutch city of Eindhoven plans to unveil the world's first 3-D-printed housing complex next year, which its inventors believe could revolutionise the building industry by speeding up and customising construction.

ECOSTRESS launches to space station on SpaceX mission

An Earth science instrument built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and experiments investigating cellular biology and artificial intelligence, are among the research heading to the International ...

SmokeBot – a robot serving rescue units

SmokeBot is a robot developed to assist fire services and rescue units in deployments under critical conditions. It collects data about accident and disasters situations with extremely limited visibility, effectively improving ...

China's JD.com looks to Silicon Valley center for innovation

Self-driving delivery vehicles that are polite to pedestrians? Faster and more precise robotic arms? JD.com, the largest challenger to Alibaba's e-commerce empire in China, is investing in technology to speed up warehouse ...

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