A robot to beat humans at foosball

At first glance, the foosball table located in the middle of the Automatic Control Laboratory looks perfectly normal. Looks can be deceiving. In defense, one of the levers has a mechanical arm capable of propelling the ball ...

Students capture the flight of birds on very high-speed video

Stanford mechanical engineering professor David Lentink and his students capture slow-motion video from the fastest wings in the bird world, with an eye toward building flying robots that take design cues from Mother Nature.

Why do guppies jump? The answer is evolutionary (w/ video)

(Phys.org) —If you've owned a pet guppy, you know they often jump out of their tanks. Many a child has asked why the guppy jumped; many a parent has been stumped for an answer. Now a study by University of Maryland biologist ...

Flies Don't Think Much Of Turning (w/ Video)

The next time a fly dodges your swatter, take a moment to appreciate how maneuverable these little pests are. Fruit flies can make a complete U-turn in one-tenth of the time it takes you to blink.

Bees show off the perfect landing

(PhysOrg.com) -- Honey bees undergo a sudden transition from speeding aircraft to hovering helicopter as they perform the delicate art of landing on a flower.

The Physics Of A Bump In A Rug

Scientists often have to make sacrifices for their work. Physicist Dominic Vella chopped his bathroom rug into strips, and L. Mahadevan's coauthor ran off with his bookshelf. With these sacrifices, these two teams were able ...

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