Smartphone cameras are capable of more than just snapping images of drunken pals and sweeping landscapes. Your camera can do everything from translate texts to scan paperwork with the correct apps. Learn about some of the world’s most useful superpowers. TRANSLATE TEXT FROM A FOREIGN LANGUAGE You must tap out text in a foreign language…
When a crime witness names the wrong person, it might result in the death of an innocent person while allowing the true culprit to go free. Eyewitnesses are frequently asked to choose the face they recall from a list of probable suspects and “fillers.” This usually entails staring at a line of individuals behind a…
In my work as a scientist, I owe a great lot to serendipity. In 2012 I was in the right place (IBM’s Almaden research laboratory in California) at the right time—and I did the “wrong” thing. I was meant to be combining three chemicals in a beaker to generate a recognized substance. The objective was…
Researchers at the University of Virginia have developed a new tuna-inspired robot that can flap its tail as quickly as actual tuna (seven times per second) and swim at speeds of up to 1.5 mph, or two body lengths per second. The team behind this invention explains how they created this tuna-like robot, which can…
General Motors is the automotive industry’s granddaddy. The Detroit-based company is credited with creating America’s first muscle vehicle in 1949, and it has been producing hits for over 70 years. Although today’s muscle vehicles may differ from their predecessors in appearance, the concept remains the same: cram a massive V8 engine under the hood and…
Bell’s latest designs, unveiled on Monday, are hybrid flying machines that promise to take off and land like helicopters while still zooming around at high speeds like jets. A small, autonomous fighter-jet-like airplane that could land like a helicopter, pick someone up, and then whisk them away is one of the three new ideas. These…
As the sky becomes increasingly clogged with noise from billions of cellphones, federal agencies are fighting for radio waves used to help anticipate climate change. NOAA and NASA are on one side. They’ve created space satellites that passively gather and interpret the faint energy signals emitted by changes in water vapor, temperature, rain, and wind,…
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It’s uncommon to be able to drive off-roading completely silently, but the 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4xe provides exactly that: an unexpectedly peaceful trip through the woods. That’s because the Wrangler 4xe (pronounced “four by e”) has a 400-volt, 17-kilowatt-hour, 96-cell battery pack mounted in the middle of the vehicle, providing enough power for…
A soft robotic hand has finally completed a historic feat: beating Super Mario Bros.’ first level. Although fast pushing and releasing the buttons and directional pad on a Nintendo Entertainment System controller is a fun way to assess the machine’s performance, the actual innovation is in how it was designed. The Mario-playing hand, as well…