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Venus flytrap cyborg snaps shut with commands from a smartphone

Venus flytrap cyborg snaps shut with commands from a smartphone

25 March 2023

Researchers created a plant-based robotic arm by connecting a Venus flytrap equipped with soft electrodes to a metallic structure and wirelessly commanding it to grab things


Stuffed dead birds made into drones could spy on animals or humans

Stuffed dead birds made into drones could spy on animals or humans

14 February 2023

Flapping-wing drones camouflaged with the bodies of taxidermy birds could help study flocks of wild birds or enable military spy missions, but they’re not yet the most efficient flyers


Cyborg cockroach with camera ‘backpack’ can be steered remotely

Cyborg cockroach with camera ‘backpack’ can be steered remotely

8 June 2021

A Madagascar hissing cockroach fitted with a “backpack” computer and infrared camera could help search-and-rescue teams locate bodies in the aftermath of an earthquake


Exoskeleton users

People in Japan are wearing exoskeletons to keep working as they age

12 December 2019

To solve the problem of Japan’s ageing workforce, tech companies have developed exoskeletons that help older workers continue to do heavy manual labour


A hand up close

The pigment in our skin could be used to make electrical body implants

26 March 2019

Melanin’s electrical conductivity can be boosted a billion-fold using heat and the result could be used to make body-friendly electrical implants


photo of Mark O'Connell

Evading death and mind-uploading: The ambition of transhumanism

8 May 2018

Transhumanists could not stop for Death but they kindly stopped for Mark O'Connell, who has captured their beliefs and anxieties in his Wellcome Book Prize winning travelogue


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