Articles from ‘elocal magazine’ in ‘Technology’

Artificial intelligence is rapidly improving the brains of robots, but building their bodies remains surprisingly old-fashioned. Hungarian robotics startup Allonic believes the answer could be to stop assembling increasingly complicated machines and start manufacturing them more like biological bodies. eLocal Report: Based on information published by Allonic and additional robotics and manufacturing reporting. · For decades, advances in…

What happens when a robot becomes so small there is no longer room for a conventional battery or motor? Researchers in Switzerland have demonstrated an unusual solution: microscopic acoustic cavities that convert sound energy directly into thrust and movement. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by Maryna Holovnova for New Atlas, with research published by EPFL. The New Atlas report was published on 26 August 2026. · The drive to make…

China has unveiled a new tunnelling machine designed to solve one of underground construction’s persistent problems: what happens when soft ground suddenly turns into solid rock. The 4.5-metre-wide Xianglong can excavate conventionally, drill explosive charges into a rock face and then continue boring after the rock has been fractured. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by David Szondy for New Atlas HERE. · China has rolled out what is being…

The Fairphone 6+ has launched in the United States with an unusually simple proposition: when something wears out or breaks, replace the part rather than the entire phone. With a removable battery, replaceable components, expandable storage and long-term software support, Fairphone is betting some consumers would rather own their smartphone for longer than continually replace it. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by Monica J. White for New…

Could you imagine being able to "feel" the images on your screen? UCSB researchers have made this sci-fi-like idea a reality. They've developed a display where pixels physically rise off the surface when activated by laser light. Even our most advanced screens today have a limitation that makes them distinctly still feel like, well, screens: they're flat. They can display entire worlds with a level of detail that just a couple of decades ago…

Over four years since it landed on Mars, NASA's Perseverance Rover might have made serious headway in its mission to find signs of ancient microbial life on the planet. · Last July, the autonomous exploration vehicle stumbled upon an arrowhead-shaped rock named Cheyava Falls with colorful spots on it, in what might be a river valley carved by water on the Red Planet. · NASA's scientists think those spots may have been left behind by microbial…