Technology, Innovation & Outdoor News

Wind-up elastic robot jumps forever when fed infrared light

September 27, 2026 | Malcolm Azania
Using a liquid crystal elastomer cord, these earring-like robots can jump forward three times their body length, and upward 80 times their body height. One day extraplanetary exploration could utilize their descendants as zero-power drones.

Man down: Vale the mighty Joe Salas, a colleague and a brother

September 24, 2026 | Loz Blain
Friends, I write today with tragic news. A treasured member of the New Atlas team has passed away, and it falls to me to pay some small tribute to a wonderful colleague and a close friend, Joe Salas.

Tent-like micro home unfolds into an off-grid A-frame

September 27, 2026 | Bridget Borgobello
Atelier Lune has been awarded a 2026 Red Dot Design Award for a micro-home called the Camping House that blends a folding shell with modular add-ons to create a compact, off-grid living space that can be deployed in just a few hours.

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Though tiny houses are getting more expensive, there are still cheap and cheerful models out there. This recently completed Fairfax 20' is a single-floor model that sleeps up to two people without breaking the bank.
This spacious park model "tiny house" really isn't so tiny. Instead, it provides an experience closer to a small cottage on wheels, with a large porch and an open, light-filled interior arranged entirely on one level.
The new high-roofed Ford Nugget Twin has officially launched to give buyers a new winter-ready camper van option with four solid walls, space for four people and AWD. The very same roof will soon be available for the Volkswagen T7, as well.
There's no denying that cargo trailers are great for transporting your stuff, but they do occupy a lot of garage space. The Faltos trailer offers a solution to that problem, as you can just fold the thing up like an accordion between uses.
Honda seems to believe its next frontier is building high-tech recreational vehicles. It's just shown off a concept for an electric mountain bike that's nearing production – and it looks pretty sick.
Researchers in Germany have developed a system for fabricating wood-based floor slabs that replace traditional reinforced concrete slabs in construction. They're impressively strong, and use only a third of the concrete needed in conventional slabs.

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Huawei's latest piece of gear is wild. The MateBook Fold Ultimate Design looks like a 13-inch laptop on the outside, until you open it to reveal an 18-inch foldable screen that's just 7.3 mm thick. For reference, an iPhone 16 has a depth of 7.8 mm.
Researchers have discovered a new way to potentially treat liver disease. By blocking a key inflammatory pathway it could be possible to reduce liver damage and improve blood vessel function in patients suffering cirrhosis.
Dragon Tiny Homes' Fairfax model is one of the most affordable tiny houses on the market. With a length of just 16 ft, it won't suit a large family, but it could be a good fit for a vacation home, or as a guest house.
It's double-barreled, it uses lasers instead of LEDs, and it's machined from a solid block of 6061 aluminum alloy. Come meet the Lumitwin DL700 flashlight, which belts out two converging beams up to a distance of 2 km (1.24 miles).
After Volkswagen split its midsize van lineup into two distinct model lines, the future of VW van life took the proverbial fork in the road. Spacecamper is the latest to convert a Caravelle, and its new camper arrives as a fast, versatile adventurer.
A team of Australian bodyboarding ratbags has managed to capture staggering footage of an extraordinary oceanic phenomenon: a place where four 12-ft (3.7-m) waves regularly converge into an oval dip, with explosive results.
Generally Honda is the major Japanese automaker pushing out a fast, ferocious new side-by-side. This time, it's Toyota, which shows a radical side-x-side that delivers an extra 50+ hp over any production SxS out there.
You could be forgiven for assuming that this pyramidal skyscraper project was a still from a sci-fi TV show, or perhaps another render that's never going to go ahead. But it is indeed real, and it's begun the early stages of construction.