Harvard

Even if you've built one of the world's best insect-inspired micro air vehicles, it won't be that useful if it can't stick a landing. That's why Harvard scientists have now given their RoboBee a set of long, jointed legs like those of the crane fly.

You may not know what a springtail is but man, those little things can jump! Scientists have now copied the creatures' jumping mechanism in a small robot that could one day explore places that people can't go.

The 2024 QS World University Rankings were released this week, and with three new key metrics added to the scoring process, several universities have rocketed to the international forefront, while traditional icons are being pushed below the fold.

Harvard engineers have created a strange new “metafluid” – a liquid that can be programmed to change properties, like its compressibility, transparency, viscosity and even whether it’s Newtonian or not.

While there are already apps that guide blind users to a bus stop's GPS coordinates, those people may unknowingly end up standing too far away from the actual stop. A new app addresses that shortcoming, by letting the phone's camera in on the act.

People with Parkinson's disease often develop a problem known as "gait freeze," in which their legs simply stop stepping forward as they're walking. A new exoskeleton, however, has proven to be very effective at keeping such individuals' legs going.

In order to keep surgeries minimally invasive, it would be great if implants could be injected into the body in liquid form, then solidified once in place. Well, a new ultrasound-based 3D printing process may one day make that very thing possible.

Inspired by a water-dwelling spider, researchers have created a novel surface material that stays dry for months underwater. They say the surface is easy to produce, scalable, and has a wide range of practical applications.

People suffering from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) often have difficulty raising their arms, due to deterioration of cells in their brain and spinal cord. A new wearable system is designed to help, utilizing a pair of under-arm balloons.

While multi-material 3D printers do already exist, the filament they extrude is all one material at any one point in the printing process. A new system produces actual multi-material filaments, however, and they boast a very useful helical design.

One ant is not very smart, but together they can achieve some remarkable things. Inspired by this emergent cooperative behavior, Harvard researchers have built robots that can work together to escape from a “prison,” without needing a specific plan.

Folks with a soft touch seem to have no problem getting to grips with delicate objects, but it can be a tough ask for robots. Researchers have taken a strength-in-numbers approach with a gripper that curls multiple tubes around a fragile object.