The new “growing robot” can be programmed to grow, or extend, in different directions, based on the sequence of chain units that are locked and fed out from the “growing tip,” or gearbox.Roboticists at MIT have developed a new robot with an extending limb that grows a bit like a plant. The appendage can weave its way through confined spaces before lifting a heavy load.The bicycle chain-like...

The adtech trends rounding out 2019: Programmatic growth, measurement standards, privacy implications.Looking to 2020, adtech players can expect new capabilities driven by a customer-first approach grounded in privacy, brand experience, and standardization.As the digital landscape continues to fragment, advertisers are looking for more ways to reach customers with one-to-one messaging that driv...

Octopus Interactive, a startup bringing an interactive TV and ad experience into Uber and Lyft rides, has raised a $10.3 million funding round led by Sinclair Digital Group.Backseat TVs mixing show snippets and commercials have become a common part of the taxi experience in New York City and elsewhere. Octopus is offering something of a more interactive version of this concept to rideshare driv...

The emergence of Bitcoin took the world by storm through its simplicity and innovation. Yet, plenty of confusion remains around the term itself.The Bitcoin blockchain—not to be confused with the bitcoin cryptocurrency—involves a vast global network of computers operating on the same distributed database to process massive volumes of data every second.These transactions tell the network how to...

Many early “predictions” about future technologies certainly missed the mark—but it seems science fiction was able to accurately forecast a thing or two about AI.AI Basics: Making Life BetterArtificial intelligence is all about equipping machines with the ability to mimic human decision-making processes. It has a wide range of applications, from basic automation to advanced machine learning...

US patent application 20190340194 discloses a method for presenting a search result interface for a received search query that includes search results referencing an image responsive to the search query and search results referencing a related video associated with the image.The figure below illustrates an example search user interface displaying video search results that are related to the que...

Consumer-data privacy and personalization at scale: How leading retailers and consumer brands can strategize for both.Customer concerns about the security and privacy of their online data can impede personalized marketing at scale. Best-practice companies are building protections into their digital properties.Personalization at scale is where retailers and consumer brands are competing to win....

University of Rochester researchers, inspired by diving bell spiders and rafts of fire ants, have created a metallic structure that is so water repellent, it refuses to sink—no matter how often it is forced into water or how much it is damaged or punctured.Could this lead to an unsinkable ship? A wearable flotation device that will still float after being punctured? Electronic monitoring devic...

Not all is good in EV Land. Other companies’ myriad problems underline Tesla’s massive head start.Nio, a Chinese electric-car manufacturer vying to become the next Tesla TSLA, +0.48%, has fallen on hard times. A perfect storm of reduced government subsidies, uncertainty brought on by the trade war with the U.S., as well as generally lower demand in China has forced the manufacturer to cut mor...