07/18/12 — Kids in classrooms get to spend time on arts and crafts, and if they're really lucky they get to spend time working on electronics and robotics. But what if the two were combined, and the artistic side of a kid could be expressed by what they made their craft do, given some electronic components? That's the thinking behind a new kit that blends art with robots. Carnegie Mellon University writes, "The kit, called Hummingbird, consists of a customized control board along with a variety of lights, sensors and motors that can be connected to the controller without soldering. Students program…

05/29/12 — Indystar—Imagine a tiny snake robot crawling through your body, helping a surgeon identify diseases and perform operations. It's not science fiction. Scientists and doctors are using the creeping metallic tools to perform surgery on hearts, prostate cancer, and other diseased organs. The snakebots carry tiny cameras, scissors and forceps, and even more advanced sensors are in the works. For now, they're powered by tethers that humans control. But experts say the day is coming when some robots will roam the body on their own. "It won't be very long before we have robots that are nanobots, meaning they will actually…