Russia launched one of its heaviest attacks on Kyiv with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, killing at least 18 people. Ukraine President Zelenskyy called air defense an absolute priority.

From the 1st-5th June, the robots descended on Vienna. The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA) brought together the top minds in robotics for one short week to showcase the latest technologies, form new collaborations, and exchange ideas. Held at the Messe Wien, a stone's throw from the bank of the Danube, ICRA proved to be equal parts technological marvel and thought-provoking discussion. The host venue for ICRA 2026: Messe Wien, also known as VIECON. My week at ICRA began with the 2nd ICRA 2026 Workshop on Robot Ethics: Ethical, Legal and User Perspectives in Robotics & Automation (WOROBET) .

From friendship in a world of chatbots to what it means to be alive, this month's new popular science books are asking some big questions. Australia's tiger quoll - as featured in Dan Werb's Our Wild Familiars, out this month Life, being alive and death are big themes in the new popular science books out in July, not to mention that small thing of being a human and all the messy feelings and sensory stuff that goes with it. Then there's also AI filling the future - in ways that worry one of the world's leading forensic scientists, as well as ethicists who are paid to think about this sort of thing. I'm looking forward to delving into the worlds of volcanoes and pharmacology, which look positively safe and stable in comparison Can friendship with a chatbot ever be as good as friendship with a gang of flesh-and-blood besties? Is there still and will there - can there - always be something about human friendships that will elude the smartest of simulations?

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From Jules Verne-inspired submarines to NASA-backed underwater habitats, the dream of an undersea civilization came closer than most people realize. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Just as space exploration took off, ocean exploration faced some tragic setbacks. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

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This robotic surface skimmer offers an entirely different concept in pool cleaning. But does that translate to effective debris removal? Lack of solar charging makes it impractical for most pools, where skimming needs to be nonstop. Pool skimmers, which flit along the surface of the water, constitute a small but stable subsection of the pool robot world. While their effectiveness varies, all of them work more or less the same way, cruising around the pool on a catamaran-like body, scooping up leaves into a basket that sits between the two propeller-powered hulls.

Pentagon officials are weighing whether to disperse U.S. military bases in the Gulf after Iranian missile and drone attacks exposed vulnerabilities at major Middle East installations.

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New York City's Summer of Ludd festival is teaching people how to live offline amid the suffocating presence of Big Tech. A papier-mâché woman is the backdrop to a play about the Luddite movement. On a Sunday evening in the middle of Tompkins Square Park in New York City's East Village, hundreds of people gather in front of a giant papier-mâché face of a woman wearing a crown. She's the backdrop of a play, her body made up of curtains that look like a dress but serve a dual purpose, allowing actors to scurry on and offstage. I'm here to watch a performance called " Luddite Recreations," which is a history of the Luddite movement--a group of artisans and textile workers who resisted the adoption of machines during the early years of the Industrial Revolution in England and whose resistance to being displaced from their work was met with violence by the British monarchy.