"To imagine a language is to imagine a form of life." Jeremy England is concerned about words--about what they mean, about the universes they contain. He avoids ones like "consciousness" and "information"; too loaded, he says. When he's searching for the right thing to say, his voice breaks a little, scattering across an octave or two before resuming a fluid sonority. The 34-year-old assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the architect of a new theory called "dissipative adaption," which has helped to explain how complex, life-like function can self-organize and emerge from simpler things, including inanimate matter. This proposition has earned England a somewhat unwelcome nickname: the next Charles Darwin. But England's story is just as much about language as it is about biology. There are some 6,800 unique languages in use today.

It is one of the most terrifying robots ever made. Students have developed a 3D-printed scorpion to demonstrate the'intuitive and complex mechatronic functions' of the technology - and it can even stab people with its tail The Scorpion Hexapod is designed with six-legs that moves in all directions, responds to interactions and has a tail that leaves a'mark' when it attacks. Students have developed a 3D-printed scorpion to demonstrate the'intuitive and complex mechatronic functions' of the technology. The Scorpion Hexapod is designed with six-legs that moves in all directions, responds to interactions and has a tail that leaves a'mark' if it attacks The system was designed with different moves and a few auto responses to interaction, although it can be controlled through a computer. The system was designed with different moves and a few auto responses to interaction, although it can be controlled through a computer. It can walk in all directions, step over elevated surfaces and perform movements a real scorpion would such as, move its claws and strike its tail.

The white stick is getting a 21st century makeover - by becoming a wearable. Japanese car firm Toyota has designed a mobility device worn over a person's shoulders that can help blind and visually impaired people get around more easily. Called Project Blaid, the device is currently a prototype, but when it's ready, it'will fill the gaps left by canes, guide dogs and basic GPS devices by giving users more information about their surroundings,' the company explained. Toyota has designed a mobility device to help blind and visually impaired people get around more easily. Named Project Blaid, the gadget is worn over a person's shoulders (pictured) and can help navigate indoor spaces, like offices and shopping centres by pointing out features like toilets, doors, stairs and escalators The gadget is not expected to replace guide dogs or other ways blind people get assistance, but instead is designed to enhance the current methods.

Nine years ago a fireworks accident left Dennis Aabo Sørensen so severely wounded, doctors were forced to amputate his left hand. But now, for the first time since the accident, the 36-year-old has been able to experience what the world around him feels like through his missing limb. Scientists have developed a bionic finger that can be connected to the nerves left in his arm, allowing him to experience textures as they really feel. Dennis Aabo Sørensen (pictured) has become the first amputee to trial a new bionic fingertip that has allowed him to feel and distinguish different textures. The technology could lead to new prosthetic arms that can restore the sense of touch to amputees.

Nasa is shooting for a 2018 launch of the Mars Insight spacecraft which will examine the interior of the red planet. The robotic lander was supposed to lift off this month, but was grounded in December by a leak in a French instrument. It will now be completely redesigned in time for May 2018, the next available launch window. A French-made seismographic instrument destined for Nasa's InSight Mars mission lander (artist's impression pictured) was found to have leaks in its vacuum container. The mission, aimed at studying Mars' interior structure by monitoring its'marsquakes', has now been scrapped The lander, which is about the size of a car, was supposed to be the first mission devoted to understanding the interior structure of the red planet.

A new Terminator-style robot could be set to kill weeds choking the countryside. The futuristic Ibex uses tech similar to the Mars Rover and self-driving cars and can identify individual weeds before zapping them accurately. Makers believe the robot can battle weeds clogging up pastures in hilly regions where rough terrain makes it hard to manage fields. The futuristic British-made Ibex (pictured) uses tech similar to the Mars Rover and self-driving cars and can identify individual weeds before zapping them accurately. Ramblers and walkers blighted by bracken could also be helped by Ibex which could track down the invasive fern which is toxic to cattle, dogs, sheep, pigs and horses.

Getting to grips with a new computer game usually involves some trial and error. Now researchers are using Minecraft as a tool to test the abilities of artificially intelligent avatars – but the game, loved by youngsters around the world, is proving to be rather a challenge for the machines. Currently, five computer scientists have been trying to get their AI Minecraft character to climb a hill. While on the face of it, this might not seem like a Herculean task, the character has to learn how to perform tasks - such as climbing to a highpoint in the pixelated virtual world, itself - using the same types of resources a human has when we learn a new task. 'That means that the agent [character] starts out knowing nothing at all about its environment or even what it is supposed to accomplish,' wrote Microsoft's Allison Linn in a blog post.

Fictional animal-whisperer Dr Dolittle may have been able to talk to all animals, but a British farmer is able to at least decipher the squawks of his chickens. David Speller claims he can identify 11 different types of'chicken chatter' to know if his birds are too hot, too cold, hungry or even sick....so they don't'cry fowl' of their conditions. The skill could save him thousands of pounds by ensuring his animals are healthy. David Speller can identify 11 different types of'chicken chatter' to know if his birds are too hot, too cold, hungry or even sick. Mr Speller, 42, owns the only British farm to take part in a unique project run by Leuven University, in Belgium, which aims to understand the'language' of chickens.

First it was our computers, then it was our phones, and now experts have warned hackers will soon be targeting our cars. Self-driving car technology is improving so quickly that some experts believe it will be mainstream within the next five years, meaning hacking will be probably become a problem. A security expert has told MailOnline that cyber criminals may take control of a car and hold it ransom to extort money from owners. 'There's no question whether autonomous cars can be hacked or not,' Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of cyber security firm F-secure told MailOnline. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that by 2030, 25 per cent of all cars sold will be autonomous. At the end of last year, Elon Musk told Fortune that Tesla Motors is two years away from achieving a fully autonomous self-driving car.

From our every day perspective, the insects and spiders that surround us usually appear to encased inside smooth and shiny exoskeletons. But a new selection of macro-images reveal that if we were to meet these miniature beasts at their own level, we would discover their bodies are actually covered in thick fur, fur like bristles and scales that look almost like feathers. The world of the small has been brought into focus in stunning detail thanks to a series of macro photographs from an amateur wildlife photographer, which reveals the creatures as very different from how we normally see them. The incredible series of images show insects and arachnids in stunning detail. Captured by Russian software architect Vasily Menshov, the series reveals the hairy antennae of mosquitoes, the feather like scales of butterflies and the alien-like appearance of hoverflies.