Improving energy performance can effectively extend the time a robot can operate and reduce battery load, enabling lighter, more flexible, and more durable robotic systems. Nature has evolved optimal energy-saving locomotion strategies through billions of years of natural selection, providing unparalleled blueprints for robotic optimization. Among diverse modes of aquatic locomotion, intermittent swimming, also called bout-and-glide swimming, is a widespread adaptive behavior in aquatic organisms of a wide range of sizes, including larval zebrafish, red-nose tetra, koi carp, and even whales. This natural bout-and-glide gait features alternating motion phases: short periods of active body and tail undulation for propulsion, followed by passive gliding with a streamlined, straight body posture. It is widely recognized that this intermittent swimming gait is closely associated with optimizing biological energy, making it of great research value to transplant and explore such natural motion mechanisms into robotic control systems.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

Stella Juva, a solar vehicle built by Eindhoven University students, functions as a mobile clinic that powers its own medical equipment using sunlight in remote areas.

Things to Do in L.A. California planned a nuclear exit. Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County, the only operating nuclear power plant in California, has federal approval to operate through 2045. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search.

Image caption, The Sunday Times says British drones strike targets inside Russia, reporting that drones made by two UK companies have been supplied to Ukraine and used to attack the Russian mainland for the first time. Citing Ukrainian sources, it explains that Kyiv's deep-strike campaign involves targeting oil refineries, naval bases, logistics hubs and transport networks inside Russia. Image caption, The Sunday Telegraph leads with new plans backed by the government which could see water companies given the green light to increase bills at times of high demand. It explains that firms could impose surge pricing and factor water scarcity into bills, meaning they could charge more in droughts. A government spokesperson tells the paper that the new system could cut bills for more consumers, while it quotes water campaigners warning that it could see suppliers penalising consumers for their own failures.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

Look Up Say More Safety Net Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series Anker, EcoFlow, Bluetti, Jackery, and DJI lead the way to portable power. Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. By now, you've probably heard that a portable power station is the new must-have item. Unlike plenty of new tech, power stations are, in fact, useful for almost every home. Essentially, they're a large, reliable battery that'll keep your gadgets and even appliances operating without standard wall power.

Say More Look Up Safety Net Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series Beat Anker and Jackery prices: DJI's Power 1000 V2 is under $400 for a limited time Because your next power outage deserves better than candles. Soumya is a deals writer who covers consumer tech, shopping deals, and the products people use every day. With experience writing about everything from AI tools and software to smartphones and home gadgets, she enjoys breaking down product research into clear, useful recommendations. When she's not tracking deals, she's usually comparing products, digging through reviews, and figuring out what actually makes a purchase worth it. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

Thick plumes of smoke with flames rise from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Moscow on June 18, in this picture obtained from social media. Several regions of Russia are facing fuel shortages again after Ukraine resumed almost daily attacks on oil refineries in the country. The Orenburg region in Russia's Urals introduced a rationing system starting Wednesday that allows sales based on vehicle license plates, limits gasoline and diesel sales per driver at the pump and bans the filling of fuel canisters. That followed Ukraine's drone strike Tuesday on the Orsk refinery in the region that's some 1,500 kilometers southeast of Moscow, which officials said could take as long as six months to repair. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Anker's 2,000W portable power station is $70 off. The Anker Solix C1000 Gen 2 power station is now $529 (was $599) at Amazon. Portable power stations are essential if you're going on a long camping trip or if you live in an area with unstable electricity. Take it with you on road trips, in your RV, in your yard during parties, or store it for emergency power during blackouts.