No, the chatbot did not crash Perseverance. Since 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover has achieved a number of historic milestones, including sending back the first audio recordings from Mars . Now, nearly five years after landing on the Red Planet, it just achieved another feat. This past December, Perseverance successfully completed a route through a section of the Jezero crater plotted by Anthropic's Claude chatbot, marking the first time NASA has used a large language model to pilot the car-sized robot. Between December 8 and 10, Perseverance drove approximately 400 meters (about 437 yards) through a field of rocks on the Martian surface mapped out by Claude.

NASA's Perseverance rover discovers a shiny metallic rock nicknamed 'Phippsaksla' on Mars that scientists believe could be a meteorite from an ancient asteroid.

This bonus episode was sponsored by euRobotics, an international non-profit association that aims to boost European robotics research, development, and innovation. Robot Talk is a weekly podcast that explores the exciting world of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines. Robot Talk is a weekly podcast that explores the exciting world of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines. Find out what the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems has in store. Graduate students in the aptly named RAD Lab are working to improve RoboBall, the robot in an airbag.

While working at NASA in 2003, Dr. Robert Ambrose, director of the Robotics and Automation Design Lab (RAD Lab), designed a robot with no fixed top or bottom. A perfect sphere, the RoboBall could not flip over, and its shape promised access to places wheeled or legged machines could not reach -- from the deepest lunar crater to the uneven sands of a beach. Two of his students built the first prototype, but then Ambrose shelved the idea to focus on drivable rovers for astronauts. When Ambrose arrived at Texas A&M University in 2021, he saw a chance to reignite his idea. With funding from the Chancellor's Research Initiative and Governor's University Research Initiative, Ambrose brought RoboBall back to life.

Claire chatted to Ali K. Hoshiar from University of Essex about how microrobots move and work together. Ali Hoshiar is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Essex and Director of the Robotics for Under Millimetre Innovation (RUMI) Lab. He leads the EPSRC-funded'In-Target' project and was awarded the university's Best Interdisciplinary Research Award. His research focuses on microrobotics, soft robotics, and data-driven mechatronic systems for medical and agri-tech applications. He also holds an MBA, adding strategic and commercial insight to his technical work.

Meghan Daley is a NASA project manager who leads teams to develop and integrate simulations for robotic operations to prepare astronauts on the ISS and beyond. We'll be spotlighting five honorees each week throughout October

Frances Zhu has a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University. She was previously a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow and an Assistant Research Professor in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawaii, specialising in machine learning, dynamics, systems, and controls engineering. Since 2025, she has been an Assistant Professor at the Colorado School of Mines in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, affiliated with the Robotics program and Space Resources Program. Robot Talk is a weekly podcast that explores the exciting world of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines. Robot Talk is a weekly podcast that explores the exciting world of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines.

Mars rovers serve as scientists' eyes and ears from millions of miles away - here are the tools Perseverance used to spot a potential sign of ancient life NASA's search for evidence of past life on Mars just produced an exciting update. On Sept. 10, 2025, a team of scientists published a paper detailing the Perseverance rover's investigation of a distinctive rock outcrop called Bright Angel on the edge of Mars' Jezero Crater . This outcrop is notable for its light-toned rocks with striking mineral nodules and multicolored, leopard print-like splotches. By combining data from five scientific instruments, the team determined that these nodules formed through processes that could have involved microorganisms. While this finding is not direct evidence of life, it's a compelling discovery that planetary scientists hope to look into more closely.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a soft robotic arm capable of performing complex tasks such as navigating around an obstacle or hitting a ball, guided and powered remotely by laser beams without any onboard electronics or wiring. The research could inform new ways to control implantable surgical devices or industrial machines that need to handle delicate objects. In a proof-of-concept study that integrates smart materials, machine learning and an optical control system, a team of Rice researchers led by materials scientist Hanyu Zhu used a light-patterning device to precisely induce motion in a robotic arm made from azobenzene liquid crystal elastomer a type of polymer that responds to light. According to the study published in Advanced Intelligent Systems, the new robotic system incorporates a neural network trained to predict the exact light pattern needed to create specific arm movements. This makes it easier for the robot to execute complex tasks without needing similarly complex input from an operator.

NASA's Curiosity rover snapped a bizarre, coral-shaped rock on the surface of Mars, sparking fresh speculation about signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. The twisted, alien-like formation was sculpted by wind and time, according to NASA, which said it likely formed billions of years ago when water once flowed across the Martian surface. The images have taken the internet by storm, with some users claiming: 'Corals are true signs of ancient life forms along with the ancient rivers. This is a huge discovery!!' Another wrote on X: 'There's your Mars fossilized foreign life material evidence everybody's been asking for. That's obviously been there all along.'