Swimming can take a lot of muscle. But as MIT engineers have found, even a single layer of muscle cells can power through water if designed right. In a paper appearing today in the journal, the team presents a design for a thin, muscle-powered swimming robot. The "skeleton" of the aquabot is made from a film of gel that is about the length and width of a stick of gum. Each fin is covered with a layer of live muscle cells that is much thinner than a single strand of hair.

Inflation is going bananas (unless you're talking about the actual fruit). Plus, Meta has a cute assistant for you and Kelly Clarkson picks a fight with a niche Brooklyn magic shop. This gift link is valid through . There was an error with your gift link. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month.

Kushant Patel builds software that helps robots and instruments perceive, map, and move through the physical world. After completing a Master's in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo, he spent two years at the University of California, Berkeley teaching quadruped robots to map and inspect nuclear material, and a year at the University of California, Davis building closed-loop brain-computer interfaces. At Brookhaven National Laboratory, he is developing control systems for advanced synchrotron beamlines. 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.

At the recent World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, robots sprinted, boxed, played football and tackled tasks inspired by factories, restaurants and emergency situations. The robot Tiangong Ultra even completed the 100 metres in 8.64 seconds, quicker than Usain Bolt's 9.58-second world record. But if we really want to know whether humanoid robots are ready for everyday life, a far less glamorous challenge may tell us more: doing the laundry. Can a robot take a crumpled T-shirt from a laundry basket, work out which way round it is, fold it neatly and recover when the sleeve slips from its hand? No robot system can yet reliably handle the whole laundry process, from carrying a basket to the washing machine and sorting clothes for different programmes to taking them out, hanging them to dry, folding and ironing them.

Craig Carton Questions Why A'ja Is Embarrassed About How She Was Raised | The Craig Carton Show Why Is A'ja Wilson Cosplaying She Grew Up On The Streets Of South Carolina, Craig Carton Wonders | The Craig Carton Show

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, 62, walked the runway at New York Fashion Week 2026 and became a Gen Z internet sensation with millions of views online.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Our favorite sleep earbuds are the cheapest they've ever been on October Prime Day Slash $40 off the Soundcore Sleep A30 Special earbuds for the first time. Christina Buff is a Nashville-based freelance writer for who covers shopping with a splash of entertainment. If you're ever wondering what streaming service you need to watch something (and the cheapest way to sign up for it), she's your girl. 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.

The author of says his book "was written by a very tired, overworked, under-slept human being." For most people, the AI Era we're now living in started sometime around the end of 2022, when OpenAI released the first consumer version of ChatGPT to much fanfare--and, ultimately, over 100 million downloads within a few short months. In reality, as WIRED readers know, the story of artificial intelligence stretches back decades. And the work informing today's generative AI products, from chatbots to agents and beyond, has been more than a decade--of blood, sweat, tears, and furious rivalries--in the making. It's that recent history, told through the interweaving stories of three generative AI leaders-- OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google --that's chronicled in Kevin Roose's compelling new book, . Roose, a longtime tech journalist who most recently served as a columnist and podcast host for The New York Times, conducted more than 150 interviews with AI insiders to compile what he hopes becomes something of a historical document, an accurate, in-depth retelling of the people and the institutions, the bloodbath and the drama, that brought Silicon Valley to where it is to today. I spoke to Roose in late September, a few days after he and Casey Newton--with whom Roose previously cohosted the New York Times' podcast--announced the creation of their new media company Machine Gods Media, alongside a podcast distribution deal with NPR. We talked about what Roose and Newton hope to accomplish with the new show, why traditional media companies have a talent problem, and, of course, all things artificial intelligence. KATIE DRUMMOND: You and Casey Newton recently announced that you were launching a new media company, called Machine Gods Media. And your podcast is also called, correct? Yeah, a name so nice we used it twice. When you first announced that you'd be leaving The New York Times, you described your vision for what you wanted to do as one that, quote, "takes AI progress seriously, is clear-eyed about the capabilities and risks of powerful AI systems, and tries to empower and entertain people in the face of radical uncertainty." As you look at the landscape of tech coverage and AI coverage, what's missing from the reporting and commentary that you and Casey want to address with the new show?

Donald Trump is buying ads and launching a chatbot with your money. This gift link is valid through . There was an error with your gift link. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds.

Maybe all of that messy human friction had a point beyond just, say, getting a spaghetti sauce recipe. This gift link is valid through . There was an error with your gift link. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. Please enable javascript to get your Slate Plus feeds.