We see this kind of improvement in robotic capabilities each year–indicative of just how much momentum the robotics revolution has gained in the opening stretch of the 21st century. Click through the gallery below to take a spin through the past year in robotics–which you can also think of as a spin through the future. Click to launch the photo gallery

When it comes to personal, commercial, or hobbyist drones, the quadcopter is easily the most familiar form. With four rotors to balance weight and provide redundancy, quadcopters are simple to launch and land. Plus, they provide a stable platform for a camera to be mounted. Commercial quadcopters are so competent and useful, in fact, that they have ended up in military exercises for the better part of a decade. What has been trickier is getting commercial-quality quadcopters, without the assumed risks of unsecured commercial communications....

The Beowulf vehicle has two segments, joined in the middle. Both segments can be configured to carry people as well as other payloads, and having the joint allows for easier movement across uneven terrain while retaining the size of a larger vehicle. It rolls on tank-like tracks. “Beowulf successfully completed the prototype evaluation phase of the CATV program earlier this year in Alaska,” said BAE Systems in a release. “It performed in multiple tasks while remaining fully mission capable....

Your phone is always with you, which makes it the perfect device to nudge and cajole you into a more wholesome way of living, whether you’re looking to lose weight or quit smoking. Here are some of the best apps that can help. 1. Streaks The Streaks app is, quite simply, intended to help you keep streaks going, whether that’s successive days of flossing your teeth, eating enough fruit, going without smoking, or tidying the kitchen....

Some of the best beat-making software programs are also among the best digital audio workstations for all music production, but others are more focused specifically on beat-making or making sure that they are beginner-friendly. The most important thing is that you have the passion and work ethic to make the most banging beats you can, but when you’re head-down and lost in the flow of drums and basslines, you want to make sure your software is helping you and not getting in the way....

Best overall: Savior Thick Battery Heated Leather GlovesBest for cycling: Sealskinz Waterproof Heated Cycle GloveBest for motorcycle: Kemimoto Heated GlovesBest for work: Volt Resistance Work 7v Leather Heated GlovesBest for fingertips: Savior Thick Electric Heated MittensBest for skiing: Akaso Heated Ski GlovesBest thin: Sun Will Heated Glove LinersBest budget: Hot Hands Heated Fleece Glove/Mittens How we picked the best heated gloves Living in New York City, I do not own a car and, while I have nothing against the city’s subway system, I prefer my bicycle as my mode of transportation....

It has been a frustrating couple of months to say the least. Social distancing has kept us stuck in our homes and away from our work, our schools, and of course our social lives and time with family. #Stayhome has become passé, and the warming weather and extra sunshine has rekindled fond memories of summers past—especially with the extended weekend ahead of us. Memorial Day has long been the unofficial start to summer, and if there was ever a time where we needed a reason to celebrate the start of watermelon-eating, pool-partying, and beach-going season it would be right now....

I’m wearing Doppler Labs’ Here Active Listening System, one of the first in a new breed of “hearables” (although they detest that label). The Here earbuds are two tiny, wireless computers for your ears. You put them in, and everything seems normal—they can reproduce sound nearly perfectly—until you start tuning the buds to modulate the world around you. The Here buds (which is the shorthand I’ve taken to using) aren’t really just about cutting noise out, although they can do that....

We’ve noted a Goal Zero Yeti’s portability, durability, and fast recharge rate in our round-up of the best solar generators. We keep talking about these lithium-ion power stations for plenty of reasons: they’re rugged, weigh less than other electric options, and store copious amounts of power capable of recharging and running your devices—iPhone to a laptop to a full-size refrigerator—for many, many cycles, sans the pollution guilt that comes with something gas-powered....

Warwick’s work is thorough and informative, particularly with respect to the European hedgehogs native to the UK, where the majority of his tale takes place. The book includes basic hedgehog facts about habitat (they like hedges), diet (mainly insects and slugs), and poop (an inch or so long, blunt on one end and pointed on the other). It also explores more complex issues like the debate over conservation versus culling, the role of the hedgehog in literature and philosophy, and why people across the world have such an affinity for the animal....

At the time, the internationally-renowned art dealership was preparing for its second annual science and technology auction, which would include a significant number of pieces from the late physicist’s personal collection. Brown like day-old guacamole, the van was a promotional poster for quantum mechanics. He’d had the central panel on the left, right, and back of the vehicle covered in supersized “Feynman diagrams”—rune-like squiggles that revolutionized our conception of the behavior of subatomic particles....

Bone gathering has become a subculture status symbol. Private collector Ryan Matthew Cohn boasts more than two hundred human skulls in his personal collection, no doubt adding to the required mystique for his duties as the host of the Science Channel show Oddities. Artist Zane Wylie has also made a name for himself by purchasing and artistically modifying real human skulls. People going for a Tim Burton–esque aesthetic or wanting to gain some goth cred can easily acquire and display human remains to set the appropriately macabre mood, with exotic, old, or unusual skeletons being the most desirable status symbols of all....

“The Mayhem system will use a scramjet engine to generate thrust, propelling the vehicle across long distances at speeds greater than Mach 5,” Leidos said in a release. Hypersonic is the threshold defined as five or more times the speed of sound. Many of the recent developments in hypersonic technology have focused on weapons such as missiles that fly fast to evade detection and interception. Speed is profoundly useful for a weapon, as the force of a fast impact can be tremendously deadly even without a warhead on board....

Update 12:07 PM 10/17/18: A previous version of this article stated Bill Holland’s title as “New Mexico policy director for the League of Conservation Voters.” It has been updated to “State Policy Director for the League of Conservation Voters.”

WHY NOW Developers have finally figured out how to write software that takes better advantage of the multiple processing cores in the Cell chip that runs the PS3 and the Xenon CPU that powers the Xbox 360. By performing several tasks at once, the chips can execute billions more instructions per second than their predecessors. THE BENEFIT You’ll battle virtual enemies as smart and unpredictable as real people, experience adventures that are different every time you play, and control games without a joystick....

A complement to Arleigh Burke–class destroyers that currently protect the Navy’s prized aircraft carriers from aerial attacks, the Zumwalt-class destroyer is for laying waste to land. It can evade enemy detection; slip into the shallows along foreign coastlines; and deliver devastatingly accurate firepower hundreds of miles inland, supporting special operations ashore, clearing the way for amphibious troop landings, or knocking out air defenses. It’s a seaborne battering ram—a specialized piece of equipment for smashing in the enemy’s front door....

“USVDIV One will be a catalyst for innovation as we employ unmanned surface capabilities in the Pacific Fleet,” said Vice Admiral Roy Kitchener, who presided over the ceremony establishing USVDIV One. “The implementation of unmanned systems will increase decision speed and lethality to enhance our warfighting advantage.” The specific vessels in the divisions include Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk, sister ships built for DARPA’s anti-submarine warfare program. These boats were designed for long continuous operations, with sensors pointed under the sea to find and track submarines hiding in the vastness of the ocean....

Those missiles were two Neptunes, a Ukrainian design based on an older Soviet anti-ship missile model, but upgraded for modern warfare. Those upgrades appear to have paid off, giving Ukrainian defenders on land the reach and power to destroy a hostile enemy. The ability of missiles to destroy ships with existing anti-missile defenses will shape future planning. The US Navy is already investing in anti-missile lasers to protect its own vessels from such attacks, and any navy considering future wars near coasts will have to take into account the possibility of powerful anti-ship missiles in the arsenals of its enemies....

During the call, Apple CFC Luca Maestri said, “Last year we started selling new iPhones in late September. This year, we project supply to be available a few weeks later.” He didn’t offer specific reasoning behind the delay, but it seems very likely that supply chain issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic play a significant role. Rumors around the upcoming iPhone release have been relatively scattered compared to recent years....

Not only does the new EV motorcycle build on Triumph’s streetfighter knowhow with its gas-burning Speed Triple lineup, which is similar in form to the TE-1, but based on the specs recently unveiled by the company, the TE-1 aims to completely blow every other electric motorcycle out of the water. Triumph’s upcoming electric whip will be perhaps the most advanced e-motorcycle to hit the asphalt, and other bikemakers are going to have a new target to aim for in the next decade....