Spotting Walruses from Space

On this week's news update…

3-D Printing

3-D printing with a twist…

Walruses

Spotting walruses from space…

Robot Technology

And another leap for robot technology!

First up…

In nature, it is unusual to see perfectly straight edges.

Plants can curve and change shape in a similar way to human muscles!

3-D printer

Now, scientists have designed a 3-D printer that can create soft and flexible structures similar to those found in nature!

The printer uses four different cartridges, which are each filled with a different material. The materials are then fed through a high-tech nozzle. As the nozzle rotates, the materials are mixed together to create twisted, flexible structures.

Scientists hope the 3-D printer will soon be able to produce spongy artificial muscles that could be used in robots!

Up next…

walruses

Walruses live in icy waters near the Arctic.

The long-tusked mammals hunt for food on the seafloor, and spend lots of time socializing! Unfortunately, much of the ice they live on is melting. This forces them to spend more time on dry land, which is further away from their feeding grounds.

To find out how climate change is affecting walruses in different parts of the Arctic, scientists need to count them. But because walruses live over such large areas, it is very difficult to find them all!

So scientists are using images taken from satellites in space!

The satellite photos show herds of walruses in different locations around the Arctic. However, because there are so many photos to look through, scientists hope members of the public will help them count the walruses in each one.

WWF and the British Antarctic Survey are asking anyone interested in taking part to sign up on their website!

And finally…

Tech Beat

It's Tech Beat!

Working on a construction site requires many skills. Workers need to be fit, smart, and flexible. Now, a company called Boston Dynamics is developing a robot that could one day help out on construction sites.

Named Atlas, the humanoid robot has been put through its paces in a high-tech test. The robot was asked to carry a bag of tools to someone building scaffolding. Atlas used high-tech cameras to find and pick up the bag, before navigating a series of obstacles like a human would!

The test shows how robots could one day help humans with all sorts of tasks. But it will still be some time before robots are working on real construction sites!

That's all for this week, we'll see you next time!