Slashdot Mirror
Domain: aist.go.jp
Stories and comments across the archive that link to aist.go.jp.
Stories · 4
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Bipedal Dinosaur Robot
News for nerds writes "AIST and NEDO announced they have developed 2 bipedal dinosaur robots for the EXPO 2005 Aichi, Japan(Mar.25-Sep.25). PC Watch has an article with pics/movies and TBS News has a movie. Tyrannosaurus Rex and Parasaurolophus are modeled as 3.5m/80kg robots, and cost $1.8 million to build. They can roar and walk with an artificial pounding sound, but not as fearsome as Mechagodzilla. The external skin is designed by Kokoro Co., Ltd. and the endoskelton is developed by Kawada Industries, Inc. which is the manufacturer of the HRP-2 Humanoid Robot." -
Evidence of Magnetic Monopoles Found?
TheMatt writes "As reported on PhysicsWeb and published in Science (subscription required), researchers at AIST and co-workers believe they have found evidence of magnetic monopoles. They observed an anomalous Hall effect in a ferromagnetic crystal that they say can only be explained via magnetic monopoles. To refresh your memory, magnetic monopoles are the magnetic analogue of electrons and other charged particles--a "north" or "south" pole only. Dirac in 1931 showed that the existence of a magnetic monopole naturally leads to the quantization of electric and magnetic charge. Thus, showing the existence of just one magnetic monopole would be quite profound for physics, but their mass (> 10^16 GeV) has made searches for them difficult." -
Pointing the Way for Micro Motion
netjeff writes: "As reported in the 27 Oct 2001 issue of Science News, Japanese researchers have found a way to control movement of microtubules. They wanted to get the tubules to move around a circular track in one direction, but the tubules would move randomly. Their solution? Simply point the way. More precisely, etch arrowheads into the circular track, and the tubules will move in that direction only. A good example showing that building micro-machines requires a different way of thinking compared to building macro-machines." -
Humanoid Powered by Linux
lems1 was among the avalanche of people who submitted this Linux powered Humanoid. The website has pictures and videos if you're curious. We're not exactly worrying about him seeking out the blue fairy or anything, but its nifty.