IT outage rocks the world

Australia was the first in line as the latest global IT outage brought systems to a grinding halt. At about 9am Sydney time on Friday, it all kicked off, with transport, healthcare, media, and healthcare systems taking the brunt. Airlines had to cancel flights, TV screens went blank, hospitals were paralysed, and doctors were unable … Read more

Low-cost artificial ‘muscles’ developed for safer, softer robots

Stand aside Arnold Schwarzenegger, a new kid is in town ready to flex his muscles. Engineers have developed a low-cost artificial actuator that moves by expanding and contracting just like a human muscle. The breakthrough from a team at Northwestern University means that low-cost, simplified soft actuators enable worm-like crawling and bicep-like lifting. The researchers … Read more