So far we’ve showcased paper artwork, robots and USB drives here on Inhabitat – and now researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam-Golm have utilized sheets of paper to create targeted conductive structures. Using an inkjet printer, the team was able to deposit a catalyst on paper and heat it, turning the surface into graphite that is able to conduct electricity. The team, Led by Cristina Giordano, is now pioneering the field of carbon electronics.

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Post tags: carbon, carbon electronics, catalyst, cost effective, cristina giordano, Electricity, graphene, graphite, inkjet printer, lightweight, max planck institute of colloids and interfaces, minerva, origami crane, Paper, potsdam-golm

It takes real skill to turn salvaged materials into something new and exciting, which is why we applaud Pickett Furniture‘s creative spin on recycling. They were on hand this weekend at BKLYN Designs, where we got to check out their unique handcrafted furnishings and accessories made from responsibly sourced wood and vintage textiles. Read on to see more of their eclectic and charming bamboo lamps, vintage Marimekko fabric pillows and kids’ toys!

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Post tags: brooklyn chamber of commerce, Brooklyn Designs, eco design, furniture design, green design, home goods, house ware, industrial design, inhabitat, inhabitat nyc, Jeremy Pickett, new york city, pickett, Pickett Furniture Company, reclaimed wood, recycled aluminium, Recycled Materials, salvaged materials, salvaged wood, sustainable design, west elm

The first sure sign of a robot uprising will be when robots gain self-awareness and begin acting autonomously – and if this self-assembling robot is any indication, we’re well on our way to the robopocalypse. Researchers at Harvard and MIT teamed up to produce a 3D-printed inchworm robot that is able to aseemble itself. Using shape memory polymers that automatically fold into desired shapes, the remarkable bot transforms itself from a completely flat, two-dimensional object into a walking inchworm-shaped robot with almost no help from human hands.

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Post tags: 3D printing, 3d-printed inchworm robot, 3D-printed robot, harvard, ICRA 2013, inchworm robot, MIT, robots, self-assembling robot, Self-folding robot

NASA’s Mars Rover might have captured headlines, but a new bot deployed in Greenland might be doing even more important work. NASA’s newest scientific rover, a robot known as GROVER, is on its way to Greenland for over a month of testing on the ice-covered country’s highest elevations. GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, is powered by the sun and will help scientists better understand changes in the quickly-shrinking ice sheet.

Read the rest of NASA Sends ‘Grover’ Solar-Powered Rover Right Over Greenland’s Shrinking Arctic Ice Sheet

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Post tags: Arctic, arctic ice, Climate Change, global warming, greenland, Grover Eco Rover, nasa, robots, Rover, scientific research

Inspecting wind turbines is not for the faint of heart. Some of the largest wind turbines possess rotating blades that are hundreds of feet in length suspended at dizzying heights, and getting up close to equipment is no easy task. Yet where humans dare not tread, machines have no fear. Wisconsin-based Helical Robotics just debuted its HR-MP20, a climbing robot that can wirelessly scale a wind turbine and climb out onto the blades. At only 42lbs, the robot can move at max speed of 232.5 feet per minute, all while being controlled by a human back on the ground.

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Post tags: "wind turbine", climb, digital camera, helical robotics, hr-mp20, neodymium magnets, radio control, robot, wireless, wisconsin

Last year we reported on Heriot-Watt University’s Coralbot project, which aims to deploy swarms of intelligent robots to help rebuild coral reefs around the world. Now the Coralbots’ makers have turned to crowdfunding in an effort to complete their robots and send them down into the Scottish seas.

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Post tags: Climate Change, coral, coral damage, coral reefs, coralbots, global warming, Heriot-Watt University, kickstarter, Ocean Cleanup Array, reef, reef repair

The world’s first algae-powered building just opened in Hamburg! Dubbed the BIQ House, the project features a bio-adaptive algae facade and it will serve as a testing bed for sustainable energy production in urban areas and self-sufficient living buildings. International design firm Arup worked with Germany’s SSC Strategic Science Consultants and Austria-based Splitterwerk Architects to develop the BIQ House, which launched as part of Hamburg’s International Building Exhibition.

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Post tags: algae as insulator, algae as shade, algae power, arup, bio-reactor facade, biomass, BIQ House, BIQ House opens, high-rise farms, Hmaburg, International Building Exhibition, jet-powered maintenance robots, photovoltaic paint, self-sufficient living buildings, solar thermal heat, Splitterwerk Architects, SSC Strategic Science Consultant, the future of green building

We’ve been following Liquid Robotics’ solar and wave-powered robot here at Inhabitat for some time as it’s gone from tracking great white sharks and hurricanes to making a record-breaking trip across the Pacific. And now, the company just announced a new surfboard-sized robot called the SV3 that opens up a whole new world of ocean exploration.

Read the rest of Wave Glider SV3: Liquid Robotics Unveils Faster, More Powerful Wave and Solar-Powered Robot

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Post tags: liquid robotics, Liquid Robotics Hawaii, Liquid Robotics SV3, ocean exploration, ocean research, solar powered ocean exploration, solar powered robot, SV3 robot, SV3 wave glider, wave glider, wave powered ocean exploration, wave powered robot

Scientists from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the Research Center on Animal Cognition have used robot technology to shed light on how ants forage and navigate. By creating sugar cube-sized machines called “Alices”, the researchers successfully replicated the movement patterns of Argentine ants without having to program the robots. The Alices left light trails that were able to be detected by the other units via sensors – a process similar to the way ants leave chemical markers. By choosing the path that deviated the least from their trajectory through a maze, the robots mimicked the behaviors of the insects.

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Post tags: alices, ant colony, argentine ants, maze, mimic, new jersey institute of technology, path, research center on animal cognition, robots, trail

Researchers at Germany’s Doppelbock University just opened the door to the future of rapid prototyping technology by developing the world’s first 3D-printed 3D printer! Dubbed the Ecophage, the duplicitous device is capable of using readily available materials to create copies of itself – albeit at a slightly smaller scale. Best of all, it’s outfitted with a built-in material re-processor that can convert virtually any carbon-based substance into filament for 3d-printing.

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Post tags: "april fools", 3d printed 3d printer, 3d printer, 3D printing, april 1st, green design, green technology, grey goo, molecular nanotechnology, self-replicating machines, self-replicating robots, sustainable design, three dimensional printing

The Apple rumor-mill is buzzing again, this time over plans for a new device that will really have legs. Actually, mostly arms: Apple’s iBot is still in early prototype stages, and focus has centered on the robot’s extraordinary upper body dexterity, which will enable it to be used not only in the Apple manufacturing process, but the device will also be made available to consumers themselves as an extension of Apple’s move into the home entertainment market.

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Post tags: "april fools", apple, apple ibot, Apple robot, apple robots, kid robots, manufacturing robots, robots, robots take over world

Over the past few years, many scientists have looked to nature for inspiration and brought us robotic animals ranging from fish to cheetahs, fleas and even bees. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology‘s latest development—an amphibious salamander-like robot named Salamandra robotica II—is poised to help researchers to gain greater understanding of how vertebrates move.

Read the rest of Amphibious Robot Salamander Could Aid Medical Reseach in Switzerland

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Post tags: BIOSwimmer, Boston Dynamics, cheetah, robot animals, robot salamander, robotics, robots, Salamandra robotica II, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

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Post tags: 3d Printed space station, Dr. Ondrej Doule, eco design, Foster + Partners, green design, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Katarina Eriksson, Lunar station, nasa, Sinterhab, sustainable design, Tomas Rousek

Beijing’s Aeronautics and Astronautics University just launched their “Polar Rover,” an autonomous research vessel that is exploring the effects of global warming on Antarctica. The 300 kilogram machine runs around the clock thanks to energy produced by a HoYi! turbine – Urban Green Energy’s (UGE) smallest vertical axis wind turbine. The Polar Rover and turbine are both built to withstand frigid temperatures, polar winds, geomagnetic interference and cosmic rays.

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Post tags: antarctica, china, clean tech, eco design, global warming, green design, HoYi! Wind Turbine, Polar Rover, renewable energy, science, sustainable design, tech, UGE, urban green energy

Honey bee populations around the world are in decline due to causes ranging from ‘super mites‘ to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and even cell phones – and if the insects disappear completely the planet’s ecosystems would be in peril. The issue has become so dire that now a team of Harvard and Northeastern University scientists are working on a swarm of miniature Robobee robots that could pollinate flowers and do the job of real bees if required.

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Post tags: bee loss, bees, biomimicry, harvard, miniature robots, Northeastern University, robert wood, robobees, robot bees, robot swarm

Shipping containers have emerged as a popular material for building everything from backyard retreats to temporary shelters and coffee shops. Now DARPA has harnessed the giant metal boxes for use in defense and disaster relief. The Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform (TEMP) links the 20-40 ft containers together like giant LEGO bricks to form floating platforms and bridges.

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Post tags: adjustable, caat, captive air amphibious transporters, cargo, darpa, distaster, gps, grasp lab, hook-and-tether, lego, military, modular, relief, shipping container, supplies, tactically expandable maritime platform, temp, University of Pennsylvania

Last year, we reported that MIT’s cheetah robot broke the speed record for four-legged robots by running at 18mph. Now, MIT researchers say that their robotic version of the wild cat may soon outpace its animal counterpart in running efficiency! The robot’s streamlined stride and its lightweight electric motors produce high torque with very little energy wasted.

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Post tags: all terrain robot, bigdog, bigdog robot, Boston Dynamics, cheetah, darpa, ls3, power arm, robots, us army robot

Over the years, robotics company Boston Dynamics has developed a number of robots that take inspiration from nature such as the Cheetah, PETMAN and Rise. Among the most famous of their designs is BigDog, a rough-terrain robot that can walk, run, climb and carry heavy loads. Recently Boston Dynamics equipped the heavy-duty machine with a power arm that is powerful enough to lift and toss a heavy cinder block.

Read the rest of Boston Dynamics Equips BigDog Robot With an Arm Strong Enough to Throw Cinder Blocks

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Post tags: all terrain robot, bigdog, bigdog robot, Boston Dynamics, cheetah, darpa, ls3, power arm, robots, us army robot

Scientists at the Univeristy of Science and Technology of China have developed an environmentally friendly method of creating carbon nanotube aerogels. The ultra light, fire-resistant material is made from bacterial cellulose, and it could have a wide variety of applications in fields such as nanotechnology, electronics, optics, material science and architecture.

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Post tags: aerogel lithium-ion batteries, aerogel oil-spill cleanup, aerogels, biomass, carbon nanotube aerogels, chinese researchers, elastic carbon aerogels, fire-proof materials, green technology, lightweight materials, nanotechnology, ultralight materials

Read the rest of Melbourne’s Sealight Pavilion is Designed for Contemplating the Elements

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Post tags: Architecture, Art, australia, Cypress, Daylighting, Felicetti, grimshaw, habitable sculpture, John Stanislav Sadar, Melbourne Docklands, monash university, reclaimed wood, Recycled Materials, Rintala Eggerstsson, Sealight Pavilion, water issues