Scientists Have Built a Shark-Sucking Robot That Is Hideous and Cool
If you've ever watched "Shark Week," you know those weird fish stuck just below sharks' gaping maws—well, now there's a robotic version of those little guys. Researchers led by Li Wen at Beihang University in China have built a robot based on the slender sharksucker (yep, that's its name). The the soft robot is really more of an underwater suction cup with a twist: the rigid carbon spines on the inside move in eerie waves, looking very much alive (and not a little creepy).
In tests, the researchers showed the robo-remora could attach to all kinds of different surfaces, including dolphin and shark skin, and could withstand pull-off forces up to 340 times its weight. Wang's team figure the remora-bot could be a great way for autonomous underwater vehicles to hitch rides on things, thereby extending their missions. The work was published today in the journal Science Robotics (paywall).
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google
Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.