• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Tech Roundup

Tech Roundup

August 22, 2014
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/140822_sciup_tech.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

77656_web Courtesy Mike Rubenstein and Science AAAS.
Kilobots. (Mike Rubenstein and Science/AAAS)

Harnessing tiny brains to do great things. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

A single bee isn’t very smart, but a bee colony manages to build a hive and make honey. In the journal Science, Harvard researchers describe their Kilobot project, in which tiny individual robots with very little brain power can work together to arrange themselves into complex shapes, like a star or the letter K. It’s a bit like a robot flash mob, and working out how the simple machines can cooperate most effectively will be the first step toward designing teams of robots to complete complicated tasks.

In other news, Australian researchers report why sewer pipes are corroding and failing in urban areas worldwide: sulfur-based chemicals used to make water safe to drink. The chemicals form acids that eat away at concrete pipes. They say that replacing the chemicals with cheap alternatives could save billons of dollars. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Brain Science, Engineering & Technology, Environment & Conservation, Medicine & Health
Previous Post:Sea Hare Ink
Next Post:Richard III’s Diet

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos