Anyone who's watched to the end of an episode of Lost knows the Bad Robot mascot. You know the little bastard who taunts you with his eyes, saying, "I know exactly how the rest of Lost unfolds, but you're just going to have to wait for it piece by piece, you poor slobs." To commemorate your slow, painful wait, JJ Abrams had these limited edition figurines made in a batch of 500. They're giving away 3 of them at Comic-con this week, where they'll be showing off a pilot of their new show, Fringe.

via gizmodo.com

According to a researcher in Washington, the secret to making more human like robots is to first understand how that human part works. For instance, in trying to make a robotic hand, they had first made the finger bone joints smooth. It turns out they worked better when they really copied what a finger bone looks like, with a bumpy and rough surface.

via technocrat.net

Sounds like a scene out of a sci-fi flick but is more real than we imagined it to be. It's much like any other training exercise, except the soldiers are accompanied by a, an armed robot the size of a Humvee vehicle called Mule (Multifunctional Utility/Logistics and Equipment) controlled with a remote slightly resembling the one we have for Playstation.

via newlaunches.com

This bobble head Darth Vader is designed for your monitor, where he can look down on you in shame. What has disgusted him so? You. Slob. I mean, you were the chosen one! Yes, you! You always knew it, too, but gave up on moving objects with your mind at an early age while settling for a brief stint at community college and a decent office job. Sure, you've got a nice dog and a decent girlfriend, but you could have been wielding lightsabers and sharing awkward sexual tension with your sister.

via gizmodo.com

You're never too big for toys, especially if it's a channel changer in the form of a Ray Gun. You can play pretend and imagine you are a part of the Star Trek team and zap the TV every now and then and flip the channels. For $18 it's not too much for a boy-toy but you will have to wait till August 16th for it to be available.

via newlaunches.com

Buffalo Japan today unveiled two new USB pen drives, based on famous cartoon characters. The "Ultraman" and "Rei Ayanami" are limited edition pen drives with 2GB storage capacity. According to the firm, only 3,000 copies of each drive are available. So go grab one for your child now.

via pclaunches.com

John Seabrook wrote a recent feature in The New Yorker about interactive-voice-response systems (I.V.R.) commonly used with customer service and tech support telephone hotlines. Seabrook spent time at B.B.N. Technologies watching these systems transcribe callers' words and analyzing the tone of voice for emotions present. While breaking down the history of automated telephone services and voice recognition.

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I simply can't get over the video of this cute Crabfu Motionworks' R/C Tortoise 'bot. Hilarious is what I would describe it especially if you keep the volume off. A set of of 4 sub-micro servos control its motion. Clever usage of cable keeps the tips secured onto his tiny legs. Each leg is tied to an independent channel and axis on the remote joysticks, hence it's quite a task to keep it going.

via newlaunches.com

Last year DARPA began the search for a company that could develop robots capable of squeezing through small openings and returning to their original size, shape, and functionality on the other side. Like most of DARPA's projects, the idea was way-out there. However, it appears that iRobot (the guys behind practical home robots like the Roomba vacuum and the Looj Gutter cleaner) have answered the call.

via gizmodo.com

Sega Toys is gearing up to roll out a new humanoid robot in Japan, E.M.A., on September 26th. E.M.A. stands for "Eternal, Maiden, Actualization" and EMA is a female, not the first female rbot. She stands 38 cm tall and boasts of a "glamorous body" and high level of interactivity. The robot can hand out business cards, it can sing and dance and walk "like a lady". But the most interesting aspect to her personality is that she can kiss you.

via newlaunches.com

In its filing to the FCC oh-so-politely asking for the okay to merge Sprint's and Clearwire's spectrum assets into the WiMax monolith New Clearwire (helpfully poked through by Ars), they make a lot of groovy promises to stoke the FCC's approval stamp into action. Like it'll be totally open: "New Clearwire will permit consumers to use any lawful device that they want so long as it is compatible" and you can "download and use any software applications, content, or services" as long they're not illegal or mucking up the network.

via gizmodo.com

Lego enthusiast Brian Kescenovitz created a Lego mecha with a hatch mechanism that reveals a pilot in the cockpit. Called the UM-5 War Doll, it's inspired by the VS suits from the game Lost Planet, but I can't help but think of MechWarrior. Best Lego mecha ever, right? [Monday Noodle's Lego Pages via Brothers Brick].

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Over at Intel's R&D fair, Wired got to play with a robot hand that is able to sense an object its about to come in contact with before actually touching it. Using electrolocation, the fingertips of the robot hand send out a weak electrical impulse, and approaching objects interfere with that impulse, which allows the hand to form to the object before touching it.

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Honda research engineers have given Asimo the ability to understand three voices at once, thanks to an array of eight microphones that can recognize each voice individually. The recognition software, HARK, can process the commands with 70-80 percent accuracy and the microphones are placed all over Asimo's head and body for spatial recognition purposes.

via gizmodo.com

The itty-bitty creepy crawlers of the night have a way of scaring people so much. It might have something to do with their multiple squiggly legs, their sometimes fury bodies, and maybe even the fear that this particular attacking moth might be the only one worldwide with fangs. Whatever the reason, the fear of insects is one of the most common phobias.

via coolest-gadgets.com