Featured Story

The Problem With Asimo: Tabloid Humanoid Is Holding Back Bots

Sure, the superstar Honda robot can conduct orchestras and run around Disneyland. But at $1 million and without specific research goals in sight, can Asimo actually lead the consumer robotics revolution—or just the hype machine? PM's resident geek offers his report card.

Previous Robotics Stories

Autonomous 3D Robot Doc Gets X-Ray Powers With DIY A.I. Looks like the robotic uprising could be headed for the OR after all, as a new feasibility study from Duke University portends to usher in a new era of unmanned surgery.
FIRST Robotics Revs Up Science Ed in the Bot Cage (With Video!) Imagine robotics as a varsity sport. Sixty-two teams from mostly tri-state schools convened to celebrate geeky prowess with all the enthusiasm of the Final Four—right down to the cheerleaders. Their goal: Advance to the national competition in Atlanta.
Next-Gen Inventions, CIA Gadget Building, Baseball Science and More: Podcast America’s patent office might stand on the brink of an open-source revolution, but whatever happened to turning heady science into practical new gadgets? PM resident roboticist Daniel H. Wilson joins us to dream up inventions we might have in our 22nd-century households.
BattleBots Returns, but Will 'Science Fair Gone Mad' Grab Geeks? The robot death match show switches from Comedy Central to ESPN, and brings a competitive engineering spirit along for the ride. But will new rules, a modified arena and a brains-over-babes attitude make it a hit?
Students Dig in to FIRST Robotics Race With Next-Gen Builds Every year teams have a different set of obstacles to maneuver with their robots, which they build mostly from a standard kit of parts. As fans of anything that culminates in a botfest, PM editors decided to pop in on a couple of New York City teams (with video).
The Toughest, Smartest, Best Terminators of All Time In honor of Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, our favorite new sci-fi TV show, PM’s resident geek offers a thorough evaluation—from intimidation to design and intelligence to destruction—on the franchise's robotic evolution since Arnold.
Robot Paradox: Automated Gizmos Are Ready for Home—Are We? The far-flung consumer robotics industry became more crowded at CES. Will household bots live on as kids’ entertainment, their babysitters or simple the family maid? With an identity in reach, the robot market fights to keep up with its own pace of innovation.
First Firefighting Robots Deployed, Could Spark Autonomous Dept. When you have money to burn, robots are the best kind of first responders: the disposable kind. Bomb-squad bots are common, but remote-controlled firefighters are just now in the field. They could save money stop humans from walking into a bomb.
The Android Effect, Robot Cars, Recycling 2.0 and More: Podcast Self-driving vehicles were tearing up the streets at the DARPA Urban Challenge, and we’ve got a report from race-side. Plus, the lowdown on cellphones, news on the state of garbage, war stories from Detroit spy Jim Dunne and a new segment with Mike Allen.
How I Survived a Zero-G Robot Operating Room: Extreme Surgeon PM’s resident doc goes head-to-head with new robo-surgeons to help develop unmanned emergency operations for the battlefield and, some day, a mission to Mars.
View Full Science: Robotics Archive

Military & Law Enforcement

The New Cold War

PM maps the arms race between Russia and the U.S., with six hotspots and a snapshot of weapons deals.

Worst-Case Scenarios

NYC Crain Collapse: Was It Predicted?

After a major collapse in March, causes of the new crash are more obscure. If the crane did meet all city safety regulations, what went wrong?

PLUS: How to Fix U.S. Infrastructure

Future of Space

First Pix From Mars!

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander didn't blow up—it shot these breathtaking images of the Martian arctic surface.

Drive Green

10 Quick MPG Tips

Our guest MPG geek breaks down the vehicle mods, driving habits and common-sense fixes you need to know to max out your tank.

Research

MIT Week

At the breakthrough university, PM's resident geek finds a window into new research, from robotics to race cars.

NEW: Car Batteries 2.0

Technology

iPhone 2.0 Countdown

On Monday morning, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will unveil a 3G-enabled iPhone. But are other functions more important?

Drive Green

Algae's Big Moment

After years of hype as the mucky green grail of the oil crunch, algae is finally taking on its "impossible" hurdles to move from test tubes to barrels.

Extreme Machines

Beyond the LHC

Forget the Large Hadron Collider: These five supersize science projects don’t just look cool—they’re hunting big mysteries.

PLUS: Real-Life Indy 4 Machine!

Technology

Turn Your PS3 Into a PC

With a little effort and expense, we turned a PS3 into a Linux computer—without losing any of its gaming goodness. And we're giving it away.

Technology

Microhoo: What Would've Been

Yahoo played hard-to-get, and Microsoft walked away, but what would a merger have looked like? Engadget's legal geek weighs in.

PLUS: As Spring Preps, Lessons on WiMAX Rollout

Drive Green

Top 10 X Prize Cars

The most comprehensive, up-to-date scouting report on the field for the 100-mpg car of tomorrow.

Digital Hollywood

Debunking Lost's Science

As the show returns, its creators reveal the making of high-tech mythology—and let slip a few secrets about the island’s future.

Special Report

Rebuilding America

PM's report on fixing U.S. infrastructure examines new plans for bridges and beyond.

Health & Medicine

10 High-Tech Health Breakthroughs Coming Soon to Your Body

Health care has come a long way since whole-body bloodletting. But medicine of the future will make even today's broad-based therapies obsolete. Breakthroughs such as cancer-hunting nanoparticles, virus-busting lasers and featherweight heart monitors have begun to usher in a new era of targeted treatment.

Election News

Geek the Vote '08

The presidential race hangs in the balance, and PM compiles the candidates' science and tech proposals.

SPACE: Obama vs. Clinton

Air & Space

Best of PM Aviation

From new personal jets and flying adventures to airport woes and high-tech airliners, take to the skies with us.

PLUS: 10 Ways to Fix Air Travel

Election News

Primary Sci/Tech Issues

The Democratic race winds down as Hillary Clinton tries to hang on against Barack Obama. Get behind their policies—and John McCain's—with PM's Geek the Vote '08 guide.

My Popular Mechanics

Join PM's User-Powered Motorcycle Community!

Rev up with myBike to upload rides from your garage, rate others, make biker buddies and chat on message boards!

• PLUS: How to Ride a Motorcycle
• VIDEO: Pick the Right Bike for You
• REVIEW: Test-Driving New Gear

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Current Issue

Google X Prize, Mythbusters & More!

Want to take $20 million off Google's hands? Our DIY guide to building a lunar rover could make you the next X Prize winner—really.

Reviews

Future Warfare: New DVD

PM's four-hour, two-disc set deploys battle footage, CG animation, live-action weapons testing and expert interviews to examine everything from robot warriors to UAVs.