Sarah Bergbreiter: Why I make robots the size of a grain of rice (TED Talk)

By studying the movement and bodies of insects such as ants, Sarah Bergbreiter and her team build incredibly robust, super teeny, mechanical versions of creepy crawlies … and then they add rockets. See their jaw-dropping developments in micro-robotics, and hear about three ways we might use these little helpers in the future.

Japan's virtual dressing rooms (BBC News)

Toshiba has developed a "digital changing booth" that lets customers virtually try on clothes through a display.

The system uses an off-the-shelf 3D scanner and a camera to analyse the customer's body, and then sizes the clothes to fit.

A companion app uses your mobile device to let you mix and match outfits, or place an order.

Toshiba is one of several companies developing virtual dressing rooms using body-scanning technology; unlike rivals, however, they hope to have the booths installed in Japan later this year.

Are machine-written signatures binding? (BBC news)

Signing a document - what could be easier? It takes a few seconds. But do it several thousand times and the task gets more onerous. The likes of US President Barack Obama and the Queen would spend weeks dealing with documents like Christmas cards and letters, not to mention risking serious repetitive strain injuries.

Continue reading the main story

Many famous people use a device called a ghostwriter, an autopen or a signing machine. It copies the signature from a template and reproduces it many times using a real pen. This is deemed more authentic than simply printing a scanned signature.

But there are questions of legality to consider. 

Read the article on the BBC site

The unbeatable poker playing machine (BBC news)

Researchers at the University of Alberta have created a program that is unbeatable at the game of Texas hold'em poker.

The algorithm, called Cepheus, is able to learn from each playing hand and over time improve its decision making and strategy.

It is even available online for people to test, query and even play against.

The Empty Pickle Jar Movie for Simple Truths

Computers 'judge personality better than friends

Computers can be better at predicting our personality than our friends and family, an experiment with tens of thousands of volunteers has indicated.

Read the full BBC Article

Warriors of the net

This video will help you better understand how data is transmitted on a network

A boy oversleeps on train, uses Google Maps to find family 25 years later