A team of researchers at Harvard has taken inspiration from the way ants work together to design a team of robots that can complete complex tasks using only a few basic parameters

The researchers began by studying the way black carpenter ants excavate out of a soft corral, and they identified two key factors that enable their success: the strength of collective cooperation and the rate of excavation. Numerical simulations based on these parameters showed that the ants could only successfully excavate when they cooperated with each other while simultaneously excavating efficiently.

Armed with this knowledge, the researchers then set out to build robotic ants, or RAnts, that could work together to complete a similar task. Instead of using chemical pheromones to communicate with each other, the RAnts relied on "photormones," or fields of light, to mimic pheromone fields or antennation. The RAnts were programmed that enabled them to follow the gradient of the photoromone field, avoid other robots, and pick up obstacles where photoromone density was high and drop them where photoromone was low (see video about this here).

The RAnts were able to escape their confinement and complete the task. The researchers believe that this approach could be highly flexible and robust to errors in sensing and control, and it could be scaled up and applied to teams of dozens or hundreds of robots using a range of different types of communication fields. It's also more resilient than other approaches to collaborative problem solving - even if a few individual robotic units fail, the rest of the team can still complete the task.

Who knew that ants, those pesky critters that always ruin picnics, could be such a source of inspiration.

How Students Are Making Money literally while studying

Are you a student looking for a way to make some extra cash without sacrificing all of your precious free time? Look no further than Krash Kourse! By uploading your study sessions, you can share your knowledge with others and earn some extra cash while reviewing your material. It's like making money while doing almost nothing!

You'll be surprised at how much you can earn by sharing your wisdom with the world. Don't miss out on this opportunity - start uploading your study sessions to Krash Kourse today!

🔋New research points to solution for battery wear and tear

Researchers at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have finally found a solution to the age-old problem of battery wear and tear, a problem that has plagued mankind since the invention of the wheel. Using high-powered electron microscopes and computational modeling, the team was able to observe the degradation of lithium-ion batteries at an atomic level, uncovering a mysterious and often-ignored structural component known as the carbon binder domain (CBD).

"We always knew the CBD was important, but we never knew just how important it was until now," said Professor Y. Shirley Meng, who led the research. "It's like the duct tape of the battery world - it holds everything together and makes sure everything runs smoothly."

The team's findings could be a game-changer for the battery industry, providing a way to extend the life of lithium-ion batteries and saving consumers from the frustration of constantly having to replace their devices. "I mean, who has the time or money to constantly buy new batteries for their phone, laptop, or electric car?" said project scientist Minghao Zhang. "With this research, we can finally put an end to the battery woes of the world."

So the next time you're struggling with a dead phone or laptop battery, just remember - it's not your fault, it's the CBD's.