All posts tagged: blob

This creepy blob robot will keep going even if you break its legs

This creepy blob robot will keep going even if you break its legs

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. It seems like every week there’s another example of a new robot modeled after a real creature in the animal kingdom. From dogs and bats, to roaches and desert lizards, the natural world is a constant source of inspiration for engineers. But while most robotics researchers use animals as a base for their machine’s movement, an ambitious team of Duke University engineers set out to make something entirely new: a robot whose form factor and movement aren’t derived from biology, but from the universe’s underlying physics. Say hello to Argus, a 20-legged, blob-looking robot capable of seeing in all directions at the same time and able to move almost instantly in any direction. The amorphous-looking sphere has no top or bottom, no left …

‘Melts into an oozy blob’: the best supermarket brie, tasted and rated | Cheese

‘Melts into an oozy blob’: the best supermarket brie, tasted and rated | Cheese

Published by Sam Flores

Brie and baguette is one of life’s simplest pleasures, to be enjoyed anywhere from a park bench to halfway up a mountain, and with no knife or kit required. It’s a soft, white, mould-ripened cheese made from raw or pasteurised cow’s milk, and has a characteristically soft texture. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Gently warmed milk is separated into curds with rennet, then inoculated with Penicillium candidum (sometimes called P camemberti), which gives it that characteristic flavour and white mould rind. It’s then transferred to moulds, salted and ripened for a month or longer. It originally hails from the Brie region in northern France. I tasted each cheese at room temperature, after giving it at least an hour’s rest. That’s because packaging, long storage and refrigeration tend to intensify the natural farmyardy ammonia created by the ripening process, and by giving the cheese time to breathe, those intense aromas soften and dissipate. It’s my ambition to judge the World Cheese Awards …

This 5 Watch Is a Marvel of Y2K Blob Design

This $195 Watch Is a Marvel of Y2K Blob Design

Published by Jenni Sidey

Distinguished by soft, fluid shapes and bright colors, blobjects would define cutting-edge design in the late ’90s and early aughts. Oakley Eye Jackets? Blobject. The VW New Beetle? Blobject. Translucent blue iMac G3? Peak blobject. The Big Tic wasn’t the only blobject watch (the Nike Triax and Oakley Time Bomb are other textbook examples), but its amorphous ana-digi design offered something unique. “The Big Tic captured a very specific late-’90s tech moment,” says Ryan White, senior creative director of Fossil Watches. “It captured the shift toward expressive, approachable technology. It turned time itself into a playful, animated experience rather than just aa function.” The Big Tic was one of Fossil’s most popular creations of the pre-smartwatch days, and was produced in dozens of variants—including collabs with blob-loving designers like Philippe Starck and Frank Gehry—many of which are still available on eBay. As part of a cohort that included the first camera phone, the first BlackBerry two-way pager, and the “Clamshell” Apple iBook G3—all of which also debuted in 1999—the Big Tic was also the product …

Hubble spots massive sandwich-shaped blob in deep space

Hubble spots massive sandwich-shaped blob in deep space

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Scientists are leaving space fans with one more tasty treat before the year comes to a close. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers captured a stunning image of the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed, which just happens to be shaped like a giant celestial sandwich. The massive formation of dust and gas, which astronomers call Dracula’s Chivito, resides about 1,000 light-years from Earth and spans roughly 400 billion miles. To put that in perspective, NASA estimates this disk is about 40 times the diameter of our own solar system. But aside from making stomachs rumble, astronomers say more research into the vampire disk could provide new insights into the early formation of other planetary systems, possibly even our own. Researchers go on to suggest this unusually volatile disk might, “represent a scaled-up version of our early solar system.” The astronomers’ new findings were published this week in The Astrophysical Journal.  Hubble Spots Giant Vampire Sandwich? Vampire Disk offer glimpses into dramatic …