In the first days of my son’s life, during the fall of 2023, he spent much of the time when he wasn’t sleeping or eating engaged in what some cognitive scientists call “motor babbling.” His arms and ...

On a metallic door in San Francisco’s Mission District, a single character—“π”—offers a cryptic clue as to the virtuous circle of labor taking place beyond. The door opens to reveal furious activity ...

Biohybrid robots work by combining biological components like muscles, plant material, and even fungi with non-biological materials. While we are pretty good at making the non-biological parts work, ...

Noninvasive brain tech is transforming how people interact with robotic devices. Instead of relying on muscle movement, this technology allows a person to control a robotic hand by simply thinking ...

Our hands are works of art. A rigid skeleton provides structure. Muscles adjust to different weights. Our skin, embedded with touch, pressure, and temperature sensors, provides immediate feedback on ...

Anyone committed to building a particular skill is capable of experiencing the "ceiling effect," in which performance plateaus after years of training. For hobbyists, this is frustrating; for ...

Researchers at UC San Francisco have enabled a man who is paralyzed to control a robotic arm that receives signals from his brain via a computer. He was able to grasp, move and drop objects just by ...