RoboticsExplainer
How a robot turns sensor readings into movement.
Follow the loop from sensing and localization to planning and control, and learn why timing and coordinate frames matter as much as a good-looking route.
AN INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGY PUBLICATIONEDITION 01 25 Oct 2026
TECHNOLOGY, IN CONTEXT
Technology,
worth a closer look.
Technology across disciplines, explained with context. Follow ideas across AI, robotics, computing, energy, space, living systems and beyond.
ComputingResearch brief
What if a chip could bend—and let you see through it?
A silicon-photonics fabrication process brings flexibility and transparency together, opening a different design space for optical devices.
EnergyExplainer
Battery capacity, energy and power are three different questions.
Learn what happens inside a rechargeable cell, how amp-hours differ from watt-hours, and how to read a battery headline without mixing material and pack results.
THE SIGNAL, WITH CONTEXT
A world of things worth knowing.
RoboticsResearch brief
A robot needs more than a destination. It needs a safe way there.
MIT's SANDO planner tackles moving obstacles in unmapped spaces. The interesting part is the boundary of its safety guarantee.
AIAnalysis
AI's next useful question: what can experts verify?
Google Research's October update points beyond chat interfaces. A useful way to read it is through the evidence behind each application.
ComputingResearch brief
What if a chip could bend—and let you see through it?
A silicon-photonics fabrication process brings flexibility and transparency together, opening a different design space for optical devices.
EnergyResearch brief
The tiny boundaries behind a big battery problem.
Research on solid electrolytes links electrical imbalances at crystal boundaries to a stubborn cause of battery failure.
SpaceResearch brief
Why NASA plans to connect Orion through Starlink lasers.
Two planned laser terminals would connect Orion to a commercial relay network. The useful question is how much data gets home during a usable link.
BiotechResearch brief
This swimming robot moves with muscle, guided by light.
MIT’s thin gel-and-muscle swimmer turns flashes of light into movement. Here is what the laboratory demonstration shows—and who supplies the steering.
BEYOND THE HEADLINE
Understand the idea underneath.
Follow the mechanism, try a worked example, and learn the questions to ask about the next announcement.
AIExplainer
How RAG gives an AI something to look up.
Understand retrieval-augmented generation, embeddings and citations with a worked example—and see why finding a source is not the same as proving an answer.
RoboticsExplainer
How a robot turns sensor readings into movement.
Follow the loop from sensing and localization to planning and control, and learn why timing and coordinate frames matter as much as a good-looking route.
EnergyExplainer
Battery capacity, energy and power are three different questions.
Learn what happens inside a rechargeable cell, how amp-hours differ from watt-hours, and how to read a battery headline without mixing material and pack results.
FOLLOW THE THREADS
Different fields. Connected futures.
An idea in one field can change what is possible in another. Explore the connections.
01
Artificial intelligence
Models, agents, and the work of making intelligence useful.
02Robotics
Machines that sense, move, and work in the physical world.
03Computing
Chips, software, and the infrastructure beneath the interface.
04Energy & climate
Storage, materials, and the engineering of a lower-impact world.
05Space
Exploration, satellites, and technologies built for the extreme.
06Biotechnology
Where living systems meet engineering and computation.
THE PRACTICAL SIDE
Good ideas deserve useful tools.
Make the assumptions visible. Our free calculators turn a question into something you can work with.
01 / ESTIMATE
Project estimator
Map the work, include the overlooked hours, and put a number to your next project.
02 / COMPARE
Running-cost calculator
See equipment, subscriptions, and electricity together. No hidden assumptions.