A lightweight liquid metal alloy that is less dense than water could be used to make exoskeletons and transformable flexible robots

Julia Ebner infiltrated the hidden forums that extremists use. Her experiences lay bare how they hijack social media and video games to spread hate – and how to beat them

A secret US Navy project known only as CLAWS will equip armed robot submarines with sensors and algorithms enabling them to destroy targets without explicit human control

A temporary coronavirus hospital ward in China is being staffed entirely by robots. Around 200 patients with mild symptoms will be fed and treated by machines, while medical staff issue commands from outside

A robot can recreate the mechanism plants use to transport water to bend itself towards the sun and open its leaves like a real plant

Robots are being developed to help with tasks like fixing the sea cages where fish are farmed, and their size seems to be all that affects how the fish react

A self-powered device that generates electricity from the wind can also absorb and break down harmful nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide from the air

The data centres servicing our beloved digital devices gobble huge amounts of electricity. A new way to think about heat and energy could help us meet growing demand without burning through the world's resources

TikTok's rise has been meteoric. With more than 3 million people a day now downloading the app, its success is down to more than just luck

An AI can detect the presence of smells and even distinguish between scents like ammonia or carbon monoxide, which could be useful for detecting hazardous odours

Flexible displays for wearable devices can now be made using fish scales instead of plastic – and the new displays biodegrade within a month of being discarded

Kate Darling researches human-robot interaction. She explains why we are prone to forming emotional connections with robots and what we can learn from our relationships with pets and other animals

Lab-grown ‘meat’ often uses gelatin produced in slaughterhouses to give artificial beef a meat-like texture – but substituting soya protein can achieve that without killing animals

Inside a mountain in the Arctic, Microsoft is building a backup of open-source software that it says will keep the code safe for 1000 years

Pollen has a natural tendency to adsorb mercury and forms the basis of a new class of tiny robots that speed through toxic water to purify it

An analysis of the media consumption habits of people in the US shows that fake news makes up a tiny fraction of what they watch or read every day

Is our love affair with AI really about building a new kind of deity to meet human needs no amount of rationality can fill? Max Barry's disturbing novel Providence lays out the case, says Sally Adee

Fabric with tiny vibrating motors elicits sensations associated with clouds, water and rocks on the skin and has been made into a dress that could improve emotions

An image-editing program designed by researchers at Abode uses AI to let you quickly transform the shape of objects in images and change the lighting

Artificial intelligence can tell whether a human or a bot is posting on Twitter based on how regularly they post and how much they reply to others, which could help identify fake accounts

An AI-powered application lets you create real-time deepfakes during video calls, making you appear to be speaking as anyone from Albert Einstein to the Mona Lisa

A cheap, lightweight smartphone-heated device can test for DNA in blood, urine and other samples in a fraction of the time it takes to test in a lab

Bamboo is a renewable material that when microwaved becomes stronger by weight than steel or concrete – which could make it ideal for constructing buildings, cars and planes

Black paint usually absorbs heat, but a new two-layer polymer paint reflects infrared light and keeps objects 16°C cooler, which could help make buildings more energy efficient

A 3D printed grate can be used to make a smart window that blocks heat from sunlight out in the summer while letting it through in the winter, conserving energy

Robots made of 3D-printed muscle and rat spines could help us understand conditions like motor neurone disease and the technique may eventually be used to build prosthetic devices

In TV series Devs, a tech company has built an extremely powerful quantum computer. The show is both beautiful and captivating, says Rowan Hooper

A robot that uses artificial intelligence to find and remove weeds could eventually be used as an alternative to chemical insecticides

Martha Wells's action-packed novel Network Effect puts you inside the head of a Murderbot. It raises fascinating questions you will think about for a long time, says Sally Adee

The UK government will begin trials of its coronavirus contact-tracing app this week, but what impact it will have on slowing the spread of covid-19 is unclear

Watch everything unfold in real time, rather than reading about it later.

TfL as in Transport for London. Greeeeeaaat.

On bank holiday... Friday. For NHS charities.

Sonos has been busy these past few months.

Why? Because that’s our reality here in the year 2020.

Get an all day breakfast on a pizza before you go on your killing spree. Only psychopaths will order this, is what I'm saying.

Not because of public concerns, although there are plenty of those, but because of the pandemic-induced plunge in local real estate.

This unusual contraption recreates the sounds of an old-school mechanical typewriter on a modern keyboard.

In addition to being a hotbed for pandemics, the cruise industry is an ethical and ecological abomination.

Sony has managed to best its top-of-the-line noise cancelling earbuds with a new, improved, and best of all, cheaper model.

However, this new arrival isn't exactly great news for the environment.

McDonald's is opening (some of) its doors next week, but if you want a bank holiday Big Mac fix, here's how.

With the acquisition of a start-up specialising in encrypted messaging and cloud services, Zoom will finally be able to make good on its claims of offering end-to-end encryption.

Don't analyse them too closely, they didn't have HD in the 1970s.

Strange as it may sound, Animal Crossing: New Horizons feels like where Breath of the Wild should have ended up gameplay-wise.

No going out to buy ingredients you don't already have, though. Crumpets are treats.

As well as announcing reminders to stay away from each other, the robots also estimate how many people are in the park at any given time.

It does make several enormous assumptions about the future that now seem perilously flaky.

Please, I implore you: jump on this bandwagon.

Up until now mask-wearing had only been an unenforced suggestion by the company.