Light-Powered Maglev Motion

Simplistic now, cool potential:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AJ7fMVp_O5s

Flutter

An amusing and highly functional little app for Google Chrome!

https://flutterapp.com/

Legged Squad Support System Robot in Action

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/12/19.aspx

Computer gaming improves brain function

This article is about testing for IQ:

http://www.uwo.ca/its/brain/iqmyth/

But this line stood out in the results:

“Intriguingly, people who regularly played computer games did perform significantly better in terms of both reasoning and short-term memory, says study researcher Adam Hampshire from Western’s Brain and Mind Institute. “And smokers performed poorly on the short-term memory and the verbal factors, while people who frequently suffer from anxiety performed badly on the short-term memory factor in particular.”

Kurzweil Joins Google!

Google has just hired futurist Ray Kurzweil to be Director of Engineering:

http://singularityhub.com/2012/12/16/ray-kurzweil-teams-up-with-google-to-tackle-artificial-intelligence/

The AI and Singularity visionary coupled with massive financing? I think this is the best boost we've had yet.

I’m Just a Love Machine

More on the likelihood of developing sexbots:

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20121212

10 Reasons to be Terrified of Robots

http://listverse.com/2012/12/13/10-reasons-to-be-terrified-of-robots/

Most human-realistic robot muscular-skeletal system so far

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6JNq1COqB_s

Global Trends: 2030

http://www.kurzweilai.net/global-trends-2030-alternative-worlds?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=75bb0dfaab-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email

Computer System to Track What You're Thinking

No, this is nothing snazzy like mind-reading, but it's a cool idea for computers detecting what you're interested in and helping provide it to you:

http://www.aol.com/video/a-computer-that-knows-what-youre-thinking/517576308/?ncid=wsc-video-cards-image

Organic Material Flows Like Liquid But Returns to its Original Shape

Bizarre stuff:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec12/ShapeGel.html

Programmable Matter

This robot can reconfigure itself into various simple shapes, like protein does:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AQf0qsRTsoA