Author: Kirstin Fawcett

Meet Salto, a tiny jumping robot inspired by nature. Robotics experts at the University of California-Berkeley designed the adorable, one-legged bot to leap like the bush baby, or galago. Those small primates, native to eastern (and parts of Sub-Saharan) Africa, possess the ability to soar nearly 7 feet into the air in a single hop. Salto reportedly has the highest robotic vertical jumping agility ever recorded, and according to LiveScience, researchers hope to someday harness this ability to quickly scan rubble in search-and-rescue missions.

Salto (which is short for Saltatorial Locomotion Terrain Obstacles) stands 10 inches high, and weighs a mere .2 pounds. But what the robot lacks in size, it makes up for in nimbleness. Salto can leap to heights of more than 3 feet—and then jump again, and again. (Other robots can technically jump higher than Salto, but they have to “wind up” before repeating the process.) The speedy automaton can also climb at a rate of nearly 6 feet per second, faster than any other machine of its kind.

Salto is the brainchild of UC-Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab, and its members recently published news of its existence in the journal Science Robotics. The study’s lead author—Duncan Haldane, a robotics PhD student—said he was inspired to create a machine like Salto after conversing with first responders at an urban search-and-rescue training site. He envisioned a gadget that was tiny (and quick) enough to move through the rubble without dislodging it.

A machine like the one Haldane described would have to have superior jumping abilities, so he and his lab mates searched the animal kingdom for an animal with the requisite “vertical jumping agility”—a term they use to describe “the ratio of the maximum jump height to the time it takes to complete one jump.” The winner ended up being the bush baby, which can leap between tree branches at 7 feet per second.

The secret to the African primate’s famous jump is its legs: They’re able to crouch ultra-low toward the ground, which allows them to store energy in their tendons and release it en masse seconds later.

“Animals adapted specifically for jumping have this kind of super-crouch posture,” Haldane explains in a video recorded by UC-Berkeley. “The longer they stay in a crouch, the more energy they can transfer into their tendons and the more energy they can return for jumping. So we built into Salto the capability for a super-crouch.”

Salto’s “tendon” is a latex spring that’s attached to its motor, which twists before it lifts off to create—and release—jumping energy. It can’t jump quite like the bush baby, which can jump 2.24 meters per second. However, Salto comes close, with 1.75 meters per second.

Watch Salto in action in the video below.

[h/t LiveScience]

We know all about the hazards of drinking and driving, and we’re beginning to realize how dangerous distracted driving can be, too. But a new report compiled by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety highlights an oft-overlooked danger—getting behind the wheel while sleep-deprived. According to their findings, motorists who miss just one to two hours of the suggested seven or more hours of shut-eye nearly double their odds of a crash.

The report was based on data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and mined from police-reported crashes that involved a tow vehicle and/or an emergency medical response. Drivers involved in these incidents were asked how much sleep they had gotten in the prior 24 hours [PDF].

Not surprisingly, the AAA Foundation’s report found that the less sleep drivers got, the more their probability of a crash climbed: Those with only five to six hours of sleep under their belt were nearly twice as likely to crash, but drivers with only four or five hours of sleep risked four times the crash rate.

Sleep deprivation is bad across the board: In addition to making us moody, it diminishes our productivity at work (in turn, costing the U.S. economy $411 billion); hurts our memory; weakens our immune system; and may increase our risk for obesity, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Perhaps most dangerously, though, it causes cognitive impairment: One study found that subjects who hadn’t slept for 17 to 19 hours performed equivalent or worse on tests than if they had a blood-alcohol level of .05.

“You cannot miss sleep and still expect to be able to safely function behind the wheel,” Dr. David Yang, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s executive director, said in a news release.

Unfortunately, a good portion of drivers on the road are likely sleep-deprived: 35 percent of American adults sleep less than seven hours daily, according to a recent study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, nearly one in three drivers admitted to the AAA Foundation that they “drove when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open” in the past month.

It can be hard to gauge when you’re too tired to drive. According to the AAA Foundation, more than half of drivers involved in fatigue-related crashes reportedly experienced no symptoms before falling asleep behind the wheel. So before you get into the car, pay less attention to how you feel physically, and instead think back to whether you got seven or more hours. If you didn’t, consider taking public transit, contacting a cab or ride-sharing service, or taking a nap before you drive. As for longer road trips, avoid driving later at night, take regular breaks (every 100 miles or so), and have a companion in the passenger seat that will keep you awake and take over driving duties when you feel tired.

Origami isn’t just for artists anymore—it’s for chefs, too. If you’re looking to save kitchen space or simply streamline your culinary process, try cooking with quirky folding measuring spoons called Polygons.

At first glance, the flat, plastic apparatuses resemble rulers. But if you look closely, you’ll notice etched lines and numbers covering their surfaces. These marks tell you where to fold the level appliances, transforming them into measuring spoons of varying sizes.

Polygons spoons come in two different sizes—one that folds into tablespoons, another into teaspoons. Each includes four measurements that can hold wet or dry ingredients. After you measure out the ingredients and pour them into a mixing bowl, Polygons can collapse back into its original, unbent shape. (Bonus: This allows you to scrape any lingering ingredients off the “spoon,” into the bowl and clean it easily, or save space in a kitchen drawer.)

Polygons recently received full funding on Indiegogo, and the spoons are now available for preorder, with a projected March 2017 delivery date. Learn how the gadgets work in the video below.

Paris officials are turning an urban problem into a public service: They’re selling the city’s “love locks” as souvenirs and donating the proceeds to refugee groups, The Guardian reports.

For traveling couples, the padlocks they affixed to the iron grills of the French city’s bridges, initials scrawled on the surface, were a symbol of romance. But to Parisian officials, they were a civil danger. Fearing that the locks would weaken overpasses like the Pont des Arts, they began dismantling the metal trinkets in 2015.

Left with one million padlocks (which totaled 65 metric tons of scrap metal), authorities needed a creative way to repurpose the waste. So they decided to sell 10 metric tons of locks to members of the public, marketing them as relics of the city’s bygone history.

“Members of the public can buy five or 10 locks, or even clusters of them, all at an affordable price,” Bruno Julliard, first deputy mayor of Paris, said in a statement quoted by The Guardian. “All of the proceeds will be given to those who work in support and in solidarity of the refugees in Paris.”

The sale is slated to take place in 2017, and it’s expected to raise as much as €100,000. As for the remainder of Paris’s love locks, they will be scrapped and sold.

Paris isn’t the only city that’s sick of its love locks. Last summer, the city of Portland, Maine, got rid of “Love Locks Fence”— a 30-foot chain link fence on the city’s Commercial Street—fearing the weight of the padlocks would weaken the fence and cause it to collapse. The plan is to replace it with a new, specially-designed fence, with a wave-like shape intended to make it harder for people to fasten padlocks to the barricade.

[h/t The Guardian]

A group of Hollywood’s most famous names—Johnny Depp and Twin Peaks co-creator David Lynch, to name a few—helped a teen horror fan with stage four kidney cancer make his very own zombie movie, Metro.co.uk reports.

Anthony Conti, 16, is an emerging filmmaker and creator of The Satanic Zucchini Show, a comedy and sci-fi YouTube series. He also wrote a short film called The Black Ghiandol, in which a young man—played by Conti himself—“risks his life to save the girl he loves, after his family is wiped out during a zombie apocalypse,” a synopsis reads (as quoted by Metro.co.uk).

Instead of letting the script languish on his computer hard drive, Conti ended up turning the project into a real-life movie. The Make A Film Foundation—a nonprofit organization that helps teens or children with serious medical conditions create short films with the help of a star-studded cast and crew—caught wind of his project, and offered to lend him a hand.

The Black Ghiandol ended up starring Depp and Lynch, along with actors Laura Dern and J.K. Simmons. As for its directors, they included horror movie heavy-hitter Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, 1981), Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, 2008), and Theodore Melfi (St. Vincent, 2014).

The movie shoot ran for five days, and the film is currently in post-production. Check out some pictures taken during the filming process below, or watch a video of Conti describing his project.

[Metro.co.uk]

The digital revolution is in full swing, but music lovers around the world still appreciate the beauty of the B-side. As NME reports, vinyl sales in the UK eclipsed digital album downloads last week for the first time in history, according to data provided by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).

The ERA—a UK trade organization representing retailers who sell physical and digital entertainment products—says that in Week 48 of 2016 (that’s Monday, November 28 through Sunday, December 4), purchasers spent £2.4 million on vinyl. During the same time span, only £2.1 million was spent on digital album downloads.

These numbers illustrate a substantial shift in purchasing patterns from the same period last year, when audiophiles only spent £1.2 million on vinyl albums but shelled out £4.4 million on music downloads. Music lovers often prefer vinyl albums for their superior sound quality, but the question remains: Why are record sales exploding, especially when digital downloading platforms are now so ubiquitous?

The ERA attributes the phenomenon to factors including Record Store Day Black Friday (a new record sales promotional event held the day after Thanksgiving, modeled on the popular Record Store Day holiday), along with the increasing amount of retailers—ranging from music stores to supermarkets—that now sell records. In short, vinyl records are trendy again. Also, the BBC points out, album downloads have declined since streaming services (like Spotify and Pandora) have become more popular.

“This is yet further evidence of the ability of music fans to surprise us all,” said ERA chief Kim Bayley in a statement (quoted by the BBC). “It’s not so long ago that the digital download was meant to be the future. Few would have predicted that an album format, first invented in 1948 and based on stamping a groove into a piece of plastic, would now be outselling it in 2016.”

[h/t NME]

For all you shoppers in search of the perfect nerdy stocking stuffer: look no further. As DesignTAXI reports, online novelty retailer ThinkGeek has created an officially licensed Back to the Future-inspired wall charger shaped like the flux capacitor from Dr. Emmett Brown’s time traveling DeLorean.

For the uninitiated, the flux capacitor is the key device that allows the car to journey across different eras. It’s crafted from three flashing tubes, and shaped like an inverted “Y.” True to the films, ThinkGeek’s charger— which can power two devices via USB cord—begins flashing once your phone hits 88 percent juice.

The charger costs $25 and is available for purchase online. And if you want to turn your car into a make-believe time machine, ThinkGeek is also selling the same design in USB car charger form. (It’s currently out of stock, so we’d go with the wall charger if you’re looking to get your Christmas shopping done early.)

[h/t DesignTaxi]

“Arbeit Macht Frei“—”Work Sets You Free.” This chilling slogan was welded into wrought iron, and suspended over the entrances of Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. For decades, these gates served as a lasting reminder of the Holocaust’s horrors—but in late 2014, a replica of Dachau’s infamous entry sign was stolen. Now, to the relief of historians and survivors, The New York Times reports that the marker has been recovered near Bergen, Norway.

Last week, Norwegian police received an anonymous tip regarding the gate’s location. Authorities discovered the historic ironwork outside, in a village called Gaupås, Kari Trones, a prosecutor for the Bergen police, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).

“It was found in the open air,” Bergen police spokeswoman Margrethe Myrmehl Gudbrandsen told AFP. “You can tell that it’s been outside but it’s in good condition.”

It’s believed that the gate was pilfered in an organized crime effort. The 220-pound landmark was originally reported stolen in November 2014. It disappeared on a Saturday night, between security guard shifts. (At the time, Dachau had no video surveillance.) Piotr Cywiński, the director of the Auschwitz Foundation, called the crime “an attack on a symbol, an attack on remembering,” in a statement quoted by the Detroit Free Press. “The history of the Nazi concentration camps began in Dachau,” he said.

No arrests have been announced, but in a gesture of support, Norwegian officials let the crime’s original investigators—the Bavarian police—announce the gate’s discovery. “We understand this gate is an important monument for Germany,” Gudbrandsen said, as quoted by The New York Times.

While symbolically important, the gate isn’t the original one that hung in Dachau’s entryway. Prisoners crafted the first gate in a labor workshop, but when the camp was liberated in May 1945, it was removed. A replica was installed in 1965, when Dachau opened as a memorial site honoring the estimated 41,500 people who died there before World War II’s end.

The gate has been returned to Germany, and once it’s restored, it will be publicly displayed in either its original location or as part of a permanent exhibition.

[h/t The New York Times]

Holiday shopping season is in full swing, and not surprisingly, Amazon.com is a popular destination. But if you’re one of the millions of people to recently order an item from the e-commerce giant (or you’re still browsing around for present ideas), be aware of a sneaky new phishing scam. As Inc. reports, both Amazon Prime members and regular customers have reported receiving fake (yet very official-looking) emails that appear to come from Amazon asking them to re-enter their credit card information.

The email’s subject line says, “Your Amazon.com order cannot be shipped.” According to AARP’s blog, the full message reads:

Hello,There was a problem processing your order. You will not be able to access your account or place orders with us until we confirm your information.click here to confirm your account. We ask that you not open new accounts as any order you place may be delayed.

For more details, read our Amazon Prime Terms & Conditions.

Recipients who follow the email’s instructions and click on the link are taken to a convincing “Amazon” page. There, they are invited to input their names, address, and credit card info (including the expiration and CVV security code). Once they hit Save & Continue, they’re automatically guided to the real Amazon website.

Hopefully you’re now on high-alert, and you won’t fall for this scheme. But, as AARP reminds us, you should never click on an embedded link in an email from Amazon (or, for that matter, any other company). Instead, check to see whether the items mentioned in the email are ones you’ve actually purchased (you can head to Amazon’s “Your Orders” section to jog your memory if need be), be suspicious of typos and spelling mistakes, and hover your cursor over any URLs provided and the sender’s email address to take a close look—phishing scams will notoriously use URLs similar to the real deal.

If you do recognize an Amazon email as fake, don’t just ignore it. The New York Times recommends reporting to them by forwarding the whole message as an attachment to stop-spoofing@amazon.com. And since phishing schemes are likely to continue (and even grow) in the weeks leading up to Christmas and Hanukkah, check out Amazon’s list of tips for avoiding payment fraud.

[h/t Inc.]

If weddings, graduation ceremonies, and cute animal commercials cause you to melt into a puddle of tears, take comfort: You’re not alone. Nobody quite knows why some people cry when they’re happy, but in the video below, Business Insider’s Graham Flanagan explains why positive emotions may prompt us to turn on the waterworks.

According to Yale psychologist Oriana R. Aragón, we might shed tears to regulate particularly intense feelings. In 2014, Aragón and her colleagues conducted a study—which was later published in the journal Psychological Science—in which they examined how subjects reacted to emotionally triggering pictures, like cute babies or happy reunions. They found that people who exhibited negative responses to positive things (like crying at a graduation) were able to moderate strong feelings more effectively than others.

“People may be restoring emotional equilibrium with these expressions,” Aragón said in a release. “They seem to take place when people are overwhelmed with strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions.”

But why should we control favorable emotions instead of reveling in them? Research indicates that individuals who can regulate their emotions are generally happier and less distressed than those who can’t.

Plus, you have to admit—a good cry can feel pretty good. As Business Insider points out, emotional tears exhibit higher levels of stress hormones, and they also contain endorphins, a.k.a. nature’s painkillers. So go ahead, weep during that cereal commercial. We won’t laugh at you. Not too much, anyway.

[h/t Business Insider]