universities

11.24.09

Making a Hopping Robot

A pogo stick provides inspiration for more lifelike robotic motion

By Annemarie Conte and Esther Haynes Posted 09.05.2008 at 12:19 pm 3 Comments

Pogo-Bot: Technology from iHop could go into toys and search-and-rescue robots. U.C. San Diego/Jacobs School of Engineering

What started as an academic problem in a robotics class—how to build a robot that can hop like a pogo stick, roll on wheels, and walk up stairs—has grown into a concept that could one day help with search-and-rescue missions.

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > Annemarie Conte, college concepts, esther haynes, future tech, robotics, robots, universities

Extreme Engineering

Canadian student pranksters have turned city lights into Morse code, covered the mayor’s house in fake paint, and dangled a car beneath the Golden Gate Bridge—just to show they can. Our writer risked injury and arrest to join the cult

By Bob Parks Posted 08.19.2008 at 3:39 pm 7 Comments

The Lions Gate Bridge carries some 70,000 cars almost a mile across the entrance to Vancouver’s harbor every day. In a city polishing itself up for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the bridge is prime postcard fodder.

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > bob parks, colleges, engineering, engineers, pranks, september 2008, universities

Great College Pranks

Bury Lady Liberty in a lake? Sneak frat jokes onto the Voyager? If there's one thing the smartest college kids throughout history take seriously, it's their pranks

By Stuart Fox Posted 08.11.2008 at 4:36 pm 3 Comments

Many American universities have proud traditions based around excellence in sports or the matriculation of future presidents. This is not that story. While success on the grid iron measures the worth of jocks at big state schools, for the students at America’s most intellectual colleges, the means of glory is the prank. In schools like Cal Tech, MIT and the University of Chicago, showing off who’s smarter has become the nerd version of Michigan vs. Ohio State. Popular Science has a run down of schools of some of the brainiest pranks in the college history. Launch the gallery here.

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > colleges, jokes, pranks, stuart fox, universities

Title IX Takes on Science

Congress is investigating whether university science departments around the country are in violation of the storied equality law; its findings could have a grave impact on the future of science

By Brett Zarda Posted 07.18.2008 at 10:47 am 10 Comments

Men once greatly outnumbered women in collegiate athletics—Title IX brought equality. Men currently outnumber women in science—could Title IX have the same effect?

[ Read Full Story ]

READ MORE ABOUT > Brett Zarda, colleges, congress, science departments, title ix, universities