Story Archives of 'Robotics'

With bargain hunters looking for the best Holiday sales, one store in Nashua is offering toys that the owner is sure kids will love. He should know – he’s just a kid himself. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Avishay Artsy reports.

For about 40 years, the sternotomy has been the gold standard for open heart surgery.

Chest bones are split and patients’ ribs are stretched open to allow access to the chest cavity.

The practice is still widely used, but many doctors are looking for less invasive methods.

A few surgeons in the nation are using some nimble-fingered robots to help repair hearts.

But as NHPR’s Dianne Finch reports, not all surgeons are pleased with that idea.

State officials say the manufacturing industry will lose around 2700 jobs by 2014.

The decline is felt around the country, as local businesses struggle to compete with foreign markets.

To stay afloat, many companies are replacing wage-earning humans with cost-efficient robots.

But, experts say, while technology eliminates some jobs, it may be making room for others.

NHPR Correspondent Sheryl Rich Kern reports.

Ralph Pope may know everything you ever wanted to know about lichens but were afraid to ask. His new book explores the down and dirty clingy tree huggers in exquisite detail. We'll find out why tenacious flora thrive in such lousy weather, and what's so cozy about a rock.

We'll also talk with Bruce Donald, a Dartmouth researcher who's helped create the world's smallest untethered, controllable robot. You can read more about the tiny machine and watch videos about it by clicking here.

We end the show with a song by The Everyday Visuals. The New Hampshire band's album "Media Crush" addresses the difficulty of getting radio play in an increasingly overcrowded industry.

Daniela Rus is head of the Dartmouth Robotics Lab. She?s working on robots that change their shape to perform different functions. Recently, she was given a fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation ? a so-called ?genius grant.? She talks about her research and how the grant has affected her life. More at
www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~robotlab/