Robots And The Whole Technology Story

What's inside a laptop? How can you stuff 1,000 CDs into an MP3 player? Who built the Internet? How smart is the world's smartest robot? How do smartphones and TV remote controls work? The answers to these and other brilliant questions about technology can be found in this funny and fascinating book in the Science Sorted series by Glenn Murphy, bestselling author of Why is Snot Green?. Packed to capacity with megabytes of marvellous information. Robots and the Whole Technology Story explores everything from the first simple engines to the latest gadgets, computers and networks. Discover more funny science with Disgusting Science: Bodies: The Whole Blood-Pumping Story.

What happens when we let robots play the game of life? The challenge of studying evolution is that the history of life is buried in the past—we can’t witness the dramatic events that shaped the adaptations we see today. But biorobotics expert John Long has found an ingenious way to overcome this problem: he creates robots that look and behave like extinct animals, subjects them to evolutionary pressures, lets them compete for mates and resources, and mutates their ‘genes’. In short, he lets robots play the game of life. In Darwin’s Devices, Long tells the story of these evolving biorobots—how they came to be, and what they can teach us about the biology of living and extinct species. Evolving biorobots can replicate creatures that disappeared from the earth long ago, showing us in real time what happens in the face of unexpected environmental challenges. Biomechanically correct models of backbones functioning as part of an autonomous robot, for example, can help us understand why the first vertebrates evolved them. But the most impressive feature of these robots, as Long shows, is their ability to illustrate the power of evolution to solve difficult technological challenges autonomously—without human input regarding what a workable solution might be. Even a simple robot can create complex behavior, often learning or evolving greater intelligence than humans could possibly program. This remarkable idea could forever alter the face of engineering, design, and even warfare. An amazing tour through the workings of a fertile mind, Darwin’s Devices will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about evolution, robot intelligence, and life itself.

What's inside a laptop? How can you stuff 1,000 CDs into an mp3 player? Who built the Internet? How smart is the world's smartest robot? How do smartphones and TV remote controls work? Glenn Murphy, author of Why is Snot Green?, answers these and lots of other brilliant technology questions in Robots, Chips and Techno Stuff. This fact-filled book is packed to capacity with megabytes of marvellous information, exploring everything from the first simple engines to the latest gadgets, computers and networks. Discover more funny science with Space: The Whole Whizz-Bang Story.

How can cars drive, labs float, underwater vehicles navigate, and aircraft fly without anyone behind the wheel? Readers learn this and more through this text, which explores the engineering and technology behind extreme unmanned vehicles. Drones, military ROVs, CUSVs, The Gladiator, and unmanned automobiles manufactured by Toyota, Lexus, and Google are given an in-depth treatment and are accompanied by full-color photographs that bring these extreme vehicles to life. What does the future hold for unmanned vehicles? Readers are encouraged to explore this question and explore possible careers in unmanned vehicle technology that could one day unlock the answer. The text’s age-appropriate language makes learning easy, while fact boxes and sidebars supplement the material.

Do you know that the first industrial robot started work in 1959? Now robots are in factories, in homes, laboratories, and the sky. Robots explore other planets as well as ocean depths. They also carry out jobs that are dangerous for humans. From the first robots of the 1950s to the drones and androids of the present day, this book charts the amazing history of robots.

How much do you REALLY know about the science that matters? Supergeek 2: Robots, Space and Furry Animals features over 300 fun science questions and answers chosen by Glenn Murphy to test your knowledge. Find out all about blood and guts, senses and feelings, robots, furry animals and space. There are instructions at the back of the book that allow you to 'play' the book too, on your own or in a group. Discover more funny science with Robots and the Whole Technology Story.

Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.