You don’t have to be an absolute green thumb to understand how plants eat, breathe, and even generate their own bio-electricity. But can a plant use its own bio-energy sources to power a robot? Thanks to a recent project by MIT scientists Harpreet Sareen and Pattie Maes, we now know. Elowan is a self-driving robot powered by plant energy. Using the bio-electricity generated by the plant on top of its head and a series of electrodes attached to the robot, this plant-robot hybrid propels itself forward or backward depending on where the light shines on it.  Just like humans, changes in the environment such as gravity, light exposure, and temperature cause…

Even though most people can’t play a lengthy rally, almost everyone can have a good time playing ping pong (or table tennis, if you live in other parts of the world). The games are fast, the equipment isn’t expensive, and the ping pong table itself makes a nice place to store junk whenever you’re not using it. Since the table pretty much always has to be the center of attention (you know, so there’s enough room for two players to use it), it only makes sense to make it as eye-appealing as possible. Enter the Marshmallow– a ping pong table designed by Studio Vono designers Adam Stok and Monika Kozderková…

Having a place to jot down your ideas when inspiration strikes is a must for any designer or engineer. Yet, finding the ideal (durable!) scratchpad to keep in your pocket (or close by) at all times isn’t always easy. Which is why we love the Rollbahn pocket memo from Rollbahn. Featuring a gold metal cover (yep—really!) and tearaway gridded pages, this edition of the iconic Japanese notebook is the perfect fusion of simplicity and function. Rollbahn Gold Metal Cover Pocket Memo Book (Gridded Pages) — $10.00 Features: Made in Japan 112×138mm Durable Metal Cover Elastic Enclosure Perforated Tearaway Pages PURCHASE VIA AMAZON Affiliate purchases help support SolidSmack through a small…

Thunder clapped around the base of the red metal arms tearing up through the soil and fog. An uncountable number of drones shot from the launch bays on its back, streaming laser beams and orange juice streams, all moving as a single entity at the bidding of its master, attempting to quell the fiery rage of these links. Emmanuel Shiu – Been a few years since we’ve checked in with Mr. Shiu. He’s been busy, creating concepts for films such as Mars Needs Moms, Bladerunner 2049, and others. Root Bench – I have a mind to build one of these in the middle of our 10-acre wood, if it wouldn’t…

I’m reading a detailed post by Ars Technica on automated theft of AutoCAD designs, but is this also applicable to 3D print designs? The post explains that multiple nefarious characters have long been using scripts as a means of industrial espionage. These scripts are secretly installed on Autodesk AutoCAD instances, and then silently relay encountered designs back to the originator. The scripts are installed through standard phishing approaches, in which innocuous-appearing messages encourage recipients to click on links that ultimately install malware scripts into the AutoCAD system. The scripts are written in AutoCAD Lisp, a derivative of the original Lisp programming language. Normally such scripts are used to enhance the…

TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin brought together startups and tech enthusiasts from all over Europe November 29-30, 2018. I stopped by to bring you the highlights. The scale of the event in Berlin, Germany was noticeably smaller than the one in San Francisco, which we covered here. Disrupt San Francisco reported around 7,500 attendees while Disrupt Berlin expected about 2,500. It was also a 2-day affair versus San Fran’s 3 days of geeking out on tech. While there was still a great variety of talks and displays, the smaller scale meant fewer overall spotlights on drones, robotics, HW, and other fun stuff we like to see. Still, there was some good stuff there!…