On this week’s news update…

Robots Build Homes

Robots that 3-D print homes…

Sea Urchins Lose Grip

Sea urchins lose their grip…

Brain Implant Technology

And brain implant technology turns thoughts into speech!

First up…

Building homes takes time; but now, the construction company ICON is using robots to build single-story homes faster than traditional methods.

ICON’s Vulcan robots are large-scale 3-D printers that print directly onto concrete slabs.

The homes are built using a strong concrete called “Lavacrete.”

Lavacrete

For the company’s latest project, it is using a fleet of Vulcan robots to build 100 homes outside of Austin, Texas.

The robots are one-third of the way through printing the homes, with 80 at various stages of construction.

These homes are designed to withstand storms and floods; and when finished, they will be the largest community of 3-D printed homes anywhere in the world.

Up next…

Sea urchins live in many parts of the ocean.

They move around using tiny tube feet, which produce a natural glue that allows urchins to stick tightly to surfaces.

Now, a new study suggests that extreme weather due to climate change could have a big impact on this natural ability.

Storms and heavy rainfall can cause large amounts of fresh water to enter some ocean habitats, temporarily diluting the salty seawater.

To study the potential effects of this, researchers placed sea urchins in water with different concentrations of salt.

They observed the urchins from multiple angles—and noted that at lower salt levels, the urchins couldn’t grip surfaces as tightly, affecting their ability to move around.

As well as identifying the impacts of climate change, the team hopes that a better understanding of sea urchins’ glue-making abilities could help inspire new types of human-made adhesives, and find new solutions to engineering design problems.

And finally…

Ann has been paralyzed and unable to speak or type since 2005.

Now, a brain implant has allowed her to communicate through a digital avatar—controlled by her thoughts.

Ann had 253 tiny electrodes implanted on the surface of her brain, over the areas that control speech.

The electrodes are connected to a computer system by a cable, allowing Ann’s brain signals to be converted into speech.

I think you are wonderful.

Ann and the research team spent several weeks teaching the system how to interpret her brain signals by repeatedly attempting to say a series of words.

Currently, the system misinterprets words around 25 percent of the time, but the team hopes that will improve.

Using this technology, Ann can speak around 78 words per minute, which is a big improvement on the 14 words per minute possible with her current communication device.

Ann hopes the technology could one day enable her to work as a counselor.

Anything is possible.

That’s all for this week—we’ll see you next time!