Rollin Justin can navigate obstacles and serve beverages.
Henrik Sporer/laif/CameraPress
Human fascination with our own likeness is longstanding. The term “robot” was introduced by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his 1920s play Rossum’s Universal Robots, depicting human-like beings made to work in factories. Since then, numerous humanoid robots have been designed to interact with their environment in human-like manners.
Henrik Sporer, an acclaimed photographer with the agency Leif, investigates such themes in his project Tomorrow is the Problem. The main image above showcases the metal craftsmanship from the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center, featuring a 200-kilogram robot named Rollin’ Justin. It can traverse extensive distances on wheels, capture images, navigate around obstacles, and serve drinks. Its potential applications include assisting astronauts and aiding individuals with disabilities.
Lola is the ideal robot for challenging terrains and new surroundings
Henrik Sporer/laif/CameraPress
The image above depicts Lola, a 1.8-meter tall robot developed by the Technical University of Munich. It can navigate new and unstable surfaces with ease.
Next up is Amar-6, a robot standing at 1.9 meters tall, designed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. This machine can converse with people and assist in carrying heavy loads.
Amar-6 is designed to assist with heavy lifting
Henrik Sporer/laif/CameraPress
The final image below features ZAR5, a dual-armed robot engineered at the Technical University of Berlin, equipped to pick and place items with finesse.
ZAR5 is capable of lifting and placing items manually
lThe latest headphones from London-based Nothing feature an eye-catching design that breaks away from the typical aesthetics of noise-canceling models, offering a striking appearance reminiscent of both the Walkman and the Doctor Who Cybermen of the ’80s.
The large, translucent design certainly makes a statement, marked by intricate details, dot matrix printing, and physical buttons. However, it lacks any flashy LED elements that could be found on the company phone.
Priced at £299, these unconventional headphones enter a competitive market, challenging top names like Bose, Sony, and Sennheiser.
The visible components through the clear plastic exterior are purely decorative. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Striking, translucent ear cups extend from a sleek aluminum body, attached via adjustable black steel arms to ensure a perfect fit.
Weighing in at 329g, they are reasonably heavy but offer effective clamping that holds them securely without excessive pressure. The ear cushions are slim yet exceptionally comfortable, ideal for warm days, though the headband padding is somewhat lacking, potentially leading to discomfort after prolonged listening.
The right ear cup features five buttons and two ports: a power switch, USB-C port, and headphone jack at the base, along with a concealed Bluetooth pairing button on the inner edge. A rolling button controls volume and pauses playback, also toggling the noise-canceling feature.
The buttons and control levers are beautiful and tactile, providing a clear sense of touch. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Below the roller, there’s a paddle that moves from side to side. The last button outside the ear cup activates your smartphone’s voice assistant, but it can be adjusted for other functions like noise cancellation. Having multiple tactile buttons is a refreshing change from the touch or single-button setups common in many headphones.
Battery life offers 30-35 hours with noise cancellation on, or up to 80 hours without, which aligns with competitors and is sufficient for a week of commuting or travel. A full charge takes just 2 hours.
These headphones support Bluetooth 5.3 and can connect to two devices simultaneously. Additionally, they feature a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for audio playback via USB-C.
Specifications
Weight: 329g
Dimensions: 189.3 x 173.9 x 78mm
Driver: 40mm
Connectivity: Multipoint, 3.5mm, Bluetooth 5.3 with USB-C charging and audio
Bluetooth Codecs: SBC, AAC, LDAC
Rated battery life: 35 hours ANC
Sound by KEF, Noise Cancellation by Nothing
Thin yet comfortable memory foam ear cushions provide a sound-friendly seal. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Partnering with KEF, a renowned British speaker manufacturer, has resulted in well-tuned audio for the Headphone 1 model. The sound profile is fairly balanced, delivering a punchy low-end while maintaining clarity in the mids. The sound stage is relatively wide, showcasing decent detail and great separation.
These headphones perform best with noise cancellation off; enabling it can narrow the sound stage and obscure more complex tracks. While they may not compete with the top-tier models for fine nuances, they offer a pleasant listening experience across various genres.
The noise cancellation is reasonably effective but lags behind the best in the industry. It handles lower frequencies well but struggles with higher pitches, particularly voices, even at maximum noise cancellation settings, lacking an option for focusing on a specific environment.
The transparency mode sounds natural but can be overly intrusive, amplifying ambient noise too much, which, while good for awareness, detracts from the music. Call quality is satisfactory, providing clarity even in noisy environments.
The Nothing x App, available on Android and iPhone, allows users to adjust settings, complete updates, and access comprehensive equalizers. Users can enable spatial audio for a more immersive movie-watching experience.
Sustainability
The physical power switch is well-positioned next to the USB-C and 3.5mm audio ports. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
These headphones are repairable, with replacement ear cushions available through customer service, but they are not constructed from recycled materials.
Price
The Nothing Headphone 1 retails for £299 (or equivalent in Euros/US Dollars at $299/$549) and is available in both white and black options.
In comparison, the Sony WH-1000XM6 is priced at £399, while the Bose QuietComfort Ultra is available for £350, Sonos Ace for £399, Beats Studio Pro costs £350, Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless retails for £199, and Fairbuds XL is priced at £219.
Verdict
The Nothing Headphone 1 distinguishes itself in a sea of similarly styled noise-canceling headphones. However, its bold design, particularly in white, tends to attract more attention than some may prefer.
While they deliver decent sound quality, their noise-cancellation capabilities don’t quite measure up to competitors at this price point. Additionally, the headband lacks adequate padding for long listening sessions.
With impressive battery life, excellent connectivity, and a robust app, they are certainly usable. However, additional physical buttons for playback and other controls would enhance the overall experience.
At the £300 price mark and its equivalents, there are better options available that combine superior sound quality, noise cancellation, and comfort. Thus, these headphones may suit those looking for a distinct visual statement rather than purely performance.
Pros: Striking design, superb button controls, excellent sound quality, effective noise cancellation, well-designed apps for Android and iPhone, impressive spatial audio, 3.5mm and USB-C compatibility, Bluetooth multipoint, and a decent case.
Cons: The headband padding is somewhat thin, they are relatively heavy, not foldable for transport, average noise-cancellation performance, attract significant attention, and are priced on the higher side.
The headphones can rotate flat but do not fold for easy storage or travel. A larger case is provided. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The tattooed hand of a 1200 year old mummy from Peru
Michael Pittman and Thomas G. Kaye
Laser scanning of a South American mummy reveals the intricate details of a tattoo dating back more than 1,200 years.
The mummy, belonging to a pre-Hispanic tribe known as the Chancays, was discovered in 1981 at the Cerro Colorado cemetery in Peru’s Huaura Valley.
It was obvious to the naked eye that many of the 100 mummies were tattooed, but the ink smeared beyond the boundaries of the original design and faded, making it impossible to see what the original markings looked like. It was impossible.
In a new study, michael pitman Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong shined a laser on the specimens in a dark room and took long-exposure photographs. The laser brightened the skin and created a sharp contrast with the non-fluorescent tattoo ink.
This technique, which does not damage mummies, has never been used for tattoos before. Importantly, Pittman says, it shows not only where the ink is on the surface, but also where it is in the deeper layers of the skin.
“This allowed us to see the bleeding that had accumulated over the lifetime of the tattoo owner and reveal the original, finer design of the tattoo,” he says.
Researchers say the tattoo is so minute that it must have been created using a needle-and-ink technique using cactus needles or sharp animal bones, rather than a “cut-and-fill” method. That’s what I think.
Tattoos appear to have been important to the Chancay people, Pittman said, as they appear on the majority of known mummified human remains.
Forearm with Chancay mummy tattoo
Michael Pittman and Thomas G. Kaye
“Many of the designs, which are geometric patterns featuring triangles and diamonds, are also shared in other art mediums such as pottery and textiles, and some ceramic figures show geometric tattoo designs. Some are,” he says.
Some tattoos have intricate designs that seem to require special effort, while others are small and simple. “Thus, ancient Chancay tattoos show some similarities with the variations in design and significance that can be observed in tattoos today,” Pittman says.
Pittman says many traditional tattoos made by other ancient peoples can also be viewed in detail using laser-stimulated fluorescence technology. “We therefore plan to apply this method to other ancient tattoos from cultures around the world and try to make other interesting discoveries,” he says.
A wall with a zigzag pattern can stay up to 3°C (5.4°F) cooler than a normal wall, without using any energy. This approach reduces the energy used by cooling systems and helps to curb global warming.
“Such designs can lead to cooler buildings,” says Qilong Cheng of Columbia University in New York, “and therefore reduce the energy consumption for cooling.”
As global temperatures rise and more people can afford air conditioners, their use is skyrocketing. Greenhouse gas emissions from cooling could increase more than threefold by 2050. As a result, many teams are working to develop passive cooling solutions that don't require any energy.
For example, simply painting roofs white can help keep buildings and cities cooler by allowing them to reflect more sunlight.
This method works even better if the roof is coated with a material that reflects most of the sunlight but emits infrared light within the transparency of the atmosphere — a range of wavelengths that aren't absorbed by atmospheric molecules such as carbon dioxide.
“Infrared light in this band can pass through the atmosphere and potentially reach space,” Chen said.
Materials with these properties have a great cooling effect on an upward-facing roof, but are less effective on walls. The problem is that materials that emit infrared light tend to absorb it, and surfaces close to walls, such as concrete pavements, can emit large amounts of infrared light.
The solution proposed by Chen and his team is to create a wall that has a series of projections that run parallel to the ground, forming a zigzag shape when viewed from the side. To visualize this, think of a staircase sloping upward at angles between 45 and 90 degrees.
The key is that the upward-facing zigzag surfaces (the treads in the staircase analogy) are atmospheric transparency windows that radiate large amounts of heat, while the downward-facing, outward-facing zigzag surfaces (the risers) reflect infrared heat rather than absorbing it.
To test the idea, the team built a 1-metre-tall model with both a zigzag and flat surface.When they placed it outside in New Jersey during the summer, the zigzag surface was 2°C cooler than the flat surface over a 24-hour average, and 3°C cooler between 1pm and 2pm.
Chen says there are plenty of inexpensive materials with the necessary properties. Existing buildings could be retrofitted by adding corrugated panels. The cooling effect inside a building varies depending on other factors, such as the size of the building's windows, but simulations suggest it could reduce temperatures by up to 2°C and cut the energy needed for cooling by up to a quarter.
The zigzag cooling wall is only suitable for hot climates, as colder regions would need more heating in winter. But Chen and his colleagues say They proposed a design with hinged “fins.” It can be raised in the winter to increase heat absorption and lowered in the summer to minimize heat absorption.
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