🤖Boiling water-powered robot, US hypersonic jet gets stealthy brain, seafloor scars from world’s first deep-sea dig

Portuguese researchers have developed a powerful technology that uses only water and heat to generate motion in soft robots, offering a safer, more efficient, and easily scalable alternative to traditional systems.

This phase-change actuator is designed by scientists from the University of Coimbra. It reportedly revives a long-overlooked approach using the liquid-to-gas transition of water as a driving force for untethered, electrically powered soft robots.

Running on just 24 volts, the actuator generates more than 50 newtons (N) of force and builds pressure at rates of up to 100 kilopascals (kPa) per second, the research team stated. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.

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🤖 Boiling water-powered robot grips fruit, climbs trees with ease

The researchers highlighted that, unlike traditional soft robotics systems, the true strength of this approach lies in its simplicity, as it leverages a straightforward process to achieve powerful mechanical performance.

“The heating element is in direct contact with the fluid to reduce the thermal resistance between the two,” they said. “Additionally, electric power is directly wired to the heating element using internal conductors, which simplifies the overall actuation system and avoids the losses associated with wireless power transmission.”

To develop the tech, the team departed from earlier attempts at phase transition actuation, many of which struggled with sluggish strain rates and mechanical degradation.

✈️ Powerful US hypersonic jet gets brain upgrade to fly without GPS

In an important milestone to develop next-generation precision navigation, Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated an advanced inertial measurement unit (IMU) aboard Stratolaunch’s Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle during two recent flights.

Conducted in December 2024 and March 2025, the tests mark a significant advancement in GPS-independent navigation for high-speed air systems operating at Mach 5 and above.

The IMU functioned nominally throughout both flight events, which represented the first successful reusable hypersonic vehicle missions since the US Air Force’s X-15 program concluded in 1968.

🌊 Seafloor scars from world’s first deep-sea dig still haunt the ocean

The Blake Plateau, an astonishing deep-sea mountain range, features striking pillars of marine life alongside humanity’s propensity for industrial-level oceanic mining.

This area in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina, a hauntingly beautiful expanse marked by glowing sea creatures and strange life forms, also bears the scars of an experiment carried out over 50 years ago—the world’s first pilot test of deep-sea mining.

Microbiologist Samantha Joye, a veteran of many deep-ocean missions, describes the Blake Plateau as one of the most astonishingly diverse environments she has ever studied.

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