Electric car boom drives surge in charging-station demand

On a road trip to California from Toronto in his Tesla Model S, Daniel Valadares got a taste of just how popular the luxury electric cars are on the West Coast. The whole way there — the tech consultant did the trip in 68 hours, swapping driving duties with three companions, including his mother — they didn't once have any hitches charging up the car's battery at any of the dozens of Tesla power stations along the way. Tesla Model 3 to join...

Robots infiltrate insect world to learn their ways

Others are looking at how robots can infiltrate colonies and influence behaviour. Bee bots could protect pollinating bees against mites – or keep a hive updated with weather forecasts, releasing pheromones to prevent a new brood hatching when bad weather is likely to prevent foraging. Robots can even be used to encourage groups of animals to do things they normally would not: a robo-roach can trick cockroaches into venturing into the light,...

Small, cheap gravity gadget to peer underground

Such gravimeters already exist but compared to this postage stamp-sized gadget, they are bulky and pricy. The new design is based on the little accelerometers found in smartphones. To begin with, the team - from the University of Glasgow - tested it by measuring the Earth's tides over a period of several days. Tidal forces, caused by the interacting pull of the Sun and Moon, not only drag the oceans up and down but slightly squash the Earth's...