Digital Planet

George Whitesides is a pioneer of soft robotics. His latest research expands the boundaries of soft robotics with a spider-like robot made out of drinking straws. He joins Click to discuss its challenges and complexities. Researchers are exploring how robots might imitate the life of salps – squishy tube-shaped marine organisms. Hemma Philamore joins Click to discuss their future application. This year marks the centenary of the Russian October Revolution that brought communist Bolsheviks into power. To commemorate it, a group of enthusiasts have taken things in their hands and started “Project 1917. Free History”, a major Russian social media project bringing the Revolution to life to new generations, through modern technologies. Snežana Ćurčić talks to Mikhail Zygar, the founder and editor-in-chief of the project. How do you know if someone is lying online? Traditional methods of lie detection include face-to-face interviews and polygraphs but they cannot be done remotely. Researchers have come up with effective computer-based tests that measure reaction time in response to true and false personal information. Click talk to Giuseppe Sartori, a forensic neuroscientist at the University of Padua. (Image capture: Spider robot © Whitesides Lab at Harvard University) Producer: Colin Grant