ICYMI: Reptile robots in the wild

Today on In Case You Missed It: BBC One’s nature show, “Spy in the Wild,” partnered with a robotics division in order to design and produce two remote-controlled robot reptiles. Using bio-informed robotics, the team closely reproduced the creature’s movements in the robots, which were constructed with motors, aluminum, carbon fiber and latex waterproof suits. The robo-reptiles — a crocodile model and a monitor lizard version — will be used to study real life animals up-and-close.

Meanwhile, the Hyperloop One team demonstrated the technology behind its magnetically levitated train prototype via this video that shows how 105 pounds of quadcopter can hover using a quartet of independently powered magnets set atop a copper plate. When the magnets spin fast enough, the fields push hard enough against each other to create lift-off. The downside is that the system produces large amounts of waste heat, so there are still some kinks to get worked out.

And lastly, anyone who simply can’t solve a Rubik’s Cube just got a handy cheat in the form of this Raspberry-Pi robot built from Legos, which can solve the puzzle in a little under two minutes. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.