The Future IRL: Robot farmers do the dirty work

The US is facing an agricultural worker shortage, along with aging farm owners, at the same time it juggles demand in food from a global population boom. If we're being blunt, those elements added together would mean farmers and production are straig...

The Future IRL: Deliveries via robot

Your online delivery habit is facing a growing problem: the rising number of packages needing delivery, combined with a projected deficit in truck drivers (PDF). But that's the issue a company like Starship Technologies is trying to solve. It just st...

The Future IRL: Everyone gets an R2D2

If you've spent any time on Kickstarter, you've already seen those questionable rolling trashcan bots mixed among promising pieces of tech. You might even start thinking truly useful home-based robots have arrived. And, hey, it's about time! The firs...

The Future IRL: Our Jetsons future has arrived

Fictional housekeeping robots and the flying smart cars in The Fifth Element have inspired technologists to keep pushing the bounds of electronics for years, which is how we've gotten video chatting and bluetooth in our cars. But pop culture has also...