What’s new: Google DeepMind has taught a robot to play table tennis at a level equivalent to that of an amateur competition, the company said, claiming it is the first time a robot has been taught to play a human-level sport with humans.
How good is it? The system is far from perfect. Although the table tennis bot was able to beat all human opponents at beginner level and 55% of amateur players, it lost all games against advanced players. Nevertheless, it is an impressive step forward.
Why it is important: The research is a step toward developing robots that can deftly and safely perform useful tasks in real-world environments like homes and warehouses—a long-held goal of the robotics community. Read the full story.
—Rhiannon Williams
This futuristic space habitat is designed to assemble itself in orbit
More and more people are traveling to space, but the International Space Station can only accommodate 11 people at a time. The Aurelia Institute, a nonprofit space architecture lab based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an approach that could help: a habitat that can be launched in compact stacks of flat tiles and assembles itself in orbit.
Building large space habitats is difficult and dangerous. But the Aurelia Institute’s TESSERAE space habitat, which resembles a futuristic single-story soccer ball, could make it much easier. Read the full story.
—Sarah Ward
