NASA's Curiosity rover successfully drilled its 49th drill hole, 'Nazca,' during Sols 5050-5055 after passing wheel stability and preload tests. The target was disc-shaped inclusions in the rock suspected to be crystals.
NASA's Curiosity has scheduled three "recharge" days on Sols 5060-5062 to build up power for the next steps of the Nazca drilling campaign. During this period, ChemCam and the Remote Micro-Imager will make remote-sensing observations of targets including Titicaca, Pampas, and Salta, and Mastcam will photograph calibration targets and the drilling target.
NASA's Perseverance rover completed coring on October 24, 2026 (Sol 2018), obtaining its first rock core sample in over a year, "Singita," drilling about 3.1 centimeters into the rock. The sample came from a light-colored rock whose composition is similar to "Badger Peak," which could not be cored because it was too hard; the team switched to a plan with a flatter surface and less drill bit wear to improve the success rate. The rock's texture suggests it may have formed deep in the crust and was altered and excavated by at least one large impact event, and it may be one of the oldest rocks in Perseverance's sample collection.
NASA held its first MAX POWER Aerospace Expo at Kennedy Space Center, unveiling the new X-70 Fractal experimental aircraft, astronaut recruitment, a $1 million student lunar base challenge, and awarding lunar base-related contracts to 12 companies.
At stops in multiple locations, NASA Space Grant students presented research projects as part of NASA's Inspiration Tour. A student team from Iowa State University introduced the Mission Moon project and the work of organizations including Cardinal Space Mining, CySat, and CyLaunch, while University of Arizona students presented research including high-altitude balloon payloads and small satellites.
NASA has opened media accreditation for the Northrop Grumman CRS-25 space station resupply mission; the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch no earlier than November 29 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral.
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has opened a new Robotics Innovation Center in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood on the banks of the Monongahela River, with a floor area of 150,000 square feet. The center is positioned as a facility carrying CMU's robotics legacy and investment in innovation.
Alpha Robotics released a Halloween greeting, wishing that the night be full of candy, surprises, and a little robotic magic. The content did not disclose specific robot models, features, or deployment information.
In a Halloween video, Richtech Robotics had its new member RIVAX join ADAM, Scorpion, Dex, and Matradee Plus in a trick-or-treat appearance, saying it is making new friends. The video gives only the name RIVAX and is teaser in nature; it does not disclose its form, functions, or release timing, and the company says more information will be announced later.
The REEMAN Ironhide robot is used to automate pallet wrapping operations. The original article did not disclose specific specifications such as payload, degrees of freedom, battery life, or success rate, nor did it state whether the operation was performed in simulation, via teleoperation, or autonomously on a physical robot.
The October issue of the 'Kaiwu' Monthly Talk from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center mentions that the Huisi Kaiwu app store focuses on download-and-use-immediately and is compared to an 'Apple store' for embodied intelligence. The same issue also says downloads of Beijing Humanoid's RoboMIND have surpassed 50 million, and it is billed with four 'world firsts.'
NASA has announced the key event schedule for the MAX POWER aerospace expo, held November 6 to 8 at and around Kennedy Space Center. The quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft will be on display, and partners will show a lunar rover and spacecraft. A press conference will be held at 17:00 on November 7 to announce the latest progress on a lunar base planned near the Moon's south pole. Public open days are November 7 and 8, with doors opening at 9:00.
Healthy adult cats accustomed to being alone can usually stay home alone for several hours; a single night is generally feasible, while 24 hours is closer to the limit. Kittens (under 6 months) can be left for about 2 to 4 hours at a time, and senior and sick cats need shorter periods. A 2003 review by Schwartz of clinical records for 716 cats showed that 136 showed signs of separation anxiety, close to one-fifth. A fixed camera can only see one room, whereas Enabot's EBO Air 2 Plus mobile pet camera robot can be controlled via an app to move around the home and check the corners where a cat is hiding; EBO Max is the higher-end model.
A Raspberry Pi engineer built a Core XY CNC mechanism using 3D-printed parts, fishing line, motors, and an ESP32; magnets beneath a wooden board drive the Ouija planchette to move automatically to specified letters. The system runs on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with Raspberry Pi OS Trixie, and a Python Flask web interface converts input text into G-code, which is sent over a USB serial connection to the ESP32 to drive the motors. Currently a person still has to listen to questions and type in answers; the creator is considering adding a microphone and an AI model to parse questions and generate replies.
ROBROS will have Booth G05 at ROBOTWORLD 2026, held November 4–7, 2026, in Halls 3–5 of KINTEX Exhibition Center 1. The video, themed "Why should you visit ROBOTWORLD 2026," guides viewers to its booth.
Kinetix AI released a video showing its humanoid robot KAI entering a home and coexisting with a user and their family. The content promotes the theme "KAI, with you and your family" and carries tags including #KaiRobotics, #humanoidrobots, #embodiedai, and #RobotsInTheHome; it did not disclose specific functions, specifications, or deployment stage.
Gilead Sciences announced on October 22 that it has signed a definitive agreement with HanChenXingTai to acquire global rights to its oral IL-23R inhibitor program for a $1.275 billion all-cash upfront payment. The core asset, HCXT-2001, is in Phase I clinical trials, and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
NASA has released the 2026 edition of its ISAM State of Play, a 368-page document recording in-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing capabilities across 11 functional areas, covering areas such as robotic operations, refueling, and structural assembly. Published since 2021, the document includes only hardware that already has a ground prototype or an in-orbit demonstration; concept proposals must wait for the following year's review. The 2026 edition adds developer profiles and facility information, and is available for download on NASA.gov.
NASA has opened the "Journey to Titan" campaign, inviting the public to sign up to have their names written onto a microchip flying aboard the Dragonfly rotorcraft to Titan, along with a personalized digital boarding pass; registration closes January 15, 2027. Dragonfly is being assembled at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), with launch planned for 2028 and arrival in 2034, when it will fly to different locations on Titan to search for clues to prebiotic chemistry.
NASA's "Viaje a Titán" campaign is inviting the public to submit their names; selected names will be written onto a microchip and flown to Saturn's moon Titan aboard the Dragonfly rotorcraft, and participants will also receive a personalized electronic boarding pass.
Seven doctoral students from Fudan University's School of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing Innovation—Pan Qiqi, Jia Chen, Zheng Boyang, Tao Zijian, Miao Wenqing, Guo Zigu, and Wang Siqi—were selected for the 2026 CAST Young Science and Technology Talent Cultivation Project Doctoral Program. The selected students' research covers areas including surgical robot configuration design and continuum path planning, haptic feedback and mechanical metamaterials, aerospace structural reliability analysis, healthy lighting and lighting human factors engineering, and human factors engineering as well as computational mechanics and artificial intelligence.
Realbotix relaunches the Ask Aria digital AI avatar. The original text did not disclose details about the avatar's features, version number, or launch date.
After completing the Basque Lakes drilling campaign, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover returned to a spot a few meters from the 'Chiu Chiu' rock block to prepare for its next drilling campaign at the newly named 'Nazca' target. Before the pre-drill payload test, the team scheduled MAHLI quantitative relief model observations and a ChemCam LIBS 150-shot laser depth profile experiment to characterize the 'disc-and-needle' crystal morphology. The plan also includes nighttime imaging of Phobos to estimate the size of Martian cloud particles.
NASA's Perseverance used Mastcam-Z to capture a 360-degree dusty vista of Neretva Vallis within Mars' Jezero Crater, stitched together from 217 images collected on May 20, 2024, the 1,155th Martian day of the mission. The image was color-enhanced to improve visual contrast and highlight color differences; billions of years ago, the site was a river channel that fed fresh water into Jezero Crater.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z left eye to capture a potential contact zone between breccia and taller, darker rocks at the 'Tinga' target. The image was acquired on October 14, 2026 (solar day 2009), while the rover was driving along the southern edge of the 'Idubi' outcrop. The lower unit may be a polymict breccia formed by violent geological processes such as impacts, while the higher dark rocks may be related to the olivine-bearing unit at 'Idubi' and may also have been baked by its high temperatures. The research team says further in-situ exploration of the outcrop is still needed to determine the relationship between the two.
BioniX Technology's Lumi develops a different personality depending on its owner—some are clingy, some quiet, some playful—but each Lumi recognizes only one user. The original article did not disclose the product's specific form, functional specifications, or launch information.
The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center visits the University of Science and Technology Beijing to share stories from university developers. This content is part of the "University Developer Stories" series, presented jointly with the University of Science and Technology Beijing; the article does not disclose specific robot models, experimental metrics, or details of collaboration outcomes.
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins mixed live cell samples with bioink and loaded a special cartridge in the Life Science Glovebox of the Kibo experiment module on the International Space Station, conducting the InSPA-Auxilium Bioprinter-Cell Printing experiment. The experiment explores 3D bioprinting of cartilage tissue under microgravity, aiming to obtain results of higher quality than those produced on Earth in order to advance cartilage biomanufacturing for Earth patients and long-duration space mission crews.
GelSight will attend IMTS 2028. The original article did not disclose specific information such as products on display, booth, or demonstration content.
Alpha Robotics offers an inside look at the rigorous testing process every robot must pass before leaving the factory, explaining that each robot must complete a series of inspections before shipment. The content does not disclose specific robot models, the number of test items, or any metric values.
Skydio brought Trident K9 Consulting's police dog team to its headquarters for exploratory joint training with the R10 tactical drone, simulating search warrant entries in an indoor training house and a parking lot. The training had the R10 fly above and below the dogs to observe their reactions to sound and motion, identifying friction points for curriculum design. The R10 can fly autonomously indoors with obstacle avoidance in GPS-denied environments, NightSense supports navigation in zero light, and two-way audio lets team members talk into a room before entering.
Boston Dynamics describes six years of Spot robot use in public safety, including disaster-site search and rescue, hostage incident response, drug lab investigations, and post-fire structural surveys. The standard public safety kit includes Spot Cam, beyond-line-of-sight radio, an integrated robotic arm (capable of lifting 15 pounds and dragging 50-pound objects), thermal imaging, and two-way voice communication. Agencies including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, FDNY, and Italy's Carabinieri have used Spot for CBRNE detection and suspected explosive ordnance checks, with deployment to the scene possible within minutes.
From October to November, XSTO will present its innovative mobility and transport products at multiple industry trade shows. In October, it will participate in the first and third phases of the 140th Canton Fair; in November, it will exhibit products at the Asia International Logistics Technology and Transportation Systems Exhibition in Shanghai. Its product matrix covers scenarios including heavy-load stair climbing, flat-ground transfer, and all-terrain transport.
Enabot releases a family companion robot buying guide comparing EBO SE 2/EBO Mini Sport, EBO Air 2 Plus, and EBO Max across three price tiers.
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, INAIL Centro Protesi, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, and IIT in Italy collaborated on a study published in Bioactive Materials, developing a regenerative peripheral nerve interface (RPNI).
Yin-Lee Ho serves as Robotics Software Tech Lead at Andromeda Robotics, and the content centers on why she loves her work. The original text does not provide robot models, technical specifications, or product launch information.
Andromeda Robotics introduces its Senior Autonomy Engineer Will Dean in a video, in which he explains why he loves his job. The original text does not provide details such as his specific projects, robot models, or technical specifications.
The results of Fudan University's 2025 "Leo KoGuan Most Popular Teacher Award" were recently announced, and Professor Xu Fan, vice dean of the Innovation College of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing, was selected. The award was established with funding from the Leo KoGuan Foundation and has been held for 8 editions, with 10 recipients selected each edition. Xu Fan is a professor and doctoral supervisor whose research covers thin-film surface and interface mechanics, soft matter and flexible structure mechanics, and embodied intelligence mechanics. He has published 75 SCI papers as first or corresponding author and has received awards including the first Qian Xuesen Outstanding Young Scholar Award.
Non-invasive AI brain-computer interface company BCI-Sonics recently completed a RMB 200 million Pre-A funding round, co-led by Yunqi Partners and Sequoia China, with participation from Proxima Ventures, Oriza Holdings, Xuhui Science and Technology Innovation Investment, and Deshi Investment; existing shareholders including Matrix Partners China and Delian Capital continued to increase their investment. Cumulative funding since its founding totals nearly RMB 300 million.
A global robotics conference was held in Pittsburgh, highlighting the leadership of Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU) Robotics Institute in the robotics field.