This month, a new kind of "zoo" debuts in Alverca, Portugal: the world's first robot habitat. The Robotarium X, designed by robotics artist Leonel Moura, is a steel-and-glass structure that houses 45 robots representing 14 different "species" with unique behaviors and body types. Some, like the Araneax and Zoid 'bots, are insect-like and creepy. Some resemble snails or land-dwelling coral and others are fanciful moving pods that, well, don't look like anything on earth. The experience of visiting the zoo is meant to be a commentary on the human act of capturing and watching other life forms, and on the way living creatures interact with one another. For instance, if you put 14 different species in one enclosure at the Bronx Zoo, you'd probably have an interesting show, indeed (King of the Cage, anyone?). But as Moura charmingly says on his Web site, at the Robotarium, "there are no fights or aggression... the only competition is to assure a place under the sunlight." Not going to be in Portugal anytime soon? Watch the video below. —Megan Miller
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.