ROBIN'S BIG DATE

A team of people from 2012 tried to re-create and build a boat from 1550 BC, the Bronze Age, but failed spectacularly. When the ship was lowered into the ocean, it immediately filled with water and started sinking. Yikes, we suck.

The team was made up of British archaeologists and craftsmen who have been hammering away and building the boat with Bronze Age tools and methods for the past three months.

The boat it was based on, used oak planks sewn together with yew lashings. It sounds like a wonderful project, right? Let's see how the building chops of modern men stack up with ancient techniques! Sadly, we embarrassed ourselves.

Video conferencing can be a cold and impersonal way to conduct business, but researchers at Osaka University in Japan think they can change that by having the participants first perform a tele-handshake using a robot hand that matches the other person's grip.

In order to make the handshake feel as real as possible, the researchers made the hand from soft silicone filled with a sponge-like material.

It's not quite the perfect human analogue, but they then heat up its outer layer to around 37°C, slightly warmer than an actual human, which when combined with a grip that matches the person on the other end is apparently enough to create a convincing handshake.