Part Transformer, part Star Wars stormtrooper and with hands that look like they can crush beer cans, at 1.8 metres tall and weighing 120 kilograms, NASA’s Valkyrie robot is an intimidating figure. It is currently being put through its paces at the Karda laboratory in Australia so researchers can work out what it would take to get a humanoid robot onto offshore energy facilities or into space. New Scientist‘s James Woodford took the controls to see what the $2 million-plus device is capable of.

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