Everyday objects can, if we’re willing to believe in them and channel just an ounce of MacGyver’s can-do spirit, be turned into just about anything we want them to be. As evidence of this, just look ...

Using your hand to grasp a pen that’s lying on your desk doesn’t exactly feel like a chore, but for robots, that’s still a really hard thing to do. So to teach robots how to better grasp random ...