Science

An aerospace company is designing an unmanned plane to fly around Mars and gather scientific data.

Aurora Fight Sciences has responded to a NASA's Scout mission proposals to explore the red planet with the idea of a plane that will "take off" on its descent into Mars' atmosphere.

Aurora Flight's MarsFlyer project, which will build on previous designs, will be delivered to Mars in a capsule via a conventional rocket.

As it enters Mars' atmosphere, an "aeoroshell," a parachute-like device, would slow the capsule down. During the trip toward the surface, the MarsFlyer would … Read more

NASA has long been a fan of Linux, and now the space agency is putting that faith to the test in remote-controlled robots designed to rove the surfaces of the moon and Mars.

LinuxDevices.com reports that two lunar rovers using the open-source technology were on maneuvers this week in the Arizona desert. The robots, which were photographed via Webcam, reportedly use Red Hat and Gentoo versions of Linux.

The art of Willard Wigan has been known for some time, but we're embarrassed to say that we learned of it only today with this post on Snopes. His talent is so amazing that we still wanted to write about it, even at the risk of "old news" flames.

Wigan specializes in microscopic art that can literally fit on the head of a pin, and often does. His art can't be fully appreciated without the aid of a microscope, but you can view some remarkable close-up photos on his site.

The International Astronomical Union is a catty bunch. First they stripped Pluto of its planetary status, and then they reconsidered, and then demoted it again to the level of "dwarf planet"--for real this time. It's still controversial.

Now the IAU has made another potentially controversial move: it renamed "Xena."

On Wednesday, a release from the IAU addressed the problem of naming another "dwarf planet," the larger-than-Pluto object which thus far was formally named 2003 UB313. The release officially named the object Eris after the Greek goddess of discord. Unfortunately, this could turn … Read more

A robotic leg developed by Toyota has taken a big step forward--or, in this case, up.

Special joints built into the toe and knee of the 3.3-foot leg reportedly allow it to jump as high as 1.6 inches. That may not sound like much, but the mobility could eventually lead to robots that can climb and descend stairs in ways that resemble human movement much more than current models.

With this ability, maybe villainous bots like the ED-209 will finally have a fighting chance next time if another "RoboCop" sequel is ever made.

This project would be impressive under any circumstances, but it's particularly timely given today's concerns about the atmosphere and global warming.

Breathing Earth is a Flash-based project that "displays the carbon dioxide emission levels of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates--all in real time."

With so much attention focused on alternative energy these days, non-fossil fuel proposals for cars have run a wide gamut. Even the once-verboten subject of a nuclear-powered automobile has arisen with increasing frequency.

Usually absent from these discussions, however, is the history of designs for such vehicles that came off drawing boards in Detroit throughout the 1950s at the height of the Atomic Age. This post on Damn Interesting, for example, reminds us that such models as the Ford Nucleon were once seriously considered as the automobiles of the future.

In retrospect, perhaps Ford's ideas weren't so far-fetched … Read more

Regardless of our personal convictions about UFOs, activity appears to have picked up again at the legendary Area 51. But as always, the question remains: What is it?

An article in Popular Science speculates what may be going on in the storied parcel of desert in southern Nevada, ideas that include the construction of specific models of futuristic warplanes. Perhaps the most interesting part of the post is the gallery of artist renderings depicting possible flying machines, based on various forms of evidence ranging from patent filings to reported sightings.

Some scientists are obsessed with reading our minds--or, at least, watching them in action.

A couple of weeks ago, MIT's Technology Review posted an article about a new technique to visualize chemical activity in the brain. Yesterday, the same publication reported that researchers at the University of New Mexico have refined neuro-imaging techniques "to the point where they can reliably detect a single thought forming in an individual's brain."

Can the secrets of mental telepathy be that far off?