A mega-drill will go where no machine has gone before: into Earth's mantle
Traveling to the center of the Earth is a fanciful concept, but consider the reality: We have so far drilled just 7.5 miles into the Earth's rocky crust, leaving roughly 3,962 more miles to go. The new Japanese research vessel Chikyu won't exactly breach Earth's core, but it will drill to an unprecedented depth, beginning in late 2007 when it embarks on its first scientific mission off the southwestern coast of Japan.
The 57,500-ton rig is equipped with a 5.9-mile-long drill designed to blast four miles into Earth's crust and strike the semi-molten mantle that lies beneath it. There, scientists hope to dig up primordial creatures—such as hydrogen- feeding microbes that may be thriving under the same conditions as those of the early Earth—and possibly reveal new clues to the origin of life. "It is the only place where you might find such ancient life-forms," says Asahiko Taira, director of Japan's Center for Deep Earth Exploration, which leads the 21-nation Integrated Ocean Drilling Program in charge of the $540-million ship.
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A breakthrough technology is holding forth the promise of charging electronic gadgets in minutes, never having to replace a battery again, and dropping the cost of hybrid cars. Indeed, the technology has the potential to provide an energy storage device ten times more powerful than even the latest batteries in hybrid cars -- while outliving the vehicle itself.
The new technology, developed at MIT's Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, should improve ultracapacitors, by swapping in carbon nanotubes, thereby greatly increasing the surface area of electrodes and the ability to store energy.
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When Stanford University's robotic Volkswagen Touareg, "Stanley," won the Grand Challenge last week, robot enthusiasts everywhere cheered. By completing a 210-kilometer course over difficult desert terrain in just under seven hours, Stanley set an unprecedented milestone for autonomous vehicles.
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 Scientists are working on a type of skin that will allow robots to be more touchy feely.
The high-tech skin has fingernail sized sensors embedded all over its surface. The sensors allow a robot to “feel” changes in its surroundings and move accordingly.
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 Scientists have developed the world’s tiniest refrigerator –
and it’s pretty cold too. Even smaller than a college dorm fridge,
the microchip sized fridge can cool objects down to -459 degrees
Fahrenheit...
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Like a Hawk, Robotic Plane Rides Thermals
 Hawks and eagles glide on currents of rising warm air called thermals to extend their flight time without needing more fuel. NASA aerospace engineer Michael Allen and a team of engineers working on the Autonomous Soaring Project at Dryden Flight Research Center have succeeded in extending the range of small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) by programming them to autonomously soar on thermals.
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Printable Skin: 'Inkjet' Breakthrough Makes Human Tissue
 By
manufacturing human skin cells using a printer similar to an inkjet,
scientists have taken a significant first step toward generating new
skin. The process, which could revolutionize the treatment of major
skin wounds, could be ready for clinical trials in five years...
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New E-mail Privacy Certification Service
Email senders can now reassure potential subscribers and customers that their email addresses will be protected. Relemail, a new service that audits and certifies email privacy practices, launched today.
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U.S. Army Tests Battlefield Robot
The same company that makes those cute little household vacuuming robots now has a military robot that is equipped with a pump action shotgun capable of firing shotgun rounds and presumably killing enemy combatants (or anyone who happens to be standing in front of the 'bot).
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Robo-Rats Make Their Own Rules
 In a test that might've sent some folks shrieking from the room, robots programmed with no more sense than a blind, deaf baby rat developed new behaviors on their own.
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Field Set for $2 Million Desert Robot Race
 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Let the battle of the machines begin again. Forty self-navigating robots were chosen Monday to compete in the Oct. 8 sequel to last year's first-ever robot race across the Mojave Desert.
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