RocketScience
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NASA collects proposals for space fueling stations
Sometimes rocket science is actually, you know, rocket science. Getting to the moon was tough enough, but deep space exploration poses all manner of additional concerns -- like getting back home alive, for one thing. And then there's the issue of fuel, something long distance trips require a lot of -- but stocking up on here on Earth means potential weight problems at launch. One proposal offered up in the past is space-based fueling stations conveniently located in key spots on the way to a distant destinations like the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. NASA is collecting proposals that can demonstrate the validity of such a plan, including the ability to store liquid oxygen and hydrogen, transfer it, and have a ship approach for fueling. If you think you've got your bases covered -- and can keep it under $200 million -- you've got until May 31st at 11:59 PM EST to hand over a proposal.
Scientists shoot down malaria-carrying mosquitoes with frickin' lasers
Seriously, is there anything a laser can't do? A team of mad scientists in Washington have concocted a system that could essentially eliminate malaria-carrying mosquitoes with lasers, and the whole thing can be built from parts sourced on eBay. The so-called mosquito laser is credited to an idea from Lowell Wood, an astrophysicist who worked with Edward Teller, the "architect of the original plan to use lasers to shield America from the rain of Soviet nuclear arms." In theory, at least, the technology could one day be used to draw a laser barrier of sorts around a village. Of course, the trick is to make the lasers powerful enough to smoke the bugs without harming humans -- any of you Earthlings up for a clinical trial or two?[Via eHow]
neuroArm gives surgeons extra dexterity, sense of touch
Considering that a BSOD within the robotic surgeon that's halfway through a critical operation on your innards is far from ideal, we're certainly in agreement with companies looking to make actual human doctors even better at their work. A team of Canadian scientists and engineers have concocted the neuroArm robot to allow doctors to perform microscopic operations on the brain in a more precise manner. Essentially, the uber-steady bot "will let doctors use surgical techniques on afflictions such as brain tumors that human surgeons are simply not dexterous enough to do," and when combined with a touchscreen stereoscopic viewer, it enables MDs to better visualize the area they're working with through advanced depth perception and "3D-like" imagery. The neuroArm system should hit clinical testing sometime within the next month or so, and if all goes smoothly (ahem), the long-term goal involves "manufacturing different versions" and selling them to a variety of hospitals.
