This is either really, really neat, or really, really scary. Rity is an autonomous agent, a very special software program that can transfer itself (upload/download) from robots or computers…all by itself. It can upload itself into a mobile robot–like MyBot, a simplified version of robots used to play in the Robot-soccer association–and then actually follow…

Animal Controlled Computer Games, a graduation project by Wim van Eck, is a Pac-Man-style game in which humans can play against real insects.The article goes on to ask, “Is it possible to replace code with creatures?” Now that’d be an AI I’d like to see….Link

Yogurt made from strains of bacteria that were sent into space to be bombarded by cosmic radiation is now available commercially. Himawari Dairy, a Kochi-area dairy manufacturer, reserved a seat aboard a Soyuz rocket that took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome this spring. The “passengers” were two strains of bacteria: lactic acid bacteria used in ordinary…

Here’s an interesting site if you’re feeling gloomy. It’s devoted entirely to extinction-level events and other catastrophic anomalies such as supervolcanoes, mega tsunamis, and other things that could ruin your day.Link

Criminal profilers working for the London Metropolitan Police’s Precrime…I mean, Homicide Prevention Unit are putting together a list of 100 future murderers. They’re not simply keeping a list of violent criminals who are now at large. The project seeks to identify individuals who will, in the future commit serious crimes. Instead of Philip K. Dicksian…

Russia has entered the space tether slingshot race – a ‘space railway’ that will reduce the cost of boosting payloads to the Moon.Link

Although I’m a bit leery of putting anything called a “Biohazard” on my wrist, this does look tres cool. (Also more or less totally impractical, but no true geek has ever let utility stand in the way of awesome blinky lights.) With the threat of Alien Invasion growing ever closer & the distinct possibility that…

Recent photographs seem to suggest that water could have been present on the surface of Mars as little as five years ago. The discovery resulted from images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor which first recorded gullies and trenches that could have been made by fast-flowing water coursing down cliffs and crater walls. Scientists in…

I may take this with a grain of salt given their recent efforts, but NASA has announced plans to establish a permanently-occupied lunar base with manned missions starting in 2020. The project is a joint effort amongst 14 of the world’s space agencies, and would send humans back to the lunar surface for the first…

Says Doctorow: Karl Schroeder’s new novel, Sun of Suns is the first book in a thrilling new steampunk/post-singularity/space-opera trilogy that is the finest and weirdest worldbuilding I can remember reading. Link to Review and Excerpts