A robotic roving reporter is set to gather news from the front line in the next stage of the war on terrorism. The dog-sized robot, which is being built by Chris Csikszentmihalyi at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will allow its controller to gather video and even carry out on-the-spot interviews from a safe distance. The inventor says restrictions on journalists have made the robot necessary. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 really know what鈥檚 going on in these places, how can we hold our representatives to account?鈥� he asks. The robot is powered by batteries that can be recharged using solar panels. It has four all-terrain wheels, a video camera and proximity sensors. Csikszentmihalyi controls the robot by sending commands over the Internet that are beamed to a mobile phone on the robot. 鈥淢y guess is that a lot of people will be inclined to shoot it, but if we design it with enough cuteness, we hope they鈥檒l take pity on it.鈥�
Overweight laser
In-flight firing of the Pentagon鈥檚 Airborne Laser (ABL) will be delayed by more than a year because it鈥檚 too heavy and needs more testing. The huge laser, which fits inside a modified Boeing 747, is designed to destroy missiles shortly after launch from hundreds of kilometres away. By using lightweight materials, engineers have slashed a tonne off the weight of the ABL鈥檚 nose turret, which directs the laser beam. But that鈥檚 not enough. 鈥淭he weight issue is going to be more or less a constant concern,鈥� said an Air Force spokesman at Kirtland Airforce Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Meanwhile, the US Air Force has also asked for more time to test the laser鈥檚 optics with a low-power laser. The first ABL jet recently had more than 300 kilometres of new wiring installed to power the laser, which itself has now been successfully ground-tested by contractor TRW. The ABL is due to take its first pot-shots at missiles over the Pacific at the end of 2004.