Keep on running
One day, robots may outrun humans 鈥� but perhaps not for a while yet. A small robot named Robovie-PC has just been crowned champion of the first ever robot marathon. Five small robots completed 422 laps of a 100-metre track in Osaka, Japan. The winner was Robovie-PC, developed by the race鈥檚 sponsors, Japanese technology firm Vstone, which finished in 54 hours 57 minutes 50.26 seconds. Another Vstone android, Robovie-PC Lite, came in just seconds behind. One of the other robots was forced to retire after the first lap. The competitors were allowed to stop for running repairs and to have their batteries changed. The winning robot鈥檚 average speed was 0.77 kilometres per hour.
Biofuels from deep-sea bacteria
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Extremophiles normally found in deep-sea hydrothermal vents are being put to work on land to produce biofuels. By using the microbes, which do not need sunlight to grow, the developers hope to produce the raw materials for biofuel without taking up large amounts of valuable land. Lithos Biofuels, based in Mill Valley, California, is hoping to exploit the bacterium Nautilia profundicola, which makes sugar by eating foods like formic acid instead of via conventional photosynthesis. The cells are genetically engineered to boost their sugar content and are then harvested and broken up to release their sugars, which will be fermented to produce a replacement for petroleum-based fuels.
US army trials Taser grenades
The Pentagon has ordered a test batch of electroshock grenades that can incapacitate people with a powerful electric jolt when fired from up to 100 metres away. The Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) device, developed by Taser International of Scottsdale, Arizona, is a self-contained projectile that sticks to the target individual and incapacitates them for up to 30 seconds; other Tasers only shock for 5 seconds. It can be fired using a grenade launcher attached to an assault rifle. If testing is successful, it may be issued to marines in Afghanistan who come face to face with civilians.
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