While we're certainly not going to criticize the world's richest man for using so many of his billions to try to solve humanity's most pressing health problems, it's nice to see that he's got a little left over for the cosmos, too. Bill Gates donated $10 million —and former Microsoft colleague Charles Simonyi dished out $20 million—to the finance three large mirrors for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a massive observatory being built in Chile.

The $400 million project will help astronomers spot asteroids and supernovae, map galaxies, and find out more about dark energy and dark matter, the invisible stuff that scientists say dominates most of our universe.—Gregory Mone

Via PhysOrg

(Image credit: Kevin Hand / NASA)

The robot business is getting serious. Toyota just announced plans to move several advanced robots into the marketplace by 2010, hoping these machines will help people in homes, factories and health-care facilities.

Before they start mixing us drinks and folding our laundry, robots are going to do some seriously important work, like helping stroke victims.

Rice university engineers are launching a two-year program to test a new joystick-based device designed to help stroke victims recover faster. Patients use the joystick to try to move objects around on a screen, and the joystick pushes back when the patients err. The technology effectively tries to get things back in sync, teaching the hand to do what the brain is asking of it.

Several other labs are using robots for stroke-rehab, too, including an ankle-focused device like the one picture here. One MIT scientist envisions an entire gym stocked with robo-assistants.-Gregory Mone

(Image credit: MIT / L. Barry Hetherington)

It's every stubborn man's dream. You don't have the dashboard navigator. You don't want to go in and ask for directions because, well, that's beneath you. Men don't ask for directions. But there on the screen right before you, as you're re-filling the tank, a touch-activated Google map offers to show you the way to your destination. And you don't even have to admit you're lost. You could just say you're double-checking.

The gas pump maker Gilbarco Veeder-Root unveiled plans to roll out a Google maps-enabled service at 3,500 pumps across the U.S. The bad news? In the short term, you'll only be able to search for spots chosen by the retailer: hotels, restaurants, landmarks, etc. But the company expects to allow drivers to search for whatever address they want in the future.—Gregory Mone

(Image credit: Gilbarco Veeder-Root)

Astronauts working outside the International Space Station just noticed a tear in one of its solar panels. Two of these 110-foot-long panels were due to be unfurled, and the first unrolled without a hitch, but NASA halted the second one when its spacewalkers saw the damage.

This caps a tough few days for the station, as astronauts also confirmed a problem with one of the motorized joints that turns the panels to face the Sun. NASA had suspected there was a problem, and astronaut Dan Tani confirmed it up close, noticing shards of metal scrapings throughout the joint. Next up: figuring out where they came from.—Gregory Mone

(Image credit: NASA)

The One Laptop Per Child initiative has had its share of development hiccups. The project hasn't gotten the notebooks down to goal of $100 per machine, and a few recent bugs have delayed the recently proposed Give One Get One plan, in which customers in developed countries buy one of the laptops for themselves, and another for someone in need.

But down at the grassroots level, the project seems to be taking hold. In India, for example, the group is developing a cow-powered system in an area short on sunlight, wind and other good renewable energy sources. Cattle would pull on a series of belts and pulleys, activating a dynamo that re-charges spent laptops. Which is exactly how I use my cows.—Gregory Mone

Via ArsTechnica

(Image credit: OLPC)

Aubrey de Grey and, for that matter, anyone else who plans to live forever, is probably feeling very relieved today. Astronomers announced that they have observed a planet that survived the fiery ballooning of its local star. This outcome is inevitable: Eventually, even our Sun is going to run out of hydrogen and blow up to 100 times its present size, transforming into what's known as a red giant. As a result, scientists figured that Earth has only about 5 billion years left.

Now, though, it appears that our lovely little planet could survive the Sun's transformation. That said, it probably wouldn't be a very nice place to live. Any of our kind who are still around at that point will probably have moved to another locale.—Gregory Mone

(Image credit: ESA)

A number of groups are trying to develop memory enhancing drugs to treat patients suffering from Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, but scientists are also concerned about off-label uses. Students might use them to cram for tests. Business people may pop the brain enhancers to gain an advantage over co-workers. How this will all play out over the next few years, or decades, isn't yet clear, but there's a good review of the scientific advances—including the memory-enhanced mice at left—and ethical questions involved in this week's issue of Chemical & Engineering News.—Gregory Mone

(Image credit: Nahum Sonenberg/McGill University)

Though some of the lucky 525,000 to procure an iPhone have been concerned with getting the device activated, a brave few decided to crack it open instead. Several sites pulled the phone apart, but the gadget surgeons at ifixit.com offer a detailed photo diary of their dissection. Among the observations: The phone has 16 screws compared to the iPod Nano's 3. Which means it's approximately 5.3 times as cool.—Gregory Mone

(Image Credit: ifixit.com)