• Ground Bot

    By sway Posted on 10.27.2008 Comments

    The GroundBot is a spherical sentry designed to roll up to 6 mph through just about anything—mud, sand, snow and even water. Two gyroscopically steadied wide-angle cameras and a suite of sensors give remote operators a real-time, 360-degree view of the landscape, letting them zoom in on prowlers or detect gas leaks, radioactivity and biohazards. Originally invented by Swedish physicists to explore other planets, the GroundBot features a tough design that requires almost no maintenance and can also be programmed to run autonomously.

  • Technology

    The Personal Tilt-Rotor

    By Paul Adams Posted on 10.21.2008 65 Comments

    Imagine a car veering off a lonely mountain road and tumbling down the embankment. Minutes later, a sleek aircraft zooms in quietly at 230 miles an hour, tilts its wings and rotors up, hovers, and sets down just feet from the wreck. The pilot and a medic load the injured driver into the aircraft and zip back to a hospital at twice the speed of a conventional helicopter ambulance.

  • The Environment

    Pumping Up With Nitrogen

    By Paul Adams Posted on 9.29.2008 15 Comments

    Dear EarthTalk: Is using nitrogen to inflate my car's tires really better for the environment than using air? And if so, how? -- Roger Mawdsley, Abbotsville, BC

  • The Environment

    Gaseous State

    By Paul Adams Posted on 9.18.2008 41 Comments

    In a lush pasture near Buenos Aires, this cow and its compatriots are digesting important information: how much methane—a greenhouse gas 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide—is released by the country’s 55 million bovines. Researchers from Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology connected inflatable tanks to the cows’ first stomach, where methane is made, through a small hole between their ribs.


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February 2012: The Future of Fun

Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?


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