A new Pentagon study lays out the roadmap for a multibillion-dollar push to the final frontier of energy: a satellite system that collects gigawatts' worth of solar power and beams it down to Earth. The military itself could become the "anchor tenant" for such a power source, due to the current high cost of fueling combat operations abroad, the study says.
After spending weeks in information-gathering mode, a Pentagon analyst says the idea of putting satellites in orbit to harvest solar power and beam it down to Earth has lots of merit - and a test of the concept could be set in motion by 2015.
A company that someday hopes to build the first space elevator says it is testing a system that could take it to a lower-altitude goal along the way: balloon-based wireless data services.
The miniaturization trend that has produced computers, televisions and telephones that fit in shirt pockets is coming to satellites. A smaller satellite is, after all, easier and cheaper to get into orbit.
Alan Boyle examines the practical and legal barriers against using unmanned aerial vehicles for domestic surveillance in the U.S.
Researchers have mated tiny metal propellers with organic molecules to create ultramicroscopic machines that are powered by the same processes that fuel life. The contraptions demonstrate techniques that could be used in a new generation of chemical sensors and factories, working within living cells.
Researchers are taking advantage of distributed computing techniques to tackle computation-intense protein folding tasks.
NASA is currently finalizing a deal that would bring about the 'first major commercial use' of the International Space Station.
A revolutionary new chip that can translate light transmitted by fiber-optic lines into electrical signals could make broadband dreams a reality.
Planet-hunting pioneers have entered a new frontier, reporting that they've detected two planets that may be smaller than Saturn, circling stars like our own. The discoveries represent a major step toward the 'Holy Grail' of finding other worlds like Earth, experts said.