By the end of this year, NASA hopes to find about 90% of the largest asteroids that could potentially strike Earth, a blast that could throw dust into the atmosphere and cause firestorms and acid rain. These asteroids can be as large as mountains but are at least 1 kilometer (3,280.8 feet) in diameter. NASA estimates that 900 of these objects are in potentially hazardous range of Earth.
Autonomous agents are still in the labs but could eventually play a critical role in areas ranging from setting market prices to creating more resilient networks.
The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space yesterday held the Senate's first hearing on the new science, signaling recognition of nanotechnology's growing importance to U.S. global competitiveness. But while government and business investment in nanotechnology is on the rise, it may not be enough to fix some of the research and funding problems affecting the industry, said experts who testified at the hearing.