The government of South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to prevent human abuse of robots and vice versa. The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for robotics users and manufacturers, as well as guidelines on ethical standards to be programmed into robots.
Researchers have released a list of the top five potential habstars in our galaxy, three of which can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
In the space-technology race, NASA is welcoming some dark horse candidates. The space agency's prize competitions inspire enthusiastic entrants from around the U.S.—most recently in a contest to design an elevator from Earth to space.
Scientists have made a brain discovery that could help lead to thought- controlled machines. Recent experiments have shown that a little- understood part of the brain that we use to process information about objects also plays a role when we move a hand or other limb.
Electronic engineers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are researching a device they say could make objects "nearly invisible to an observer." The contrivance works by preventing light from bouncing off the surface of an object, causing the object to appear so small it all but disappears.
A new study suggests it is more energy efficient to communicate across interstellar space by sending physical material?a sort of message in a bottle?than beams of electromagnetic radiation. Currently, the bulk of the effort to identify extraterrestrial civilizations has focused on the electromagnetic spectrum.
Once the fantasy of science fiction, battlefield robots are now a reality. "In my mind, someday we'll be doing battle with robots?not killing people," according to Robin Laird of Unmanned Systems Branch of the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center.
A team of British scientists have created a "robot" that can formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and interpret results on par with the best of their human counterparts.
Astronomers debate the risks of a "doomsday" asteroid colliding with the earth.
Israeli scientists have devised a computer made from DNA that can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC.