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February 12, 2015

Talking Japanese space robot back on Earth
Tokyo (AFP) Feb 12, 2015
A pint-sized Japanese robot that became the first android to converse with an astronaut in space has returned to Earth after 18 months in orbit, project organisers said Thursday. "Kirobo" - roughly the size of a chihuahua - hitched a ride back from the International Space Station (ISS) on a cargo supply spacecraft that splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, sponsors including Toyota Motor and advertising firm Dentsu said. Kirobo, which left Earth in August 2013, was programmed to communicate in J ... read more

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NASA's Curiosity Analyzing Sample of Martian Mountain The second bite of a Martian mountain taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover hints at long-ago effects of water that was more acidic than any evidenced in the rover's first taste of Mount Sharp, a lay ... more		Octopus robot makes waves with ultra-fast propulsion Scientists have developed an octopus-like robot, which can zoom through water with ultra-fast propulsion and acceleration never before seen in man-made underwater vehicles. Most fast aquatic a ... more		Tiny robotic 'hands' could improve cancer diagnostics, drug delivery Many people imagine robots today as clunky, metal versions of humans, but scientists are forging new territory in the field of 'soft robotics.' One of the latest advances is a flexible, microscopic ... more
				Human insights inspire solutions for household robots People typically consider doing the laundry to be a boring chore. But laundry is far from boring for artificial intelligence (AI) researchers like Siddharth Srivastava, a scientist at the United Tec ... more		HAPTIX Starts Work to Provide Prosthetic Hands with Sense of Touch Despite recent advances in technology for upper-limb prostheses, artificial arms and hands are still unable to provide users with sensory feedback, such as the "feel" of things being touched or awar ... more

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				Soyuz Installed at Baikonur, Expected to Launch Wednesday The Soyuz-2.1A carrier rocket has been successfully installed at the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is scheduled for launch on October 29, the press service of the Russian ... more		Number of Known Accessible Near-Earth Asteroids Doubles Since 2010 NASA performed the first Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) in September/October of 2010, and 666 of the known near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) were identified as meeti ... more

NASA's Curiosity Analyzing Sample of Martian Mountain The second bite of a Martian mountain taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover hints at long-ago effects of water that was more acidic than any evidenced in the rover's first taste of Mount Sharp, a lay ... more		SSC expands at the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) is increasing its capacity at the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility in Inuvik, Canada, with the addition of a new multi-mission antenna. The expansion is driven b ... more		Solar-driven ionosphere charges may nudge stressed faults toward rupture Stable black carbon in mangrove soils boosts coastal climate role Low crystallinity iron minerals show promise for chromium cleanup and carbon storage		US Issuing Licenses for Mineral Mining on Moon The United States government is taking a new and early approach to spur commercial development of space. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has started issuing companies licenses to own land ... more
NASA Spacecraft Completes 40,000 Mars Orbits NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passed a mission milestone of 40,000 orbits on Feb. 7, 2015, in its ninth year of returning information about the atmosphere, surface and subsurface of Mars, from ... more		Researchers determine how the brain controls robotic grasping tools Grasping an object involves a complex network of brain functions. First, visual cues are processed in specialized areas of the brain. Then, other areas of the brain use these signals to control the ... more		NASA releases video of the far side of the Moon NASA has released a video showing what it looks like on the side of the moon humans can't see from Earth. ... more		Scientists predict earth-like planets around most stars Planetary scientists have calculated that there are hundreds of billions of Earth-like planets in our galaxy which might support life. The new research, led by PhD student Tim Bovaird and Asso ... more

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Planetary Society announces test flight for LightSail

Asteroid That Flew Past Earth Has Moon

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