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Experts suggest six ways we can ensure future robots won't make dangerous mistakes

Images were sent between a NASA probe and Earth in the first test of an internet-like data transmission system for space

A complete organ has been grown from just a few of the recipient's stem cells – are limbs next?

Layers of diamond filters could make a compact artificial kidney, a patent application says

LATEST NEWS

Water recycler and beds installed on space station

23:30 19 November 2008

The work will pave the way for the station's crew size to double to six next year

'Interplanetary internet' passes first test

NASA successfully tested an internet-like protocol for space, which could some day automate communication with craft and bases beyond Earth's orbit (Illustration: NASA/JPL)

21:47 19 November 2008

Images were sent between a NASA probe and Earth in the first test of an internet-like data transmission system for space

Plumbing the oceans could bring limitless clean energy

Exploiting the difference in temperature between seawater near the surface and deep down could supply the world with cheap green power (Image: Matthew Oldfield/SPL)

FEATURE:  18:00 19 November 2008  | 14 comments

A trick that exploits the difference in temperature between seawater near the surface and deep down could supply the world with cheap green power

New levitation technique floats water with noise

Small droplets of water levitate on top of oil vibrating at the right frequency (Image: IOP)

17:09 19 November 2008  | 4 comments

Crime labs could benefit from a technique to suspend tiny droplets in air without contamination

Invention: Diamond dialysis implant

A filter made from a series of diamond layers drilled with successively smaller microscopic holes could yield a dialysis device that can be implanted in the body (Image: Alfred Pasieka/SPL)

13:43 19 November 2008  | 2 comments

Combining physical filters with electric fields to prevent clogging makes for an artificial kidney small enough to implant in the body, a patent application says

China denies attempting to get US space data

18:28 18 November 2008  | 12 comments

The denial comes a day after a physicist in the US pleaded guilty to illegally exporting data for space launch vehicles to China

Remote-control soap mixes oil and water on demandMovie Camera

18:23 18 November 2008  | 2 comments

A new chemical lets scientists decide when they want oil and water to mingle, and can round up costly nanoparticles when their job is done

Six ways to build robots that do humans no harm

How can we know when robots can be trusted with life or death responsibilities? (Images: Everett Collection/Rex Features; Disney/Everett/Rex Features)

14:24 18 November 2008  | 22 comments

Can we teach robots right from wrong? In this special feature, two experts give New Scientist their tips on how to make smart technologies safe

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SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Why Mars rovers don't have wipers

windscreen wipers

Dust storms are blocking the NASA rovers' solar panels - why not fit them with wipers?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The poker bots are coming

Poker players beware, software's taking its place at the table (Image: Nick Koudis / Digital Vision / Getty)

Computers beat humans at chess and checkers - now a tougher challenge is in their sights

LATEST VIDEO

Shifting shadow photos come to life

Time no longer stands still in a kind of photo that lets shadows change realistically as the Sun moves

LATEST VIDEO

Dirt won't stick to omniphobic material

It forces both watery and oily liquids into tight, marble-like drops that can't cling on

FROM THE BLOG

The end of trivia

A new site tries to bludgeon people to only ask questions of google

Your future face in 3D

A new service will create a lifelike mask of an older you

How technology shaped the US election

The puppet masters of the New Media reveal their trade secrets

A mobile phone novel read via a T-shirt

A new novel can be accessed on your mobile phone by scanning a "barcode" on a T-shirt

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VIDEO STORY

Remote control soap mixes oil and water on demand

06:23 18 November 2008

A new chemical lets chemists decide when they want oil and water to mingle, and can round up costly nanoparticles when their job is done

EDITOR'S CHOICE
the Sun

Plugging into the Sun

Can collecting solar energy in Space and beaming it down to Earth solve our energy problems?

GALLERY

The submarine pioneer who shaped spaceflight

Jacques Piccard, who died this month, invented deep sea exploration and influenced space station design with his missions. Explore photos from his ground breaking expeditions beneath the waves.

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22 November 2008

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