The Pentagon-sponsored robot race ended without a winner–none of the autonomous vehicles made it further than seven miles from the starting line.

How often have you heard that the Great Wall of China is “the only” or “one of the only” manmade objects that can be seen from space? Well, it’s a myth–and even China has admitted it, now that it has sent its own taikonauts into space.

MOSCOW (AP) — Orion, the Big Dipper and Andromeda could be joined in the heavens by ads for soft drinks and cigarettes if a Russian inventor’s device catches on. Alexander Lavrynov, a spacecraft designer, said he has patented a device for putting advertising into space that would be seen from Earth, Interfax news agency reported …

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A 100-metre-plus-long thread made of carbon nanotubes has been made at Cambridge University. The previous record-holder was only 30 centimetres long. The thread doesn’t have any of the characteristics sought in a carbon nanotube thread–i.e., it’s not super strong and it’s not very conductive–but it’s a start.

The SF Canada news page, offering the latest news from the many talented members of SF Canada, Canada’s association of science fiction and fantasy professionals, is now in blog format. Check it often to see what your Canadian SF writers are up to!

I love this:astrophysics as a competitive spectator sport. And unlike either hockey or the South Korean National Assembly, it will probably be free of fisticuffs.

The battlesuits of Starship Troopers fame (the book, not the movie) are getting closer to reality all the time. Check out BLEEX, robotic legs that strap on and let the wearer carry heavy loads for long distances for hours.

The Phoenix taxis well, it seems. Now if only they can make it fly…

It’s another SF headline!

If you aren’t aware of this, the grand race of robotic vehicles from Los Angeles to Las Vegas this weekend, you should be. Another SF-story-come-to-life, if ever I saw one.

It’s very early going yet, but Canada is looking at its own Mars rover.

Another science fiction headline: Demand for cadavers fuels illegal trade. (Maybe even the prototypical SF headline, if you accept Brian Aldiss’s argument that Frankenstein was the first SF novel.)