Tech & Science

Engineer Russ Tedrake has designed a robot that is engineered to walk like a human. Tedrake did his work in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The robot uses a method called "passive-dynamics" to move, taking advantage of gravity and kinetic energy to move its limbs. This approach differs from standard motorized robots (such as the famed Asimo), and requires only a small fraction of the energy to achieve the same amount of locomotion. These passive-dynamic robots have sensors that collect information two hundred times every second,

Bill Gates announced in a RSA security conference that Microsoft will release major security changes to Internet Explorer and will release a new version prior to the release of Longhorn, the replacement for Windows XP expected any time after 2005. Microsoft plans to include many features to increase security. These features are to protect against threats such as computer viruses, spyware, and phishing. Release of a test copy of the new version is expected some time in the middle of this year. Also in the works is a Microsoft developed anti-vi

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said today that his country will never give up its nuclear development process. Talking to foreign ambassadors in Tehran, he said, "We give our guarantee that we will not produce nuclear weapons because we're against them and do not believe they are a source of power, but we will not give up peaceful nuclear technology." "Iran has achieved nuclear technology without the help of others, and it will never give up its right [to use it] under illegitimate pressure from others," Khatami said. His remarks come as

Microsoft has announced that it plans to purchase antivirus firm Sybari Software in order to expand its market within the computer security market. The takeover comes after Microsoft purchased Romanian security firm GeCad in 2003 and two months after an announcement that it is to acquire anti-spyware vendor Giant-Company Software. Sybari is a private company based in East Newport, New York that develops antivirus software which can be used with Microsoft's Exchange software, as well as with the Lotus Notes system. This takeover is seen by ana

A collaboratively-developed operating system kernel known as GNU Hurd has been made bootable using the L4 microkernel, which provides room for significant speed improvements over an existing implementation using the Mach microkernel. The newer architecture also has a more lively developer community. Developer Marcus Brinkmann made the historic step and finished the process initialization code, which enabled him to execute the first software on Hurd-L4. In a message to the L4 port of GNU Hurd mailing list, Brinkmann wrote, "We can now easily ex

Despite assurances from the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Charles McCreevy that the Council would adopt its controversial Common Position text covering Software Patents, members voted to restart the entire process with a new directive. MEP Michel Rocard noted several "inelegancies" by the Commission in his speech against the directive, such as not taking into account any of the Parliament's substantive amendments in its recommendation to the Council. He also took the Dutch and German governments to task for ignoring their respe

Eben Moglen, Columbia University Law Professor, will head the new Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC). An initial 4 million dollars has been provided by Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) to fund the project. The law center will provide free legal service for open source projects and developers. In 2004 OSDL established a separate $10 million Linux Legal Defense Fund providing legal support for Linus Torvalds, Linux kernel creator and end user companies subjected to Linux-related litigation by the SCO Group. The new law center will not be af

A senior administration official, speaking anonymously, confirmed on Friday that the proposed NASA budget for the 2006 fiscal year will not contain additional funding for a Hubble servicing mission. The budget plan is to be announced Feb. 7. The White House eliminated funding for a service mission the Hubble Space Telescope from its 2006 budget request and directed NASA to focus on deorbiting the spacecraft at the end of its life, according to government and industry sources . Intensive work has been under way at NASA's Goddard Space Flight C

Results published in the science journal Nature suggest previous Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predictions will need to be revised upwards. Climateprediction.net has released it's first results, indicating that global temperatures could rise by up to 11° C, even if global carbon dioxide levels are limited to twice those found before the Industrial Revolution; levels that high are expected to be reached in the middle of this century. The results indicate that carbon dioxide emissions will have an even bigger affect on the g

The European Space Agency's (ESA) lunar probe SMART-1 has taken its first images from a low orbit around the moon, returning images of great detail. SMART-1 caps a streak of major planetary missions by the ESA in the past year. Two features of SMART-1 have brought particular attention to the project: the ion drive and a sophisticated navigational software. The probe features a low-thrust, long-duration ion drive, where ionised particles are accelerated by electromagnets and ejected from the motor of the probe to provide propulsion. The energy

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and its tracks are captured in this enhanced-resolution image. The picture was taken from Mars orbit with the Mars Orbiter Camera on board the Mars Global Surveyor. The image was captured on April 26, 2004, Opportunity's 91st martian day. The rover was on its way to Endurance Crater. Also visible and labeled on this image are the spacecraft's lander, backshell, parachute and heat shield, plus effects of its landing rockets. The camera captured this image with use of a technique called compensated pitch

Internet search king Google is preparing to provide free VoIP service — a technology that that makes it possible to have a telephone conversation over the internet. Existing technology will be marketed in the Google name, something which may make all the difference. Sources suggest that Google may firstly introduce its telephony service to users in the United Kingdom, but the actual date when the service will launch and the exact details of the plan are as yet unknown. Google is a California-based search engine whose mission "is to organize t