Robot Road Trip
Four vans took a 13,000-kilometre trip from Italy to China – without any drivers – crossing over Russia, Kazakhstan, eastern Europe and the Gobi Desert and finally arriving at the Shanghai expo. The project was created to help researchers and engineers improve road safety systems to assist drivers. The vans had to find their way amongst the varying traffic and weather conditions with the help of solar-powered laser scanners and video cameras. The vans did have passengers on board in case of emergency. One van even stopped to pick up a hitchhiker.
With files from CTV News
Tweeting from the Top
Say you’re climbing the tallest mountain in the world but you want to check your e-mail and perhaps do some online shopping. Well, now a Swedish telecom company, TeliaSonera, has got your back. The 5,200-metre-high base camp at Mount Everest will soon see a high-end 3G network that will provide stable internet access to any of the villagers or thousands of climbers on their way to the top. Previously, heavy satellites were needed for transmission of images or information, and phones could only be used at lower altitudes. You’ll probably be able tweet from 30,000 leagues under the sea before long.
With files from CTV News
One Last Hurrah
Even though it’s trapped on Mars, the rover Spirit is still making discoveries. As the rover was trying to dig itself out of a sand trap, NASA scientists began to see evidence of water on mars. The rover began digging up some underlying soil believed to be the remnant of water under the surface. Just after Spirit’s amazing find, Martian winter set in and the rover went into hibernation, unable to get power to its solar panels. It has been without radio contact for some time and the sand pit where it fell may be its final resting place.
With files from Discovery News
