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Cornell Researchers Build Reproducing Robot
One of the dreams of both science fiction writers and practical robot builders has been realized, at least on a simple level: Cornell University researchers have created a machine that can build copies of itself.
Admittedly the machine is just a proof of concept -- it performs no useful function except to self-replicate -- but the basic principle could be extended to create robots that could replicate or at least repair themselves while working in space or in hazardous environments, according to Hod Lipson, Cornell assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and computing and information science, in whose lab the robots were built and tested.
Lipson and colleagues report on the work in a brief communication in the May 12 issue of Nature.
Their robots are made up of a series of modular cubes -- called "molecubes" -- each containing identical machinery and the complete computer program for replication. The cubes have electromagnets on their faces that allow them to selectively attach to and detach from one another, and a complete robot consists of several cubes linked together. Each cube is divided in half along a long diagonal, which allows a robot composed of many cubes to bend, reconfigure and manipulate other cubes. For example, a tower of cubes can bend itself over at a right angle to pick up another cube.
To begin replication, the stack of cubes bends over and sets its top cube on the table. Then it bends to one side or another to pick up a new cube and deposit it on top of the first. By repeating the process, one robot made up of a stack of cubes can create another just like itself. Since one robot cannot reach across another robot of the same height, the robot being built assists in completing its own construction.
Although these experimental robots work only in the limited laboratory environment, Lipson suggests that the idea of making self-replicating robots out of self-contained modules could be used to build working robots that could self-repair by replacing defective modules. For example, robots sent to explore Mars could carry a supply of spare modules to use for repairing or rebuilding as needed, allowing for more flexible, versatile and robust missions. Self-replication and repair also could be crucial for robots working in environments where a human with a screwdriver couldn't survive.
Self-replicating machines have been the subject of theoretical discussion since the early days of computing and robotics, but only two physical devices that can replicate have been reported. One uses Lego parts assembled in a two-dimensional pattern by moving along tracks; another uses an arrangement of wooden tiles that tumble into a new arrangement when given a shove.
Exactly what qualifies as "self-replication" is open to discussion. For example, the researchers point out that human beings reproduce but don't literally self-replicate, since the offspring are not exact copies. And in many cases, the ability to replicate depends on the environment. Rabbits are good replicators in the forest, poor replicators in a desert and abysmal replicators in deep space, they note.
The new robots in Lipson's lab are also very dependent on their environment. They draw power through contacts on the surface of the table and cannot replicate unless the experimenters "feed" them by supplying additional modules.
Co-authors of the Nature communication are Viktor Zykov, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, Efstathios Mytilinaios, a former graduate student in computer science now at Microsoft, and Bryant Adams, a Cornell graduate student in mathematics.
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Women Urged Back to Labs
Women scientists, engineers and technologists are being urged to return to the jobs which need their expertise.
A campaign launched by the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET (UKRC) aims to help up to 1,000 women go back to the jobs for which they have been trained. In the United States, more than 6,000 scientists, engineers and others experts are urging Congress to increase opportunities for women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a letter presented to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and George Allen, R-Virginia.
Only a third of British women go back to jobs related to their skills after time away from work. Many of them have taken time away from the workplace to have children but face barriers when trying to return to the science, engineering and technology industries.
There is growing competition from India and China in these industries because they are producing and keeping so many more female graduates.
In Britian, the Open University is also supporting the initiative by offering a free online course. Science, Engineering and Technology: A Course for Women Returners aims to help women work out how to get back into the industries they left, and how to update their skills.
Many women who take a break to have a family experience similar problems in fields which move on quickly. Often they return at levels more junior than those of their peers who stayed in work.
Carol Robinson, who was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2004, is a professor in biological chemistry at Cambridge University. She took eight years away from work to raise her family. Now a world leader in mass spectrometry, a method used to measure the mass of individual molecules, she agrees that more women need support.
The UKRC received a boost in March when the then Trade & Industry Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, gave the centre an extra £2m from the science budget for 2007/2008. The center was set up as part of the government's Strategy for Women in SET, published in 2003 in response to the Greenfield Report in 2002.
In the United States, the letter, which stated that Congress should work to break down barriers that make it harder for women to fully participate in mathematics, engineering and other hard-sciences. It suggests that the recent controversy sparked by Harvard President Lawrence Summers "has helped shed light on the persistent under-representation of women in these important fields. Now, more than ever, our nation will rely upon its scientists, mathematicians, and engineers for its economic health and national security."
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Sabre to Acquire Lastminute.com
Representatives of Sabre Inc., a direct subsidiary of Sabre Holdings, and lastminute.com plc have announced that they have reached an agreement for Sabre to acquire lastminute.com. The addition of lastminute.com, with its well-established consumer brands, is expected to provide Sabre's Travelocity unit with greater scale and the leading position in the growing European online travel marketplace.
The acquisition price of 165 pence per lastminute.com share values lastminute.com's Diluted Share Capital at approximately US$1.0 billion. The terms of the acquisition imply an enterprise value for lastminute.com of approximately $US1.1 billion.
The acquisition will be made by Travelocity Europe Limited, an indirect subsidiary of Sabre Holdings established for the purpose of the acquisition. Sabre has obtained committed financing, arranged by Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns, which, together with its cash balances, is sufficient to satisfy in full the cash consideration payable to lastminute.com shareholders under the terms of the acquisition.
The proposed acquisition is expected to be neutral, post integration costs, to Sabre Holdings' earnings per share in 2005 on an adjusted basis (dilutive on a GAAP basis) and significantly accretive on an adjusted basis in 2006 (dilutive on a GAAP basis).
It is intended that the acquisition will be implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement under section 425 of the Companies Act (UK) (the "Scheme"). It is expected that the Scheme Document will be mailed to lastminute.com Shareholders on or before the end of May, 2005 and that, subject to the satisfaction, or, where relevant, waiver, of all relevant conditions, the Scheme will become effective and the acquisition completed by the end of July, 2005.
The acquisition price of 165 pence per lastminute.com share represents a premium of approximately 57 percent over the closing middle-market price of 105 pence per lastminute.com share on May 10, 2005, being the last business day prior to the announcement by lastminute.com confirming it had received an approach which may or may not result in an offer for the company. The acquisition price also represents a 47 percent premium over lastminute.com's average share price for the 30 days to May 10, 2005.
Following completion of the acquisition it is intended that Brent Hoberman, currently CEO of lastminute.com, will become CEO of the combined lastminute.com and Travelocity European operations, reporting to Michelle Peluso, president and CEO of Travelocity. Damon Tassone, currently president of Travelocity Europe, will become Deputy CEO reporting to Brent Hoberman. Other key lastminute.com and Travelocity management are expected to continue as senior executives within the combined organization.
Europe is the world's largest leisure travel marketplace. In 2004, online penetration reached nine percent, but it is expected to more than double to 20 percent by the end of 2006.
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First MARSIS Boom Successfully Deployed
Thanks to a maneuver performed on May 10 at 20:20 CET, European Space Agency (ESA) flight controllers have successfully completed the deployment of the first boom of the MARSIS radar on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft.
After the start of the deployment of the first 20-metre boom on May 4, analysis by flight controllers at ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany, had shown that although 12 out of the 13 boom segments were in place, one of the outermost segments, possibly No. 10, had deployed but was not locked into position.
As prolonged storage in the cold conditions of outer space could affect the fibreglass and Kevlar material of the boom, the mission team decided to 'slew' (or swing) the 680 kg spacecraft so that the Sun would heat the cold side of the boom. It was hoped that as the cold side expanded in the heat, it would force the unlocked segment into place.
After an hour, Mars Express was pointed back to Earth, and contact re-established at 04:50 CET on May 11. A detailed analysis of the data received showed that all segments had successfully locked and Boom 1 was fully deployed.
The operations to deploy the remaining two booms could be resumed in a few weeks, after a thorough analysis and investigation of the Boom 1 deployment characteristics.
The Mars Express Sub-Surface Sounding Radar Altimeter (MARSIS) experiment is to map the Martian sub-surface structure to a depth of a few kilometres. The instrument's 40-metre long antenna booms will send low frequency radio waves towards the planet, which will be reflected from any surface they encounter.
MARSIS is one of the seven science experiments carried on board Mars Express, one of the most successful missions ever flown to the Red Planet. Mars Express was launched on 2 June 2003 and entered Mars orbit in December 2003.
