Whats new in science? { inventions and discoveries}

Tricycling Robot Goes for Guinness Record on Endurance Racing Circuit

Sports cars have long tested their 24-hour endurance on the Le Mans racing circuit in France. Now a Panasonic robot named Mr. Evolta will try to claim the distance record for a remote-controlled car, pedaling along furiously at 1.3 kilometers per hour (0.8 mph).

The tricycling robot should manage about six laps of the 4-kilometer (2.5 mile) Le Mans circuit during the required day-long period, when it makes the attempt next Wednesday. It will navigate the winding course by following an infrared beam emitted by a lead buggy that travels ahead.

Surf Anywhere, Inside a Giant Wheel

Ever feel ripped off that you can only surf or snowboard in the confines of the ocean or on a snowy mountain? The new In-Loop design concept hopes to allow you to shred out of those constraints. Looking like a surf-/snow-/skateboard hybrid attached to tw o gigantic hoop wheels, the In-Loop promises radical movement just about anywhere, dude. The In-Loop is still only a concept at this point, based upon the often-theorized, rarely used, huge overhead hoop wheel. In the wild 1920s and '30s, Popular Science had a mania for predicting revolutionary transport concepts that incorporated similar wheels.

Scientists Create Mice from Reprogrammed Skin

Cells

Chinese scientists have created live mice from mature skin cells that had reverted to an embryonic-like state. The scientific success could further defuse controversy over harvesting embryonic stem cells, but also raises new ethical issues about potentially making clones selected for specific traits.

First Ever Nanoscale Mass Spectrometer

When I was taking chemistry in college, the mass spectrometer was a desk-mounted machine about twice the size of a PC. Oh, how times do change. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have created the first nanoscale mass spectrometer. Only four micrometers across, the device can measure the mass of single molecules in an entirely novel way.

Rover to Retrace Apollo's Footsteps

Boiling noons and cryogenic nights will prove two of the hells inflicted upon a sun-fueled rover when it retraces Neil Armstrong’s first steps across the moon in 2011, beaming home high-definition footage along the way.

Does Baseball's Future Lie In These Cold, Robotic Hands?