Gizmorama
May 31, 2010
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Good Morning,
A group of robots receive a graduation party as they leave
their birth-place and head out to schools around the world.
Read the first article for details on where these robots
are headed and what they are programmed to do.
Until Next Time,
Erin
Questions? Comments? Email me at: mailto:gizmo@gophercentral.com
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$4M robots 'graduate' to universities
MENLO PARK, Calif. - A California robotics research lab
held a "graduation party" for 11 robots being shipped off
to academic institutions around the world, organizers said.
Willow Garage in Menlo Park said the robots, dubbed the PR2,
or Personal Robot 2, are bound for institutions including
the University of Tokyo, Germany's University of Freiburg
and Stanford University in California, the San Francisco
Chronicle reported Thursday. The garage held a party Wed-
nesday for the PR2s, which are each worth more than $4
million, to celebrate their "graduation" and show off some
of the capabilities of the machines, which are comprised of
a mobile base and mechanical arms. Steve Cousins, president
and chief executive of Willow Garage, said the PR2s represent
an effort to "get robots out of factories and into the real
world," where robots can help with everyday activities like
folding clothes. He said the robots are being provided to
the institutions for free for two years as part of the scheme
to bolster robotics development.
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Fuel cell technology advance reported
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - U.S. chemists say a nanoparticle with a
palladium core and an iron-platinum shell can outperform
commercially available pure-platinum fuel cell catalysts.
The scientists at Brown University and the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory said their finding could move fuel cells a step
closer to reality. The researchers said creating catalysts
that can operate efficiently and last a long time has been a
big barrier in fuel-cell technology. Platinum has been the
choice for many researchers, but platinum has two major down-
sides: It's expensive, and it breaks down over time in fuel-
cell reactions. In the new research led by Professor Shouheng
Sun, the scientists said they created a unique core and shell
nanoparticle that uses far less platinum, yet performs more
efficiently and lasts longer than commercially available pure-
platinum catalysts at the cathode end of fuel-cell reactions.
The research team -- including Brown graduate student
Vismadeb Mazumder, as well as Miaofang Chi and Karren More
at the Oak Ridge Laboratory -- created a five-nanometer pal-
ladium core and encircled it with a shell consisting of iron
and platinum. In laboratory tests, the palladium/iron-plati-
num nanoparticles generated 12 times more current than com-
mercially available pure-platinum catalysts at the same cata-
lyst weight. The output also remained consistent during
10,000 cycles, at least 10 times longer than commercially
available platinum models, the scientists said. The research
appears in The Journal of the American Chemical Society.
NASA studies Martian climate change data
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA says its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
is providing new information about climate change on Mars
and the planet's sub-surface geology. Space agency officials
said the spacecraft's Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument
has allowed scientists to reconstruct the formation of a
large chasm and a series of spiral troughs on the northern
ice cap of Mars. "SHARAD is giving us a beautifully detailed
view of ice deposits, whether at the poles or buried in mid-
latitudes, as they changed on Mars over the last few million
years," said Rich Zurek, the orbiter project scientist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA said analyzing radar
data on a computer allows scientists to "peel back" the
layers of ice like an onion to reveal how the ice cap evolved
over time. "One of the most distinctive features of the
northern ice cap is Chasma Boreale, a canyon about as long
as Earth's Grand Canyon, but deeper and wider," NASA said.
"Some scientists believe Chasma Boreale was created when
volcanic heat melted the bottom of the ice sheet and trig-
gered a catastrophic flood. Others suggest strong polar
winds carved the canyon out of a dome of ice." The new data
from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest both the canyon
and spiral troughs were created and shaped primarily by wind.
The research is reported in two papers appearing in the
journal Nature.
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NASA announces new science missions
WASHINGTON - NASA says hurricanes, air quality and arctic
ecosystems are among research projects planned during the
next five years by its new airborne science mission. The
space agency's new Earth System Science Pathfinder program
is designed to complement NASA's larger research missions.
The selected proposals are the first in a new series of
low- to moderate-cost projects. NASA said the projects will
be funded at a total cost of no more than $30 million each.
Six NASA centers, 22 educational institutions, nine U.S. or
international government agencies and three industrial
partners are involved in the missions. The five projects,
selected from among 35 proposals, are:
-- Airborne Microwave Observatory. Principal investigator
Mahta Moghaddam, University of Michigan.
-- Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment. Principal
investigator Eric Jensen, NASA's Ames Research Center.
-- Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment,
Principal investigator Charles Miller, NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
-- Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column
and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality.
Principal investigator James Crawford, NASA's Langley
Research Center.
-- Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel. Principal investi-
gator Scott Braun, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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