Science and Future Technology

If you want a nice view of the moon, instead of squinting into the night sky or cursing tall buildings, you could soon gaze at an expertly crafted model of the stunning celestial object. And this version is small enough sit atop your coffee table. The lunar globe, dubbed MOON, bills itself as the most accurate of its kind. Its makers used NASA data to re-create the moon's many  craters , including Petavius and Copernicus, at 1/20,000,000th the original size. The mini moon comes with a ring of LED lights that revolve around the globe and illuminate the face of the moon as seen from Earth. MOON also reveals the far side (sometimes  referred to as the "dark side") of the moon, which faces away from Earth. This mysterious lunar region is even more pockmarked with craters than the Earth-facing side is, said Oscar Lhermitte, creator of MOON. "It’s quite stunning," he said. [ Top 10 Amazing Moon Facts ] The road to building MOON began four years ago, Lherm...

Is it possible to develop bombproof underwear? And why is it so difficult to perform a whole-body transplant? These are just some of the fascinating questions tackled by science writer Mary Roach in her new book, "Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War." The book, published by W. W. Norton & Co. and scheduled for release tomorrow (June 7), dives into the science of the military — a world that encompasses research on everything from  heatstroke  to the medical benefits of maggots (yes, maggots). In her characteristic up-for-anything approach, Roach takes readers into the labs of the unsung heroes who are working to keep U.S. soldiers alive and safe while they're deployed. [ Flying Saucers to Mind Control: 7 Declassified Military & CIA Secrets ] Roach caught up with Live Science recently to talk about her new book, why she decided to delve into  military science  and the weirdest chapter of World War II history that she stumbled on. (This Q&A...

Britain's first robot was a dazzling sight to behold, with broad shoulders, light-bulb eyes and a thick-barreled chest. On Sept. 20, 1928, Eric, as the robot  was named, was unveiled before members of the Society for Model Engineers' annual convention. Weighing more than half a ton and requiring 35,000 volts of electricity, the impressive figure fascinated audiences. Eric then embarked on a tour that took him around the world, and the futuristic bot became an international sensation. But years later, Eric was lost, and his fate remains a mystery. Now, London's Science Museum is running a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising money to rebuild Eric. He will join more than 100 other bots that copy the human form (known as humanoid robots) as part of the museum's upcoming exhibit on robots. [ The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created ] "Eric was everything you'd imagine a robot to be," said Ben Russell, lead curator for the exhibit, which will display ...

From the story of a man whose seizures were triggered by doing Sudoku puzzles to the report of a woman who suffered a painful reaction to a snake bite a whopping 50 years after she was bitten, the medical literature is full of unusual cases. What can physicians learn from a single patient's case? There are many reasons doctors publish case reports: A patient may demonstrate an unusual connection between a symptom and a disease (such as the 10-year-old boy whose earache was due an intestinal problem), or a case may lead to a better understanding of a common condition by highlighting a rare symptom that the condition can cause. (This was true, for example, in the case of man who had a stroke and started giving away all of his money to strangers.) Some cases may bring attention to an emerging problem that could become increasingly common as societal trends change (for example, a newly popular weight-loss supplement leading to liver damage). Case reports are often meant t...