Spacecraft strikes Moon with intense flash

The SMART-1 lunar probe crashed into the Moon right on cue on Sunday morning. Mission controllers at the European Space Agency lost contact with the probe at 0542 GMT, indicating that it had struck close to the planned landing site on the lunar “Lake of Excellence”.
http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9908

New type of Space propulsion

The xenon ion propulsion system, or XIPS (pronounced "zips"), is the culmination of nearly four decades of research into the use of electric propulsion as an alternative to conventional chemical propulsion. Available on the Boeing 601HP, or high power, and Boeing 702 satellite models, the increased efficiency possible with XIPS allows for a reduction in propellant mass of up to 90% for a satellite designed for 12 to 15 years operation. Less propellant results in reduced cost for launch, an increase in payload, or an increase in satellite lifetime, or any combination of the above.
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/xips/xips.html

An ion thruster (or ion drive), one of several types of spacecraft propulsion, uses beams of ions — electrically charged atoms or molecules— for propulsion. The precise method for accelerating the ions may vary, but all designs take advantage of the charge-to-mass ratio of ions to accelerate them to very high velocities using a high electric field. Ion thrusters are therefore able to achieve high specific impulse, reducing the amount of reaction mass required, but increasing the amount of power required compared to chemical rockets. Ion thrusters can deliver one order of magnitude greater propellant efficiency than traditional liquid fuel rocket engines, but are constrained to very low accelerations by the power/weight ratios of available power systems.
The first ion thrusters, known as Kaufman-type ion thrusters, were developed by Harold R. Kaufman, working for NASA in the 1960s, and were based on the Duoplasmatron.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_drive

Communicate and a non lethal weapon..

LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device)
The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD™) is a breakthrough, highly-directional hailing and warning system designed to communicate with authority, affect behavior, and help determine intent up to 300 meters away. LRAD is a communication device that is:
All-Weather
Man-Portable
Highly-Directional
LRAD offers the ability for:
Police to provide clear direction to gatherings and crowds
Officers to serve warrants from a safe distance.
Fire crews to communicate to potential victims in tall buildings or hard to reach areas.
Prison Guards to determine intent of groups and clearly control a riot without munitions
Maritime Vessels to clearly and forcefully communicate with small vessels that pose a threat.
Security Personnel to communicate in host nation language from a safe distance for checkpoint control
Airport Managers to scare away birds from roof tops and air fields with a directional transmission
Border Patrol Agents to clearly give warnings from helicopters to people on the ground with clarity over turbine noise
Hazardous Response Team Leaders to communicate with people in hazardous areas warning innocent bystanders to stay away in any language

http://www.audionation.co.uk/products/military/lrad.html

Small robots called SwarmBots

SwarmBots communicate with their neighbors using a set-based neighbor query system and a gradient-based ad-hoc messaging system. Global behaviors are formed from the interactions of many individuals by using iRobot’s collection of "group behavior building blocks." iRobot developed a large library of these behaviors, and has used them to perform group tasks such as clustering to a location of interest, surrounding an object to measure its perimeter, navigating long distances using neighboring robots as landmarks, and exploring and mapping a large building.

http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=149

Robotic military vehicle

Built on the rugged John Deere M-Gator™ platform and enhanced with proven iRobot and Deere robotic controls, navigation and obstacle avoidance systems, the R-Gator is designed to serve numerous important roles, acting as unmanned scout, "point man," perimeter guard, pack/ammo/supply carrier and more for soldiers, marines and airmen. In conjunction with John Deere, iRobot is producing a limited number of R-Gator prototypes in 2006.

http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=141

Fighting CANCER with GENES

BBC Report shows 2 men cured of cancer
with astounding new treatment using gene technology...

How it works
Dr Stephen Rosenberg and his team isolated T cells from the cancer patients and multiplied them in the lab.
FIGHTING CANCER WITH GENES

1 Blood taken from patient2 T cells infected with virus to carry key genes into them3 DNA from genes helps cells develop receptors4 Modified cells injected back into patient5 Receptors target cancerous cells to be killed
Next they used a virus to carry receptor genes into the T cells. These receptors are what enable the modified T cell to recognise specific cancers - in this case malignant melanoma.
When the modified T cells were transfused into the patients they began to attack the tumour cells.
For at least two months after the treatment, the modified cells made up at least 10% of the patients' circulating T cells.
The scientists are now looking at ways to enable greater numbers of the modified T cells to survive.
Dr Rosenberg said: "We've identified T cell receptors that will now recognise common cancers."

See the article here..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5304910.stm

next US spaceship to take humans to the Moon.

The Lockheed Martin Corporation will build the next US spaceship to take humans to the Moon.
Nasa has awarded a multi-billion-dollar contract to the group to develop the Orion vehicle, which will replace the space shuttle when it retires in 2010.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5304086.stm

I myself am astounded that this propulsion system is going to be used.
Seams like a waste of money to me in the award of this contract..
ancient technology at this point..
just my humble opinion of course.