September 11 had quite a different meaning for me before it became 9/11. And early on that cool blue morning I took my daily run from our Chelsea apartment down the West Side Highway past the World Trade Center to South Ferry and back. I never thought much about the Twin Towers then, except sometimes to remember the convoluted history of how they got built in the first place, or to feel their overwhelming presence in what was then a low-rise part of Manhattan as I breezed past, with no sense of how gigantic their absence might become. At work later that morning, when the news came in, we first thought "accident." After all, in 1945 a B-25 bomber had crashed into the 79th floor of New York City's Empire State Building.

Robot avatars will provide a new level of freedom and interaction for the disabled, elderly or bed-ridden, say inventors. Robot avatars will provide a new level of freedom and interaction for the disabled, elderly, or bed-ridden that they do not currently enjoy -- some even controlled by a user's thoughts, say scientists, inventors and enthusiasts. These avatars will "fill in" for those who are not able to physically attend -- communicating for them, said science fiction author Robert Sawyer. "This is liberating for the person [who is disabled]," Sawyer told FoxNews.com. "A human being feels helpless when he or she has to ask another person to get something off a high shelf for them or help them with their hygiene. But we don't feel we're imposing on robots; we're empowered when we have one."

Dogs have always had a role in combat but now they are helping engineers build better robots. Dogs are now in the field wearing high-tech bulletproof vests, parachutes and video cameras into combat. Rolling robots are getting stronger, smarter and smaller. Robots are being made to be more dog-like and dogs are being trained to be methodical, like robots. From infantry units to secret SEAL teams, the U.S. military is using increasing numbers of dogs and robots to assist in conflicts across the world.