A team of engineers at California State University, Northridge are developing swarms of tiny, insect-sized robots that could help make exploring other planets safer and more efficient. Led by mechanical engineering professor Nhut Ho, the team was just awarded a $538,000 grant from the US Department of Defense to further develop their miniature robotic space explorers. The longterm goal is to create autonomous swarms of small robots that can move across the surface of other planets to collect samples and complete tasks that might otherwise be too complicated for a rover, or too risky for a human astronaut. 'We were inspired by the behaviors that we see in swarms of ants and bees that self-organize, create clever solutions for different tasks, work in groups of different sizes and have the ability to complete the tasks even when members fail,' Ho told CSU Northridge's news blog. Ho's team will collaborate on the project with another group from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which recently won a DARPA competition for autonomous robots completing reconnaissance and search and rescue operations in a simulated disaster area.

Who should explore space, man or machine? The loss of seven space shuttle astronauts this month again brought home the serious risk that humans face into the hostile environs beyond our sheltered planet, reviving the question of whether exploring the heavens should be left to unmanned missions. Although less glamorous, such missions pose no risks to humans. And already robots have an impressive list of accomplishments compared to the their flesh and blood counterparts. "Unmanned missions are all about specifically targeted scientific explorations of the universe around us. Without exceptions, these efforts rise out of intense competition where the most compelling, and answerable, questions are posed," said Marc Buie, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

A world where you can download your personality on to a computer to create your own avatar may sound like something from a science fiction novel. But according to Dr Michio Kaku, this'immortal world' could soon be a reality. He claims that soon we will be able to go to speak to loved even after they die, by keeping them alive through virtual reality. Dr Kaku was born in California on 24 January 1947. He led a distinguished academic career, attending Harvard University and the University of California, Berkely – where he received his PhD in 1972.