Free Republic

Robots will soon be able to feel heat or gentle touching on their surfaces. Researchers at Technische Universitaet Muenchen are now producing small hexagonal plates which when joined together form a sensitive skin for "machines with brains." This will not only help robots to better navigate in their environments, it will also enable robot self-perception for the first time. A single robotic arm has already been partially equipped with sensors and proves that the concept works.Our skin is a communicative wonder: The nerves convey temperature, pressure, shear forces and vibrations – from the finest breath of air to touch to...

A Church of Scotland body is urging congregations to celebrate their common baptism with Roman Catholics for the first time by using a special joint liturgy for the reaffirmation of baptismal vows. The groundbreaking call, seen as a huge step in inter-church links, is made in the report of the Kirk’s Ecumenical Relations Committee to the General Assembly. The liturgy was devised by the Presbyterian denomination's Joint Commission on Doctrine, made up of officials from both churches. Following an extensive study period which looked at our common understanding of baptism, this new service is now being recommended by the Ecumenical...

GENEVA - The United States will press Iran and not allow it to stall long enough to develop a nuclear program, American officials Thursday told Haaretz at the Geneva Talks 2 forum. The talks on Tehran's nuclear ambitions are being held between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - plus Germany. The negotiations ended with a number of resolutions, primarily the decision to have another round of talks later this month.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to help start a nuclear energy program in Venezuela and said Moscow is willing to participate in a socialist trade bloc in Latin America led by President Hugo Chavez. Medvedev used his visit to Venezuela—the first by a Russian president—to extend Moscow's reach into Latin America and deepen trade and military ties. Chavez denied trying to provoke the United States, but he welcomed Russia's growing presence in Latin America as a reflection of declining U.S. influence.

Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq Two Iraqi contractors and U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jose Torres, MNSTC-I communications program manager, prepare to run cable lines through different offices in a building that will soon house the 1st Iraqi Army division. Habbaniyah is the 12th location for Iraqi Armed Forces to receive the Iraqi Defense Network. Department of Defense photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lucia Newman. HABANIYAH -- A key element in any strong organization is communication - even more so when that organization is the military that is defending and protecting the rights of its nation's citizens. With Coalition...

HAQLANIYAH, Iraq (June 9, 2006) -- Marines operating in this insurgent-heavy Euphrates Valley city have developed a knack for locating improvised explosive devices – seemingly the number one weapon of choice of insurgents in Al Anbar province. According to Cpl. Robert Gaye, a squad leader assigned to the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, the Marines are also getting a little help from the local populace in finding IEDs before they are able to do harm to innocent civilians or coalition forces. Every day Marines and Iraqi soldiers conduct counter insurgency/security patrols in the volatile streets of Haqlaniyah, a city...

DENVER - The federal government's rush to develop energy on millions of acres of federal land in the West has left vast natural and cultural resources to languish, the National Trust for Historic Preservation said. Archaeological sites including Colorado's Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, which contains more than 6,000 recorded artifacts, and Utah's Nine Mile Canyon, dubbed the longest art gallery in the world with more than 10,000 American Indian petroglyphs, lie undocumented and unprotected, said Richard Moe, head of the National Trust. Only 17 million acres of the 262 million acres that Bureau of Land Management oversees in...

OSHKOSH, Wis. - At the top of a 10-foot-high mound of dirt, Gary Schmiedel takes in the silence. The military truck he's driving barely hums just before it careens down a steep incline into a muddy pool. Normally the vehicle — a Heavy Expanded Mobility Technical Truck or HEMTT — would be so loud the occupants wouldn't be able to talk to each other, said Schmiedel, vice president of product engineering for Oshkosh Truck Corp. But this version is about as loud as a standard sedan, with a smooth ride, splashy computer screens and a comfortable interior. This isn't your...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Mar. 15, 2006) -- Deployment can affect service members in a number of ways, including their emotional and spiritual well-being. When it comes to spiritual matters, service members here have only to turn to Lt. Cmdr. Ray Hunt, chaplain for the deployed element of the 1st Marine Logistics Group, for assistance. Hunt said he is determined to bring every service member home emotionally and spiritually sound. “I just want to take care of every Marine, sailor, soldier and airman (here). I want everyone to go home (safely),” said Hunt, a native of Clinton, Miss. For Hunt and...

PARIS (AFP) - President Jacques Chirac announced plans to build a prototype fourth-generation nuclear reactor by 2020 as well as symbolic targets for cutting France's reliance on oil in the coming decades. Chirac said that France, which is the world's second producer of atomic energy after the United States, needed to "stay ahead in nuclear energy". In a New Year address to business leaders and unions, Chirac said he had "decided to immediately launch work by the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) on a prototype fourth-generation reactor, to go into service in 2020". He said that France "will join forces...

The coalition soldiers’ job at city council meetings has been to mentor the Iraqi leaders, but recently local officials have taken the lead to conduct the meetings and resolve local issues. FORWARD OPERATING BASE GABE, Baqubah, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2005 — Coalition soldiers sat back as local Iraqi leaders discussed issues of concern in the Al-Abarra area Aug. 11. The meeting, at the Al-Abarra Government Building, brought together the members of the city council, the local Iraqi army commander and the Iraqi police chiefs from the area to discuss topics ranging from water to voting on Iraq’s new constitution. “Within...

Rush just a little while ago was talking about Africa and the effort to fix it. Talked about the live 8 concerts and how they got lobster and stake and got goodie bags with ipods etc. These kinds of things do nothing but help celebs feel better about them selves. There they are yelling at us to give money while they themselves are hording their money, why don't they give their money to Africa. Over the last 40 years the US has give over 500 billion dollars to Africa and what is there to show for that expenditure, nothing. Its...

http://netwmd.com/articles/article890.html After a first term marked by schizophrenic Iran policy initiatives, the Bush White House will soon develop a coordinated policy to promote peaceful regime change in Iran. The Bush administration is heartened by the apparent success of the Iraqi election and believes that Iranians are ready to exert their democratic rights. Bush policy is motivated by the grave and growing threat from the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, and the realization that neither Iran nor the European Union are sincere in preventing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weaponry. The Islamic Republic's potential threat to American security emanates from Tehran's determination...

Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington, D.C. He is a specialist on strategic issues and energy policy with a PhD in strategic studies from Johns Hopkins University. A former lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces, his writings have appeared in Commentary, Foreign Affairs, the Los Angeles Times, Middle East Review of International Affairs, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Mr. Luft addressed the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia on October 27, 2004. Introduction In both World War Two and the Cold War, the side best deploying scientific...

Affordable-housing law OKdHighland Park puts requirement on developers By Amanda Vogt, Tribune staff reporter. Freelance reporter Julie Ewart contributed to this report August 27, 2003 Prompted in part by complaints that young people cannot afford to raise families in the community where they grew up, the North Shore city of Highland Park has approved what an observer called a "precedent-setting" zoning ordinance requiring a portion of new multifamily developments to be reserved for affordable housing. The ordinance, passed unanimously by the City Council Monday night, requires 20 percent of new multifamily residential construction with five or more units to be...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense contractor Lockheed-Martin will develop a new system to check background information and assign a threat level to all commercial air passengers, the Transportation Department announced.</p> <p>The company, which employed Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta in the mid-1990s, was awarded a five-year contract to administer the program. The first phase of the contract is worth $12.8 million, transportation officials said.</p>

Scientists develop darkest substance on earth British scientists have invented the darkest material on Earth. The super-black coating was developed by researchers at the National Physical Laboratory in London. It could revolutionise optical instruments because it reflects 10 to 20 times less light than the black paint currently used to reduce unwanted reflections. The key to the nickel and phosphorous coating's blackness is that its surface is pitted with microscopic craters. "Super-black" is especially effective at absorbing light which hits it at an angle. With the light source at right angles, the coating reflects less than 0.35%. Black paint reflects...

Date: Posted 9/9/2002 UT Southwestern Researchers Develop Vaccine Against Deadly Bioterrorism Toxin Ricin DALLAS – Sept. 4, 2002 – UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have developed a vaccine in mice against the deadly toxin ricin. Ricin has been used as a biological weapon in many parts of the world. "Ricin is not only dangerous, but it is also cheap and easy to make," said Dr. Ellen Vitetta, director of the Cancer Immunobiology Center at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study to be published in the Sept. 10 issue of the journal Vaccine. Large stockpiles of ricin...