Imagine a tiny snake robot crawling through your body, helping a surgeon identify diseases and perform operations.

It’s not science fiction. Scientists and doctors are using the creeping metallic tools to perform surgery on hearts, prostate cancer, and other diseased organs. The snakebots carry tiny cameras, scissors and forceps, and even more advanced sensors are in the works. For now, they’re powered by tethers that humans control. But experts say the day is coming when some robots will roam the body on their own.

“It won’t be very long before we have robots that are nanobots, meaning they will actually be inside the body without tethers,” said Dr. Michael Argenziano, the Chief of Adult Cardiac Surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

(Source: hosted.ap.org)

HOUSTON — The International Space Station’s Expedition 31 crew grappled and attached SpaceX’s Dragon capsule to the space station Friday. This is the first time a commercial company has accomplished this type of space operation.

 ”Today marks another critical step in the future of American spaceflight,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “Now that a U.S. company has proven its ability to resupply the space station, it opens a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space — and new job creation opportunities right here in the U.S.

(Source: nasa.gov)

One dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help alcoholics give up drinking, according to an analysis of studies performed in the 1960s.

A study, presented in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, looked at data from six trials and more than 500 patients.

It said there was a “significant beneficial effect” on alcohol abuse, which lasted several months after the drug was taken.

An expert said this was “as good as anything we’ve got”.

(Source: BBC, via archonsandtaters)

The elevator is expected to be able to carry up to 30 people at a time, but don’t expect to be able to hop on it spontaneously. Obayashi said that the elevator may be traveling at a speed of 200 km/h (124 MPH), which means that the a one-way trip will take about 180 hours or 7.5 days. However, once at the destination, passengers can enjoy plenty of room for laboratories and living space, Obayashi said. The facility will also be connected to huge solar panels that generate enough power for the space station and transmit excess power down to the surface.

So, how expensive is it to manufacture and deploy almost 120,000 miles of carbon nanotube cables in space, build a space station and develop an elevator that travels at 124 MPH? Obayashi said it has no idea, but they now have a project in place and “try” to make progress to make sure a space elevator “won’t end just up as simply a dream.”