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Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Claims Alien Cover-up

Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission and he was the sixth man to walk on the Moon. Dr. Mitchell also insists that aliens have visited Earth and that governments are actively covering it up. "I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said. "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it. "I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit." Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction." NASA issued a quick denial. In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. "Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue." If Dr. Mitchell is correct about a cover-up than this is exactly the type of denial one would expect NASA to make. You can listen to the interview with Dr. Mitchell where he discusses the UFO phenomena here. Permalink | Recent Headlines | News Feeds Read more…

Microbots Designed to Swim Like Bacteria

17.12.2006 06:08 Science - Source: LiveScience.com

Microbots Designed to Swim Like Bacteria Tiny microrobots are under development at Monash University in Australia. A remarkable micromotor will allow them to swim like an

E. colibacterium, which uses its flagella to move around.

A flagellum is a long, structure composed of microtubules; bacteria use them in a whip-like motion to move around.

James Friend's goal is to build a device no wider than 250 microns—that's the width of two human hairs—that would be capable of swimming through the human body.

He and his team have already built a linear motor the size of a salt crystal. With a $300,000 grant from the Australian Research Council, Friend believes that his team will be able to reduce the motor to the necessary size within three years.

According to Friend, the main difference between the microrobot motor and a conventional electromagnetic type is that the latter spins much faster but has much less twisting force. In an email interview with Technovelgy.com, he remarked: "The swimming robot idea in and of itself has indeed been around a long time—since at least the 1950's anyway, and our motor is of a scale and has the performance characteristics needed to actually make this sort of thing possible.

We're using ultrasonic motor technology here, which offer higher torques at lower speeds." Friend said, "We've operating larger mm-sized prototypes of the motor, and have a fairly good handle on the analysis, which turns out to be quite complicated for twisted-beam structures." (See a design for the prototype microrobot.)

The micromotor that Friend and his team have designed for their propulsion system should be smaller overall than a similar microrobot propulsion system described in November by Moshe Shoham (see Propulsion System for 'Fantastic Voyage' Robot). Friend points out that his team has a "motor suitable for his [Shoham's] or our propulsion system that is far smaller than the technology he's [Shoham's] wanting to use."

Ultimately, tiny microrobots would give surgeons the ability to avoid traumatic and risky procedures in some cases. A remotely-controlled microrobot would extend a physician's ability to diagnose and treat patients in a minimally invasive way.

Researchers at UCLA have gone in a different direction for a power source for a microrobot; click on Musclebot: Microrobot with a Heart for an alternative to micromotors. If you can't quite picture cell repair by medical nanorobots, click here for a graphic view.

Other sources for this story include this article and this Monash University press release.

(This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission from Technovelgy.com —where science meets fiction.)