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The race to create 'insect cyborgs' In 2006 the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) asked America's scientists to submit "innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect-cyborgs" .

The race to create 'insect cyborgs'

It was not your everyday government request, but it was an utterly serious one. For years, the US military has been hoping to develop "micro air vehicles" – ultra-small flying robots capable of performing surveillance in dangerous territory. Building these machines is not easy. The dynamics of flight change at very small sizes, and the vehicles need to be lightweight enough to fly, yet strong enough to carry cameras and other equipment.

Most formidably, they need a source of power, and batteries light enough for microfliers just don't have enough juice to keep the crafts aloft for very long. Darpa officials knew there had to be something better out there. Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth. Who Needs Assault Weapons? By NICHOLAS D.

Who Needs Assault Weapons?

KRISTOFPublished: August 18, 2004 If you've been longing for your very own assault rifle and 30-round magazine for the next holiday season, you're in luck. President Bush, sidestepping a promise, is allowing the ban on assault rifles and oversized clips to expire on Sept. 14. So at a gun store here in Meridian, a bit west of Boise, the counter has a display promising ''2 FREE HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES.'' All you have to do is purchase a new Beretta 9-millimeter handgun and you'll receive two high-capacity magazines -- on the condition, the fine print states, that the federal ban expires on schedule. President Bush promised in the last presidential campaign to support an extension of the ban, which was put in place in 1994 for 10 years. These days Mr. Mr. Critics of the assault weapon ban have one valid point: the ban has more holes than Swiss cheese. After these cosmetic changes, the rifle is now no longer considered an assault weapon, yet, of course, it is just as lethal.

Mr. Additional Rules Relating to Lead. Credit downgrade mounts pressure on debt panel. "My hope is that Friday's news will give us a renewed sense of urgency," President Obama said on Monday.

Credit downgrade mounts pressure on debt panel

The debt-ceiling deal: No thanks to anyone. THE deficit-reduction deal that finally raised America's debt ceiling and staved off the threat of default seemed to make no one happy.

The debt-ceiling deal: No thanks to anyone

“A sugar-coated Satan sandwich,” one Democratic congressman called it. Republican candidates for president lined up to denounce it. Is There A Debt-Ceiling Deal: Yes And No : It's All Politics. Hide captionPresident Obama announced a deal Sunday with Republican and Democratic leaders that would reduce the deficit and avoid default.

Is There A Debt-Ceiling Deal: Yes And No : It's All Politics

The deal needs congressional approval. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Do we have a deal? It's still a yes and no situation. The deal the president has accepted appears likely to be acceptable to a Senate majority of 60 as well. The two party caucuses will meet tomorrow morning. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is on board personally, having effectuated the breakthrough in talks with Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday and carried the ball further with Reid today. The debt-ceiling deal: Who wins and who loses? The dust is still settling from the debt-ceiling accord reached over the weekend between the White House and congressional Republicans.

The debt-ceiling deal: Who wins and who loses?

So far, the deal has the true hallmarks of a compromise; it's been blasted on both the right and the left, so much so that its passage remains uncertain. The process was laborious. and so full of starts, stops, and walkouts and accusations, that it’s hard to say any single politician -- or any institution -- emerged unscathed. Instead, it could be argued that all of Washington came out with a black eye, with the public thinking less of all involved -- if that’s possible—as a result. Debt-ceiling compromise taking shape: What's in it? The breakthrough followed 48 hours of high political drama, as the Senate voted to table – in other words, refuse to consider – the latest House bill to resolve the crisis just minutes after it passed the House.

Debt-ceiling compromise taking shape: What's in it?

House Republican leaders responded by defeating an earlier version Senator Reid's bill even before it was voted on in the Senate. Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition. For debt-ceiling deal to become law, what needs to happen by Tuesday. In a rare moment of relief, Senate leaders rushed together to the floor Sunday night to announce a historic debt agreement, and Asian financial markets, just opening, rallied.

For debt-ceiling deal to become law, what needs to happen by Tuesday

The German Energy Gamble. There is an air of excitement, even evangelism over the mission the country has set itself More than a hundred years ago, Berlin was known as Elektropolis.

The German Energy Gamble

A rival to Edison’s amazing demonstrations in Chicago, Berlin led the world in adventurous electrification. It was thanks largely to Werner von Siemens and Emil Rathenau, who became famous in 1884 when he managed to bring electric lights to one of the best-known bars in Berlin, the Café Bauer. The company he set up on the back of this adventure would eventually be known as AEG, while his rival would set up Siemens; the two companies would grow into two of the largest in the world, with Siemens today worth more than €73bn, and a worldwide symbol of brilliant German engineering.