October 2003 Offworld Report: Weird Science
01/10/2003 . Source: Stephen Hunt 
Why the US military want to unleash a new fleet of robot-controlled aerial vehicles, Arthur C. Clarke talks at the Los Alamos Space-elevator Conference, plans for a bacterial battery, Erich von Däniken wants a Themepark of the Gods, and why Cold Fusion scientists feel unloved. A prime crop of weird science gems found offworld the 'Nest for October 2003, in this month's monthly round-up of the 'best of the rest'. Help Me Obi-Wan
Two firms tout devices that project images into thin air like the R2D2 hologram in the first Star Wars.
SETI Extension
Jupiter or Mars-like planets beyond our Solar System should be considered targets for life, claims an astrophysicist.
Spaceguard: The First Five Years
NASA wants the Spaceguard project (which aims to survey 90% of the near-earth objects, including those that might pose a potential collision risk) to search for even smaller risks than a one-kilometre ELE rock. But are the tiddlers worth tracking?
Go Robot Air Corps, Go
By 2010, the Pentagon wants a massive fleet of robot-controlled aerial vehicles flying for the USAF.
Jupiter Probe Nears Fiery End
The Galileo space probe is to be destroyed in Jupiter's clouds to prevent bacteria contaminating local moons.
Early Mars Frozen, But Habitable
Early Mars was cold, says the NASA Ames Research Centre, but it might have held life all the same.
Up and Away for Clarke
Sir Arthur C. Clarke gives the keynote address at the Los Alamos Space-elevator Conference.
Nanotubes Surprise Again: Ideal Photon Emission
Two University of Rochester researchers add another feat to the nanotubes' list: ideal photon emission; applications such as quantum cryptography and single-molecule sensors predicted.
Infrasound Linked to Ghosts
Scientists say low frequencies may be behind ghost sightings.
Asteroid Light
One day, lasers could be the last line of defence for the Earth.
Methane: the Great Dying?
Methane catastrophes could account for mass extinctions in the past.
The 'Bacterial Battery'
How a newly discovered bacterium could form the basis for a sugar-powered battery.
The NASA Commute
NASA's plans for an Orbital Space Plane it wants complete by 2008.
Taking Flight
The Chairman and Executive Director of the Planetary Society interviewed about interstellar flight.
Life On Europa?
New thoughts on life on Jupiter's moon Europa, from the University of Colorado.
Cold fusion Scientists Don't Get No Respect
Why scientists at the 10th International Conference on Cold Fusion think, "Many people in the scientific community feel we should be shot."
Discovering New Worlds
How the transit method is helping the search for new worlds.
Meteor Red
Why the Red Planet's colour is down to meteors, not water.
Themepark Of The Gods
Why author Erich von Däniken is planning a themepark based around his Chariots of the Gods books.
Life on Venus?
Why Venus's hellish climate may be relatively recent, leaving many billions of years for life to have developed there.
Brown Dwarf Detectives
The search for the ever hard-to-find Brown dwarfs.
Mars Trip Not a Goer
NASA loses the will to send manned missions to Mars.
Rocket Reaches Space Station
A Russian cargo rocket docks at the International Space Station (ISS), carrying vital supplies to the astronauts on board.
Look To The Stars
NASA's newest satellite observatory aims to investigate the cold dark areas of the universe via infrared.
Extinction Postponed
Astronomers play down the chances of a newly discovered asteroid destroying Earth in 2014.
The Limits of Life
Dr. Rocco Mancinelli of SETI wonders what the environmental limits to life are.
Time Travel by Spam
Spammer Robby Todino turns to mass e-mailings in his search for time-travel technology. He's now waiting for the right alien to come through for him. 
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