Every so often, a story comes along that reminds you that some very smart people are working on a pretty weird tomorrow. Flying cars? Cloning? Robot sex? Hey, it's the 21st century, anything's possible.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 4:52:18 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42616/scientists-snap-first-images-of-new-planets.html?refid=rss_all_defaultScientists have photographed planets outside our solar system for the first time, Space.com reports. One team captured images of a three-planet system orbiting a star in the Pegasus constellation, while another group snapped a planet rotating around the star Fomalhaut. The planets can't support life or little green men, but one astronomer says the photos are “a crucial step on the road to the ultimate detection of another Earth."http://www.newser.com/story/42616/scientists-snap-first-images-of-new-planets.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 13 Nov 2008 15:13:58 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41724/frozen-mice-cloned-this-guy-next.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJapanese scientists have succeeded in cloning mice frozen as long as 16 years, leading them to predict that the technique could be used to resurrect the likes of woolly mammoths. The researchers found that frozen brain cells worked best, though brain cells haven’t worked when cloning live mice, and the nuclear transfer technique worked even though the cells had burst.http://www.newser.com/story/41724/frozen-mice-cloned-this-guy-next.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 04 Nov 2008 8:08:23 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41362/silver-screens-ray-guns-become-battlefield-reality.html?refid=rss_all_defaultRay guns aren't just for Flash Gordon anymore, the Economist reports. The US military and defense contractors are experimenting with “directed energy” weapons systems on the battlefield and in labs, most of which help troops zap unexploded bombs and incoming fire. One model, the Zeus, is designed to more effectively and safely destroy explosives that menace troops in modern combat zones.http://www.newser.com/story/41362/silver-screens-ray-guns-become-battlefield-reality.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 31 Oct 2008 12:03:36 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/40659/uk-team-revs-plans-for-1000mph-car.html?refid=rss_all_defaultA team of British engineers is planning to build a car that could reach up to 1000mph and pulverize the team’s own land speed record of 763mph, reports the Independent . The toughest part of building Bloodhound, as the car is called, will be raising the needed $20 million—and figuring out how to stop the thing from going airborne.http://www.newser.com/story/40659/uk-team-revs-plans-for-1000mph-car.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 23 Oct 2008 4:18:11 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39814/trick-telescopy-aids-in-search-for-alien-life.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTelescope technology currently in the works will use light measurements to search for planets beyond our solar system whose orbit around a star means they could support life, Wired reports. The system, called nulling interferometry, uses tiny mirrors that move at atomic levels to combine the power of several telescopes, creating a device that could see a quarter on the moon.http://www.newser.com/story/39814/trick-telescopy-aids-in-search-for-alien-life.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 13 Oct 2008 9:57:38 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39733/space-tourist-video-gamer-blasts-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultUS video game magnate Richard Garriott blasted off into space today aboard a Russian rocket—and all it cost him was $35 million. The "space tourist" was cheered on by his father, a one-time NASA astronaut, Reuters reports. "I can see he is really enjoying it like a little kid in a candy shop," said Garriott's girlfriend. The craft is already in orbit and will dock with the International Space Station in two days.http://www.newser.com/story/39733/space-tourist-video-gamer-blasts-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 11 Oct 2008 22:53:05 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39712/flying-cars-yep-and-sooner-than-you-think.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFlying cars aren’t the stuff of science fiction anymore. A small California company called Moller is already producing a run of its M200 Neuera, an ethanol-powered two-seater straight out of the Jetsons, LiveScience reports. The car is expected to land next year, and carry a price tag south of $100,000. It’s all the work of Paul Moller, an engineer who’s made the flying car his lifelong obsession.http://www.newser.com/story/39712/flying-cars-yep-and-sooner-than-you-think.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 11 Oct 2008 13:56:41 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38290/internet-hookup-would-make-appliances-more-efficient.html?refid=rss_all_defaultElectric bill breaking the bank these days? Your fridge might be able to help, when developers start bringing Internet-ready appliances to market, GigaOm reports. Proactive dashboards could control energy usage to save money and conserve by telling wired appliances to reduce power during certain time periods without human input, and download new settings to lessen consumption.http://www.newser.com/story/38290/internet-hookup-would-make-appliances-more-efficient.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 24 Sep 2008 16:08:58 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38140/scientists-artists-dominate-macarthur-genius-grants.html?refid=rss_all_defaultOf the 25 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius award," 13 are scientists and eight are artists, the New York Times reports. This year, they are “people working on the very edge of discovery and people at the edge of a new synthesis,” says the foundation’s president. Among the winners: Tara Donovan, sculptor of drinking straws and paper clips Alex Ross, New Yorker music critic Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian novelisthttp://www.newser.com/story/38140/scientists-artists-dominate-macarthur-genius-grants.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 23 Sep 2008 8:28:28 CDT