Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics were immortalized in the short story "Runaround" in 1942.   In it he formalized the rules that all positronic robots must obey.

Two engineers think Asimov's laws need an update.

Scientists have been thinking increasingly about whether or not animals in the ocean might play a role in larger-scale ocean mixing, says John Dabiri, a Caltech bioengineer. Ocean mixing is the process by which various layers of water interact with one another to distribute heat, nutrients and gasses throughout the oceans.

"The perspective we usually take is how the ocean--by its currents, temperature, and chemistry--is affecting animals," says Dabiri, who, along with graduate student Kakani Katija, discovered the new mechanism.

The number of large-diameter trees that Yosemite National Park is famous far are on the decline, and warmer temperatures appear to be the culprit.

Their number have declined 24 percent in the park between the 1930s and 1990s. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Washington compared the earliest records of large-diameter trees densities from 1932 to the most recent records from 1988.

The number of large-diameter trees that Yosemite National Park is famous far are on the decline, and warmer temperatures appear to be the culprit.

Their number have declined 24 percent in the park between the 1930s and 1990s. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Washington compared the earliest records of large-diameter trees densities from 1932 to the most recent records from 1988.

Professor Wei Sha from Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering is concerned with the combat safety of vehicles that use titanium alloys.

Obviously the best way to remain safe is to actually not be at war but since bullets are flying and  terrorists are blowing themselves up, he has examined the damage tolerance of the popular material titanium.   The UK military based in Afghanistan currently use land rovers which have titanium alloys.   It is the first research of its kind to reveal the reasons behind the deformation and damage of titanium alloys under strong impact or fast applied force.

A new analysis of the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) that roamed Earth 68 million years ago has confirmed traces of protein from blood and bone, tendons, or cartilage.

The findings published in the Journal of Proteome Research is the latest dataset in an ongoing controversy over which biochemical remnants can be detected in the dino.

Scientists in New York and North Carolina say they have assembled the first functioning prototype of an artificial Golgi organelle, a key structure inside cells which helps process and package hormones, enzymes, and other substances that allow the body to function normally.

They say their 'lab-on-a-chip' device could lead to a faster and safer method for producing heparin, the widely used anticoagulant or blood thinner, the researchers note. The study is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. 

The Golgi organelle is named for Camillo Golgi, the Italian scientist and Nobel Prize winner who discovered the structure in 1898.

There are no words to explain this. Perhaps British folk like Patrick can explain.

Cheese rolling is a sport, according to ESPN's E:60. It's just like the running of the bulls in Pamplona, except it's in England, and you're chasing cheese instead of bulls chasing you...ok, so it's not really like running of the bulls, but makes about the same amount of sense.

I'll set the scene...

You return to the office after a satisfying lunch, sluggishly move the mouse to break the hypnotic effect of the screen saver, and come face-to-face with a far too full email inbox. Like a skilled field medic you start the triage process.

Time for a quick compare-and-contrast. Here is what "Physics Today" lists as their top stories and most popular articles for July 2009:

• Farewell to the bevatron
• Earliest astrophysical object yet seen
• House narrowly passes climate change bill
• Miller to run nuclear division at DoE