Robotic dog of war

Developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the U.S. military, the BigDog prototype is arguably the world's most ambitious legged robot.

Its stability and awareness of its own orientation make it the first robot that can handle the unknown challenges of the battlefield.

The great dane -- size robot can trot more than three miles an hour, climb inclines of up to 45 degrees, and carry up to 120 pounds -- even in rough terrain impenetrable to wheeled or tracked vehicles. But this one is just a puppy; Boston Dynamics expects the next iteration, ready this summer, to be at least twice as fast and carry more than twice as much.

BigDog's body is a steel frame that houses a one-cylinder gasoline engine driving a hydraulic system, a computer, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that uses a fiber-optic laser gyroscope and a suite of accelerometers to track its movement and position. These devices function together with the legs to create BigDog's precision gait.

Robotic dog of war

Eclipse Photographed by Space Station Crew

Thousands of people flocked to sites between North Africa and central Asia in search of the best place on Earth to see today's total eclipse of the sun. But the coolest view might not have been on Earth at all.

Members of the Expedition 12 crew aboard the International Space Station were treated to this one-of-a-kind sight early this morning: a view of the moon's shadow passing across the Earth.

The island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea appears in the top center of the photo, flanked on the left by the coast of Turkey.

Down on Earth, people in the center of the shadow, or umbra, experienced deep, nightlike darkness, while those in the shadow's lighter portion, or penumbra, witnessed a partial eclipse.

Space station crew members took the picture at 4:30 a.m. EST while orbiting 230 miles (370 kilometers) above the Earth.

—Blake de Pastino

Eclipse Photographed by Space Station Crew

Mini Yorkshire Terrier

"What are the most popular dogs?"

Popularity, of course, varies by region. Although there is some change from nation to nation, there is a greater change between regions. Because apartment-dwellers often want smaller pets, a list of the Top City Dogs would include such smaller dogs as the Miniature Schnauzer, Pomeranian and the Pug. The Most Popular Country Dogs are larger dogs, including the Collie and Siberian Husky.

Dogs in Literature and Hollywood have influenced breed popularity over the past century. When LASSIE COME HOME appeared in the 1940's, first as a novel and then as a movie, the Scottish-bred Collie became extremely popular as a family pet. In the 1970's, the movie BENJI became an immediate hit. Starring a lovable mixed breed dog that was adopted from an animal shelter (the original Benji was the dog Higgins who had worked on the TV show "Petticoat Junction"), the movie started a popular franchise: five Benji movies, television programs and specials, comics, and even Benji merchandise. Dog breeders were deluged with requests for "Benji-like" terriers.

Mini Yorkshire Terrier

The Soul Does Not Sleep in Death

The theory that the individual is unconscious between death and resurrection is sometimes called soul sleep, because of the outward similarity be­tween physical death and sleep, and because the Bible speaks of the departed as asleep.

The argument for unconsciousness in death was long based largely on the former premise, since men are apparently unconscious when they sleep, but this has been practically disproven and few now deny that in sleep men are simply conscious in another way.

At any rate, the Scriptures which describe death as sleep refer to the body, not to the "inner man."

Dan. 12:2 speaks of "them that sleep in the dust of the earth." In Matt. 27:52 we read that "many bodies of the saints which slept arose." Stephen prayed: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" and then "fell asleep" and devout men carried him (i.e., his body) to his burial (Acts 7:59,60; 8:2). Thus too, "David . . . fell asleep . . . and saw corruption" (Acts 13:36).

Extend Kingdom of God

Bird-flu spread: "Nature is in control"

The spread of avian influenza through at least 29 new countries in the past seven weeks — one of the biggest outbreaks of the virus since it emerged nine years ago — is prompting a sobering reassessment of the strategy that has guided efforts to contain the disease.

Since February, the virus has cut a swath across the globe, felling tens of thousands of birds in Nigeria, Israel, India, Sweden and elsewhere. Health officials in the United States say bird flu is likely to arrive in North America this year, carried by wild birds migrating to their summer breeding grounds.

The speed of the virus' migration, and the vast area it has infected, has forced scientists to concede there is little that can be done to stop its spread across the globe.

"We expected it to move, but not any of us thought it would move quite like this," said Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations' coordinator on bird-flu efforts.

The hope once was that culling millions of chickens and ducks could contain or even eradicate the virus. Now, strategy has shifted toward managing a disease that will probably be everywhere. Officials are hoping to buy a little more time to produce human vaccines and limit the potential economic damage.

Bird-flu spread: "Nature is in control"