Astronomers announce that they finally found a triple-asteroid system that is very near Earth. This is the first time that astronomers have found such as while the said system is known to exist, they are rarely found.

Know more about the discovery by clicking the "read more" link below.

Students from all over the United States flocked to an abandoned Air Force base outside Los Angeles to compete in a race staged by the U.S. Defense Department. The goal is simple: Finish the race in six hours to win the US$ 2 million cash prize. With names like Stanford University, Cornell University, MIT, and other topnotch institutions in the running, who do you think took home the money and the bragging rights? Let's find out in the full story.

Read what went down in the robot car race after the jump!

A few months ago, we reported that bees have been mysteriously disappearing and its reasons are still unknown. There has been a lot of speculation as to why this is happening - some thinkers believe that sunspots are the culprit, while there are others who think that a particular fungus is to blame. Now a Cornell University expert is revealing his findings about this occurrence.

According to Nicholas Calderone, the Cornell entomology professor, finding the cause of the problem is vital for U.S. agriculture as many fruits and crops rely on honeybees for pollination. He explains that "just like in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster there are a lot of conflicting and inaccurate reports circulating in the media. What we do know is that there are an awful lot of dead bees. We are looking for patterns."

Among the possible causes of the bee deaths are genetically modified food, mites, pathogens, pesticides, and even electromagnetic radiation from cell phones. Calderone clarifies that actual causes are still unknown. A possible culprit pointed out by scientists is a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids - they are widely detected on pollen at low concentrations in other countries experiencing the same thing.

Apparently, neonicotinoids at certain levels may impair the bees' abilities to learn; scientists hypothesize that, due to this, bees may leave their hives and get lost. Calderone believes that this study could use more research. Another reason could be miticides used to combat mites. It has been hypothesized that miticides can accumulate in the bees' wax combs to levels that could harm the bees.

It's a good thing that a lot of people seem to care about this problem. As of now, Cornell and other universities are putting together funding plans to research and investigate the cause of the bee deaths. The federal government is thinking of allotting millions of dollars for long-term programs aimed at improving the honeybees' health.

What's interesting about this story from Physorg.com is not that we've got robots programmed to adapt to their surroundings while carrying out their programmed directives. Programmers and robotic engineers have been working on that for quite a bit of time. What's interesting is how Cornell University researchers have gone about it: the "underlying algorithm" that is also a promising model for programming future robots.

Just as long as that underlying algorithm does not decree that we taste like bacon, and we are are a threat to their existence, and try to exterminate us in the process.

Normally, the basis for robotic control programs tend to be "rigid" set of commands to the robot to move this or that part, or react to this or that condition. To have a robot anticipate every random condition it would meet in the field would require a lot of code to anticipate and react to those conditions. Needless to say: Heavy. Unwieldy. Blue screen of death, anyone?

Read more after the jump!