The government seems forever fascinated by the idea of taking animal abilities and giving them to robots. First there was the DARPA cheetah and pack mule robots. Now we have a tuna fish robot. Yes, really.

Why make a robot that is designed to swim like a tuna? The truth is that tuna fish are great swimmers, and fast, too. The “BIOSwimmer” has replicated the fins and flexible tail to give it the ability to maneuver in a manner that is very similar to the tuna.

Homeland Security is actually funding the project, though it is made by the Boston Engineering Corporation. The idea is that these robots could be used for missions like exploring flooded areas of ships, inspecting oil tankers and even patrolling U.S. Harbors.

There is a reason for why we often see real animal and human concepts go into robots, the natural designs just make sense. Many solutions to problems come from examining nature, and it’s no different when it comes to robotics.

Besides swimming quickly and in difficult waters, the BIOSwimmer can also fit into extremely tight spaces and is controllable via a laptop. The robotic fish also has its own navigation system, processing sensor data and communications system.

What do you think of this tuna fish-inspired robot? At least this robotic animal actually looks quite a bit like a metallic version of the real animal its designed after.

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NASA is mostly interested in exploring things beyond this planet, but many of its innovations have found their way into our everyday lives. The latest development is a special chip that houses 32 nanosensor bars, reacting to a myriad of stimuli from the environment. It could diagnose cancer and measure blood sugar levels in diabetics with nothing more than a breath.

The implementation being demonstrated by Jing Li of NASA Ames has it as a cell phone case, looking very much like it would latch onto an iPhone. It could just as easily be adapted for other devices, of course. In a nutshell, there are 32 nanosensor bars on a chip about the size of a postage stamp. Each of these bars is composed of different nanostructure material, reacting to different chemicals in different ways and providing real-time monitoring.

Going back to the previous examples, there is a correlation between lung cancer and nitrous oxide. If the nanosensor bars detect elevated levels of nitrous oxide in a person’s breath, they could detect the cancer way ahead of time. Similarly, the level of acetone in a diabetic’s breath is correlated with their blood sugar level. No more need for those nasty finger pricks?

Naturally, NASA is exploring all sorts of other options too, including military applications. It was used on the International Space Station to monitor air quality and check for formaldehyde. The DoD is funding an application where soldiers could be outfitted with real-time detection of chemical threats. From a big brother perspective, the Department of Homeland Security could take a “big picture” look from the cell phones of citizens to assess the chemical threats in an area following some sort of disastrous event. The possibilities are endless.

And it looks close to production ready too. Who said science couldn’t be fun?

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An official document from the Department of Homeland Security has explicitly stated that just about anyone is allowed to take as many photos as they’d like of government buildings. From your iPhone to your Digital Rebel, your shots are fair game.

There have been plenty of stories about photographers having their equipment seized or being told to erase their memory cards by security personnel around the White House and other government buildings. This memo is saying that such “orders” are no longer okay.

It’s saying that “officers should not seize the camera or its contents, and must be cautious not to give ‘orders’ to a photographer to erase the contents of a camera, as this constitutes a seizure or detention.” Score one for the paparazzi photogs.

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