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Roofus Robot Eats Snow For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 6:40 AM on November 20, 2008
Roofus is a robot that can do the job of 25 men cleaning up snow. Which is great, because who wants to have a job in this economy? I mean, do you have caterpillar tracks, two electric motors, one petrol engine, capability to carry 550 pounds of snow on your back, remote control link, and your skin is shiny orange? If you said yes to any of these, you don't need a job shoveling snow. Go to the next available circus and/or government agency.
When you go to pick out your Slegoon for that next killer run down the mountain, be sure to pick a colour you like, because you could be living in it for a while. Underground. Like, because, you'll be dead and it's your coffin! Get it?! Anyway, the Slegoon here is the winning entry in the UK IOM3 Design Innovation in Plastics competition. The roll cage, such as it is, protects the rider and doubles as extra runners should the 
The worst bit of snowball-fighting has always been, to me, the massive pain caused as you over-chill your hands by frantically sculpting your 100'th snowball: something that'd not be a problem with this snowball gun. It sculpts the 'balls for you, three at a time, and then you can use its internal slingshot to fire them at neighbour kids up to 15 metres away. Actually I've remembered that the worst bit of snowball fighting is being hit by one that "accidentally" has gravel in it, but you take my point. With this baby tucked under your arm, wintry Cold Wars will be decidedly more one-sided. Yours for $US30. [
As the clock continues to tick for brave Phoenix so far away on Mars, the discoveries keep on rolling: this time, that snow falls on Mars. A laser instrument called for pulsing the atmosphere and observing what gets bounced back detected Martian flurries at altitudes of 4km in the clouds. The snow is vapourising before hitting the ground, but the discovery lends some crucial insight into the Martian water cycle. As did another juicy finding dug up from the soil.
Is it hot where you are? 
For some, it's more police. For others, it's better traffic management. For Riverhead Resorts, though, what Long Island needs more than anything else is a 35-story man-made ski resort. As you could easily imagine, a few (read: lots and lots) of people aren't too happy about the two billion dollar proposal, but the concept is stunning.
Instead of trekking across ice sheets and into dangerous areas to gather data on climate change, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology are going to send robots in instead. Dubbed SnoMotes, the in-development robots are modified kids snowmobiles—chosen for their cheapness and resilience—packed with navigation gear and sensors, and able to work as a team without the need for remote control.
