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Published by AAAS
VOL 315
DENNIS NORMILE
Rovers Reloaded
A New Years resolution shared by NASAs
Spirit and Opportunity: Think more for myself.
The pair of weary Mars explorers have received
a software upgrade to allow them to recognize
dust devils and clouds and select only relevant sections of the images to transmit to
Earth, freeing up communication time and
manual labor for scientists. Other new features include better obstacle avoidance software. The rovers missions are entering their
fourth year.
ELI KINTISCH
Exhibiting Restraint
Plans to build a new government-funded science and technology museum in Ottawa have
been undercut by Canadas top treasury official.
The Canada Science and Technology collection
is currently dispersed among three buildings,
including a former bakery. The long hoped-for
building would bring the 36,000-item collection, which includes Canadian-made satellites,
antique scientific and medical instruments, and
nanotechnology exhibits, under one roof along
with curators, researchers, and cataloguers.
Museum officials cut back their proposal last
year from $600 million to $400 million. But
even the smaller figure is too much for Treasury
Board of Canada president John Baird, who
cited more important taxpayer needs in an
interview with the Ottawa Citizen newspaper
last week. A newly appointed museum chair will
now reevaluate the situation. PAUL WEBSTER
5 JANUARY 2007
27