This is a very basic diagram of an Emdrive, a kind of reactionless drive—which "doesn't require any outside force or net momentum exchange to produce linear motion"—being developed by scientists at Northwestern Polytechnical University in X'ian. The Emdrive consists of a cavity that gets flooded with microwave radiation, which theoretically will result in linear motion as supported by Einstein’s Special Law of Relativity. Or something like that.

However, some people say that while the engine is theoretically possible, as it doesn't violate the law of conservation of energy, it won't work. In any case, what is important here is that there are scientists actually working on this device and perhaps pushing the envelope forward with their experiments.

Hopefully they will end this job soon and start working on the real important Cylon developments. And with that I mean Number Six. [emdrive and Wikipedia via Boing Boing Gadgets]

The MechRC has an electronic and mechanical expansion system, so you can build your own version. For $760, however, I would pass until I can upgrade it with gatling guns and laser cannons. [MechRC via Toylogy]

Morgansen designed the robofish to explore the deepest depths of the ocean, as well as seek out other locations where the environment is deadly to human beings. They'll do this all without any intervention from people, other robots or even satellites. The group would perform just like an organic fish and form a school, with dominant personalities leading the way even if certain robofish received incomplete or garbled instructions.

"In schooling and herding animals, you can get much more efficient maneuvers and smoother behaviors than what we can do in engineering right now," Morgansen said. "The idea of these experiments [with schools of live fish] is to ask, 'How are they doing it?' and see if we can come up with some ideas."

Schooling also helps fight the effects of water on wireless communication. Optimal underwater data transfer rates are approximately 80 bytes, or about 32 numbers, per second, but the robofishes' simple two-command memory structure (swimming in the same direction or swimming in different directions) mean tasks get done anyway. The robots use fins and a tail, instead of a propeller, because they're more maneuverable and create lower drag. [University of Washington]