Scientists working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have designed a gadget that could prove invaluable during NASA’s next planned mission to Mars, in 2009. The laser-powered device — which is about the size of a cellphone — can identify almost any known substance, according to Robert Downs, a scientist at the University of Arizona who worked on the project. (Radio National)
NASA scientists are excited about the high-tech tool because it should give them exact information about the composition of Martian soil and rocks. But sci-fi fans may notice something familiar about the device: News of the development appeared on digg, the popular technology-news clearinghouse, under the headline "Star Trek Tricoder [sic] Invented by NASA."
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