According to Space.com, NASA may test their new capsule to the moon program with an Apollo 8 styled mission in 2015, a few years earlier than the 2020 planned missions. This would involve sending the planned Orion CEV out to the moon around and back quick.
Brain-controlled wheelchair
Technology is offering many improvements to life quality for persons with disabilities – coming down the pipeline at present is a Spanish-designed wheelchair that can be controlled by thought alone.
Transparent Transistors
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a technique for creating transparent transistors, which would enable electronic displays that double as windows and the like. [wired]
Snakes Down Your Throat
Narrow areas like the throat are very hard for a surgeon to operate in, so researchers at Johns Hopkins University are developing snake-like robots to hold the tools. The robots can practically tie themselves in knots, controlled by a surgeon in a separate workstation. [engadget]
Bigelow Aerospace pale blue dot images
Bigelow Aerospace has some pretty nifty photos taken from the outside of their inflatable spacecraft showing the Earth far below.