London, March 29 : Six volunteers will be locked up in small steel tins off a parking lot in Moscow for 105 days, as scientists simulate a space rocket ride to Mars.

The cramped metal capsules will be connected by cables and corrugated metal pipes in a hanger at the back of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) in the Russian capital on Tuesday.

The objective behind this experiment is to recreate as closely as possible the atmosphere of a spacecraft racing through the solar system, bombarded by cosmic radiation.

London, March 29 : University of Calgary researchers have announced the invention of a specially-equipped robot vacuum cleaner that can sense human emotions.

The scientists say that the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner uses a special headband to capture bioelectric signals from the forehead of a human user, and then infers stress from muscle tension readings.

The system involves a control software programme that reinterprets natural muscle tension as estimating the user''s stress level, they add.

Washington  - Need a copy of the receipt for an order you placed online? Usually, you get a printable copy from the vendor, but if not, you can save a record for yourself. Just open the File menu of your web browser, click Save As, and put a copy of the file into a folder on your hard drive. Save it as HTML so that when you open it up again, it will look largely the same as it did when you were online.

Unterschleissheim, Germany  - Windows PC owners are advised to trash any e-mail messages claiming to provide a fix for flaws in Service Packs 1 and 2.

The messages are actually from hackers trying to lure unsuspecting users into following the download link. Instead of fixing the ostensible flaw, the program on the other side installs malware onto the user's computer. Trend Micro, a security solutions provider, is sounding the alarm on this practice

Hanover  - External burners in the slim line format are well suited for any laptop's travel bag. Yet it's important to give some consideration to how the external drives will draw their power, says the Hanover-based computer magazine c't.

The magazine recently tested six slim line models priced between 60 and 110 dollars. Five of them required no separate power supply and were able to run using the computer's U. S. B port.

Munich  - In tough economic times, restraint is in, even when buying computers. Yet there are also times when a change is needed. Those looking to buy a computer from Apple, but unable to spare the extra couple of hundred dollars should consider a used model.