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" Panama Canal Upgrade Wins ApprovalCitizens of Panama expressed their overwhelming endorsement yesterday for a plan to give a modern facelift to their famed canal. In a national referendum, the $5.25-billion expansion of the Panama Canal\u2014one of the world&amp;#039;s greatest engineering feats of the last century\u2014received backing from nearly 80 percent of Panamanians. We&amp;#039;ll be down in the border country this week to scope out the new plan, the major element of which is a third set of locks to double the capacity of the 50-mile waterway. With latches that are 40-percent longer and 60-percent wider than those in place, the canal will be able to accommodate modern-day cargo ships\u2014many of which have outgrown the canal&amp;#039;s current capacity. Approximately 4 percent of global trade is routed through the canal each year.  Completed in 1914 by the U.S. government, the Panama Canal originally cost $375 million and took 10 years to build. After initial negotiations in the 1970s, authority over the canal was transferred to Panama in 1999. The improvements, which will represent the biggest upgrade in the waterway&amp;#039;s 92-year history, are scheduled to begin next year and be completed by 2014. Check back soon for blogs from Panama City. Moon Back in Mind, X Prize Cup Lifts OffSpace and rocket enthusiasts descended on Las Cruces, N.M., this past weekend for the second annual X Prize Cup. In addition to high-flying demonstrations, the two-day event saw the X Prize Foundation\u2014a patron of innovation in aerospace, automotive and now medicine\u2014award more than $2.5 million to innovators who participated in three major competitive events. This year&amp;#039;s expo featured the Vertical Lander Challenge, Lunar Lander Challenge and Space Elevator Games. With plans to return to the moon underway, NASA sponsored the former two events, designed to spur commercial development of lunar vehicles. The Elevator Games, meanwhile, were based on the concept we reported on in May that a vehicle can travel into space along a &amp;quot;ribbon&amp;quot; held taunt by an object in geosynchronous orbit. Cape Mimics InvisibilityIn physics news, a group of scientists led by Duke University researchers has unveiled an &amp;quot;invisibility cloak&amp;quot; to rival Harry Potter&amp;#039;s magic cape\u2014well, almost. Rather than hiding actual light waves, the cloak&amp;#039;s material diffuses microwave beams, as detectors on the other side of the cape pick up beams that appear to be flowing through free space. The cloak is made from &amp;quot;metamaterials&amp;quot;\u2014engineered composites constructed in an arrangement that mimics the electromagnetic properties of free space. These new findings, published this week in the journal Science, represent a major success in a field that has long perplexed engineers; potential applications exist in the wireless communications and radar arenas. \u2013Emily Masamitsu "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a949/4200293/>