Its 2009, we still don’t have hover boards, no teleporters and barely a flying car. It’s depressing. But here’s the next best thing, swimming robot penguins. Developed by a German company they look and move through the water like real penguins and when inflated them helium, they fly!

Created by EvoLogics in Berlin, the robo-penguins employ 3D sonar to avoid banging into walls or other penguins and when flying the adorable robots, gracefully paddle around the room. The heck with planes! Maybe some day we’ll all soar through the air like a flightless bird.

Via NewScientist.

The two canines, a breed of Italian sheepdog called Maremmas, which can weigh up to 110 pounds and stand 29 inches tall, protect the endangered birds whose numbers have plummeted from 5,000 to 100.

Fairy penguins often fall victim to predators like foxes and wild dogs, but the Maremmas, as they naturally do, have bonded with the flock animals and now protect them from intruders.

It’s paying off. Recently, researchers counted an encouraging number of penguins, over 80 birds and about 26 chicks, and foxes are visiting the area less frequently. Growl!

Via The Earth Times.

Yeah, it sounds gross! But in an attempt to save frogs and preserve their genetics, some scientists want to establish a cryo-preserved sperm bank for amphibian DNA; NewScientist explains.

While we’re at, we should probably setup the same thing for water monsters, pygmies, polar bears, penguins and all other animals. At the rate we’re going, everything, including us, will be extinct!