NASA is aiming high with several new missions planned out after forwarding its request for the fiscal budget of 2009. These include three new robotic missions to the Moon, two new Earth science missions, and an ambitious mission to the outer solar system. You can take a look at more details on these ambitious new plans in the full article after the jump!

A man recently claimed to have cloned himself for stem cell research. A Californian company seems to have taken it a step further by claiming to have made five human embryos using cloning technology with the intention of harvesting them for stem cells. Details in the full article.

We bet the guy who coined the term "boner" never saw this one coming. German scientists in Hanover have actually developed a procedure that can create premature sperm cells from human bone marrow tissue. This could mark the birth of a breakthrough for fertility treatments, but the money shot may still be far along the road.

Using the latest in stem cell technology, adult stem cells have been extracted from living bone marrow. These cells are usually the foundation of muscular tissue development, but given the right procedure, they could be shaped into sperm cells capable of spawning life.

The hitch, however, is the growing opposition against stem cell technology among other western powers. The United Kingdom is in the process of drafting legislation against funding and testing of embryotic stem cells and the U.S. Senate is still locked in a heated battle with President George W. Bush's threat to veto the bill that would provide funding for stem cell studies.

Also, the public stigma on stem cells may lead activist conservatives to rally against the technology and spark a paralyzing gridlock which could derail efforts for the advancement of treatments which can be derived from the technology.

"This finding is of interest but we really need to be very cautious about the interpretation," says University of Sheffield stem cell researcher Harry Moore. He also reminded everyone that "this is a fast moving field but we are still many years away from developing any therapies for infertility using such techniques."

The report was published in the journal Gamete Biology: Emerging Frontiers on Fertility and Contraceptive Development and was presented to an awed audience at an international fertility convention.

The drama between the Senate, the White House and the legislation on support for embryotic stem cell rages on as the upper house ignored President George W. Bush's stern warnings of a veto if the bill ever comes to the Oval Office.

The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate won the vote on stem cell for the second time with a 63 to 34 margin over Bush's republican bloc. Dana and Reeve Foundation head Peter Kierman expresses his frustration with Bush's policies, saying that he and the rest of the pro-stem cell community are tired of Bush's "Kabuki Dance." Defiant, he hinted at the twilight of the president's term. "The one thing we know is we will outlast him," he states.

The research on stem cells has not moved in full swing since 1998 because of funding restrictions. In 2001, the Bush administration gave some selective subsidies to research facilities on the premise of balancing concerns of different sectors. Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, however, made clear that "this legislation crosses a moral line that would use taxpayer dollars to destroy human embryos, and that's a moral line the president said he would not cross, and for those reasons he would veto this bill as well."

Embryonic stem cells are considered a medical wonder because they are deemed to be malleable enough in such a way that they can be molded into almost any cell type in the human body. Such a feat could mean that breakthrough treatments are in sight from diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease patients.

However, the ethical dilemma exists in the fact that embryos are killed in the extraction process, making Stem Cell use almost equivalent to abortion according to conservative lobby groups. We'll keep you posted on political and scientific developments regarding this hot topic.