Scientists from around the world are in St. Paul this week for the annual Robotics and Automation Conference, where everything from golf course-mowing machines to cancer-seeking micro-cameras are on display. The conference is not open to the public, but WCCO-TV got a peek.

The state's chilly temperatures and geological stability could be just what the growing data industry needs to keep its "server farms" cool and reliable. Legislators this year passed a package of tax incentives in hopes of luring companies scouting out places to build data centers.

With the help of a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, computer scientists and biologists from the U have developed robotic boats -- called Carp Trackers -- that can locate and follow carp, allowing officials to net and remove the fish from lakes and rivers.

The Minnesota Twins are negotiating a deal with Hennepin County to get a stake in a new light-rail transit hub near Target Field that connects the Hiawatha, Northstar and future Central Corridor lines, the Pioneer Press reports. The $79 million project also includes an entertainment plaza on the north side of the ballpark.

64 high school teams gathered in Duluth to see whose robots were the best at shooting a basketball and balancing on a wobbly bridge. Teams from St. Peter, Prior Lake, and Milwaukee will move on to a national competition.

Delta Airlines' primary headquarters and hub in Atlanta is flourishing. Not so at other hub cities. Since Delta absorbed Northwest Airlines, the Twin Cities area has lost 3,000 jobs associated with the carrier. In Memphis the number of flights has been nearly halved, pushing up air fares to the second highest in the nation. Behind Cincinnati. Which is also a Delta hub.

The Maryland Avenue Bridge over Interstate 35E just north of downtown St. Paul is coming down beginning July 13. The street will be closed until early or mid-September, when it reopens with a new bridge in place. Workers are building the new bridge at a nearby site, and in what might signal the future of bridge construction, a giant robotic conveyor belt will roll the span into place during a 12-hour window over two weekends in August.