NASA - Borg Computer Collective Designs NASA Space Antenna

“This is the first time an artificially evolved object will have flown in space,” observed Jason Lohn, who led the project to design the antennas at NASA Ames Research Center, located in California’s Silicon Valley.

If all goes well, three of these computer-designed space antennas will begin their trip into space in March 2006. Each satellite will be equipped with a strange-looking, computer-designed space antenna. Although they resemble bent paperclips, the antennas are highly efficient.

This is pretty freaking cool, I gotta say. In a nutshell they’re working on a smallish device that will be able to identify the chemical composition of objects using Raman spectroscopy. They say it works today on earthbound objects.
‘Tricorder’ Ready For Mars Rover This Year: Science Fiction in the News