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TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE NEWS

One Small Step for New NASA Robot
A NASA-funded robot, half the width of a human hair, has been given legs powered by living heart muscle.

Nanopulses Tweak the Innards of Cells
A method that would allow doctors to tweak the innards of cells without even touching a patient's body is being developed in the U.S.

Antactic Threatened by 21st-Century Biotechnology 'Gold Rush'
Biotechnology firms want to patent the genetics of organisms found in extreme conditions, and the UN wants a piece of the pie.

Technology is Not the Solution to All Crises
But members of the government often seem to have the same touching faith in technology that small children have in Santa.

This Car Can Tell If You've Had Too Many for the Road
The device works by measuring the degree of co-ordination between hand and eye and monitoring-steerign wheel movements, and then comparing the two.

Worst Technology of 2003: Paperless Voting
Internal documents from Diebold Election Systems, which has sold more than 33,000 AccuVote DRE machines, acknowledge that there have been security flaws, although the company denies that the flaws could allow a hacker to cast multiple votes or alter the votes of others, as critics suggest.

Rocket Plane Shoots into Space
The world's first private, manned rocket-plane has made a successful maiden flight, breaking the sound barrier and marking an important milestone in the history of space travel.

Test Flights of Honda Experimental Business Jet Begin

Big Brother Car Spy Puts Privacy at Risk
A Scottish computer company which stands to profit from so-called Big Brother technology has warned that it could be used for spying, unless legislation is put in place to protect privacy.

Strip Search That Spares Your Blushes
A powerful new scanner can detect plastic explosives and illicit drugs was installed and tested at London's Gatwick Airport. The scanner uses a special wavelength of light which allows it to literally see through clothing.

Memory Tabs Set to Take Over from CDs
Compact discs could be history within five years, superseded by a new generation of fingertip-sized memory tabs with no moving parts.

CIA Used Dragonfly, Catfish as Spy Gadget Models
The CIA once built a mechanical dragonfly to carry a listening device, and also tested a 24-inch-long rubber robot catfish whose mission remains secret.

Cell Phone Speed Traps
Celldar - short for cellphone radar - is being developed by two British companies, Roke Manor Research and BAE Systems.

Denmark's Powerful Lessons for the Future
Built in two distinct phases over the past 13 years, Denmark's Avedore power station utilizes a staggering 94 percent of the energy of its fuel, compared with between 40 and 50 percent for the average electicity producing power station in the UK.

Bionic Man No Longer Fiction
Shrinking silicon, wireless technology and a quantum leap in the knowledge of men like Professor Chris Toumazou have translated fiction to fact.
From the brain down, humans can be rebuilt and, according to Prof Toumazou, we can make the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk.
More . . .

Fears of More U.S. Electoral Chaos After Flaws are Discovered in Ballot Computers
An investigation published in the Independent reveals that tens of thousands of touch screen voting machines may be less reliable than the old punchcards.

Paralysis Hope in Monkey Mind Games
American scientists claim to have given two monkeys the ability to communicate with computers through the power of thought.

Vacuum Cleaners That 'Talk' Will Sweep Away Hassle
A new generation of so-called talking vacuum cleaners and washing machines could soon save people the hassle of phoning call centers when they break down.

Tenn. Nuclear Plant to Make Energy, Bomb Material
The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is days away from becoming the only commercial nuclear station in the United States to produce both electricity for homes and isotopes for bombs.

Man Who Lost Bionic Arm Waits to be Rebuilt
The man whose life was transformed when he was given the world's first 'bionic' arm has had to give it back to its inventors, who have store the revolutionary limb away in a box, calling it nothing more than a "museum piece."

Drive Safely in a Car with the Gift of Gab
A talking car capable of warning motorists if they are driving badly or about to fall asleep at the wheel is being developed by Scottish scientists.

Lasers Bring History to Life
The laser scanner at the University of Dundee can create virtual 'reproductions' of relics, meaning exact copies of rare items can be brought to a wider audience without exposing them to harmful conditions.

Prostitutes to be Tracked on EU Database
A pan-European database of prostitutes is being compiled to help track their movements before the expansion of the European Union floods the continent with sex workers from eastern Europe.

Refusing to Go with the Flow
Water, researchers are now discovering, remembers things.

Research Backs Up Fears on Mobiles
Radio signals for the next generation of mobile phone services can cause headaches, tingling sensations and nausea - but also improve your memory and make you more alert, new research has claimed.

Make Robots Not War Some scientists refuse to get paid for killer ideas.

"Freewheeling Zealots" DARPA: The Dark Star of Defense

Should Net Surfers be Licensed? Manditory online education, tests considered.

The Great (Driverless) Car Race DARPA sponsors race in which vehicles must direct themselves, without human guidance, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in ten hours.

Europe Heads for the Moon The unmanned SMART-1 lunar probe, to be launched in September 2003, will use revolutionary technology, "turning science fiction into science fact." The tiny moon explorer, the size of a small washing machine, will be powered by an ion engine using solar electric propulsion.

Arms Race Fear Over New Bomb US scientists are working on a space-age weapon that experts fear could trigger a new arms race.

Power Comes in Small Bundles The smallest synthetic motor ever made - an electric rotor on an axle 2,000 times shorter than the width of a human hair - has been built by scientists at the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Computers of the World, Unite BOINC is the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, a package of free, open-source software aimed at enabling many more science projects to harness the data-crunching power of home PCs across the world as a supercomputer.

Computer Voting is Open to Easy Fraud, Experts Say The software that runs many high-tech voting machines contains serious flaws that would allow voters to cast extra votes and permit poll workers to alter ballots without being detected, according to computer security researchers.

How to Rig an Election in the United States Computer voting machines have not only led to the death of the write-in candidate, but allow progammers to steal your vote for the candidate of their choosing.

Light Manipulated at Room Temperature Researchers using a room temperature crystal of alexandrite have been able to switch quickly between slowing light to 100 metres per second, and speeding it up beyond the standard speed of light, which is 299,000 kilometres a second.

Oldest Known World Boggles Minds Astronomers have discovered the oldest known planet, a primeval world 12.7 billion years old that will force them to reconsider how and when planets form. The discovery raises the prospect that life may have begun far sooner than most scientists ever imagined.

Hackers Hijack PC's for Sex Sites More than a thousand unsuspecting Internet users have recently had their computers hijacked by hackers, who are using them to display pornographic Web sites.

Computer That Can Tell the Write Sex Just by Reading A computer program has been developed which can distinguish our sex simply by looking at the way we write. Rather than looking at words for their macho posturing or feminine sense, the Israeli-developed program has confirmed what many scholars already thought - women focus on people while men prefer to concentrate on things.

'Our Own Devices': Smothered by Invention Is technology ruining our bodies?

Internet Helps Make Dean a Contender Howard Dean's prominence in running for president is largely attributable to his campaign's early embrace of the Internet.

Bush Pushes for Next Generation of Nukes Nukes? Aren't those "illegal weapons of mass destruction?"

British Troops Try Out 'James Bond' Style X-Ray Specs British troops have been carrying out secret tests on a revolutionary new device that allows them to 'see' through walls, scientists have revealed.

Use of Cellular Phones Leads to Chromosomal Instability Exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to electromagnetic fields associated with cellular phones leads to chromosomal instability.

Mom Buys Herself an Engineered Baby Girl A mother of four boys has reignited the controversy over "designer babies" by travelling to Spain for gender selection treatment in order to have a daughter.

Software Sets Out to Uncover New Office Menace: the Cyberslacker Experts at Iomart have devised a new "Big Brother" software system, called NetIntelligence, which will show managers just how much time employees spend surfing the net rather than doing the job they are paid to do.

The Shocking Menace of Satellite Surveillance Unknown to most of the world, satellites can perform astonishing and often menacing feats.

A Passion to Build a Better Robot, One with Social Skills and a Smile

Special Visa's Use for Tech Workers Is Challenged American technology workers say their jobs are increasingly going to foreign workers who enter the United States under a little-known visa category known as L-1. In the nearly three years since the technology bubble burst, the use of L-1 visas to bring in workers - with a large percentage from India - has beccome a popular strategy among firms seeking to cut labor costs. The number of these temporary visas granted rose nearly 40 percent to 57,700 in 2002 from 41,739 in 1999.

In Germany, Customers Scan as They Shop At an experimental store that opened last month in Rheinberg, Germany, customers do not just squeeze loaves of bread: they scan them. ... Much of the gadgetry relies on signals from radio frequency identification tags that are attached to cases and pallets that deliver merchandise or, in a small number of cases, individual products.

Supertots and Frankenkids Coming soon: genetically enhanced people.

Gadgets That Warm to the Real You Consumer electronics makers large and small are turning their attention to biometric security: identifying people by their physical and behavioral markers.

Court Hears Fight Over Numbers Used for Cellphones The wireless telephone industry appealed to a federal court in Washington to block a government effort to allow consumers to keep their cellphone numbers when they switch mobile phone carriers.

Police Invest in Sci-Fi Technology At a touch of a mouse button, the biometric recognition system uses details of a "facial fingerprint" to scan up to 15 million photographic images within a minute for a suitable match for a suspect. The system, originally developed in Canada, was used last year by law enforcement agencies guarding George Bush and other world leaders at a summit in Mexico.

Research Shows Hazards in Tiny Particles A new review of research on nanoscale materials suggests that tiny particles are often toxic because of their size.

Scientists Complete the Book of Life A new era of medical science was ushered in with the announcement that scientists have completed writing the "book of life" - the three billion letters of DNA that make up the human gentic code.

Internet Via the Power Grid: New Interest in Obvious Idea The idea of sending Internet data over ordinary electric power lines is getting sudden attention in response to several trial efforts.

The Sonic Pain Stick Torture Gets Technical - Intended for use at short range, the weapon projects sound intense enough to cause temporary loss of hearing, perhaps nullifying its effect, or possibly shattering the hijacker's eardrums.

New Fusion Method Offers Hope of New Energy Source Scientists from Scandia National Laboratories have reported that they achieved thermonuclear fusion, in essence detonationg a tiny hydrogen bomb.

Invisibility Cloak an Illusion Kazutoshi Obana's gray, hooded coat doesn't just keep him dry in a downpour. It can also make him seem invisible.

Japanese Technology May Help Island Reap Pacific's Waters A number of Pacific island nations may use new Japanese technology that can both desalinate seawater for drinking and produce electricity.

Start-UP Finds Technology Slump Works in Its Favor Phil Goldman, a well-known software designer, will introduce a service that he says will permanently end e-mail spam for consumers.

Israeli Technology to See Action in Iraq After decades of U.S. military aid and defense cooperation, the U.S. military is permeated by technology developed in Israel.

MOAB, Killer of the Helpless The Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or Mother Of All Bombs, is so big it must be shoved out the tail of a transport plane on a sled attached to a drag parachuet. [- Moab is also a password for one of the degrees of freemasonry]

Face-Recognition Technology Improves Facial recognition technology has improved substatially since 2000, according to results release from a test by four federal agencies involving systems from 10 companies.

Reeve Smelling the Coffee Again, and More The actor Christopher Reeve can breathe on his own for 15-minute stretches after experimental surgery to implant electrodes that stimulate the muscles in his diaphragm.

Largest Conventional Bomb Dropped in a Test in Florida In a flashy debut for its biggest non-nuclear bomb, the Air Force dropped a 21,000-pound behemoth onto a test range in Florida.

Online Library Wants It All, Every Book The directors of the new Alexandria Library have begun an ambitious effort to make virtually all of the world's books available at a mouse click.

Keeping an Eye on Things, by Cellphone Telephones that display pictures can be used to see the person you are calling, but their real potential may be in helping you see what is happening in your living room.

Maricopa County to Start Inserting Microchips into Adopted Animals "The chips, made by American Veterinary Identification Devices, have identification numbers programmed into them. ...and the number appears when the animals are scanned. ... A company spokesman said more than 3 million of its AVID microchips have been sold nationwide..."

Weapons That Disable Ciruitry May Get First Use in Iraq "...according to military experts, the biggest technical revelation... a new category of firepower known as directed-energy weapons. Think invisible lasers, using high-powered microwaves and other sorts of radiation rather than the pulses of visible light common in science fiction. These new systems, which have been under development... for at least a decade..."

Dolly the Sheep Put Down After Growing Old Too Soon "...the world's first cloned animal, has been put down after being diagnosed with progressive lung disease."

Space Case Apparently there's something called Space Command... and they'll control the weather. "From enhancing friendly operations or disrupting those of the enemy via small-scale tailoring of natural weather patterns to complete dominance of global communications and counterspace control, weather modification offers the war fighter a wide range of possible options to defeat or coerce an adversary."

Robot Goes on Face Value A new head-shaped android is capable of calculating how feminine or masculine a person's face is and assess their atractiveness, its creators claim. "...the gender-profiling technology can also be used to tailor specific adverts to passers-by in a similar way to the recent science fiction film Minority Report."

A Glimpse of a Future in a New Kind of Light "...light-emitting microchips that work longer and use less power."

Scientists of Very Small Draw Disciplines Together Nanotechnology, biotechnology, electronics and brain research are converging into a field of science vital to the nation's security.

Japanese Scientist Invents 'Invisibility Cloak' "It is the brainchild of Professor Susumu Tachi who is in the early stages of research he hopes will eventually make camouflaged objects virtually transparant." - Wow! Check the photograph.

Hydrogen Cars Fuel U.S. Energy Debate "Suddenly hydrogen has become the center of a new, revived energy debate after Congress struggled for two years to enact a broad energy agenda for the nation - in the end failing - with hydrogen getting barely a mention."

Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb

The Electrocuting Water Cannon "The aqueous electrocutor sprays a 'high-pressure saline solution with additives' mixed in to maximize range in putting down that troublesome rabble. '[Deblilitating] but not lethal shocks' move through the water jet, according to Jaycor's online brochure. The company hints the voltage can be turned up 'to deliver potent electrical shocks to equipment as well as individuals.'"

The Guilt-Free Soldier "...experiments in rats indicate that the brain's hormonal reactions to fear can be inhibited, softening the formation of memories and the emotions they evoke."

Scientists Take Step to Jog the Memory "...high-powered imaging techniques to pinpoint the area of the brain invovled in storing and retrieving such information in the memory. The scientists were able to show brain activity in greater detail than ever before."

Courts Split on Internet Bans "If a person goes to prison for using a computer and the Internet to commit a crime, can he be barred from using the Internet after the sentence is served?"

Technology Development for Army Unmanned Ground Vehicles Chapter 4 Autonomous Behavior Technologies "...includes software necessary for the robot to accomplish specific mission-functions, including those based on tactics, techniques, and procedures used in military operations. Learning/Adaption software is used to improve performance through experience. It offers a way for a system to become robust over time (i.e., to be able to handle variability not intially anticipated by the system's programmers.)" Chapter 7. Roadmaps to the Future "As complexity advances from a basic Searcher UGV to a sophisticated Hunter-Killer, the degree of trust in and the independence of the robotic vehicle system increase to a level of 'responsible' autonomy, in which only minimum-acceptable controls over the robot have been retained."

Controversial "Lightning" Weapon Could Cripple Iraqi War Machine "America has developed a new weapon capable of crippling Saddam Hussein's war machine by unleashing powerful man-made lightning strikes." - Shades of Tesla! More...

Car Exhaust Gases Could Save Lives "Low concentrations of carbon monoxide have been found to counteract the thickening of arteries which frequently leads to complications in heart surgery."

Microsoft Giving Russia Access to Code

Microsoft to Give Governments Access to Code

Smartphones Set for World Domination

Euro Notes are Genetically Modified Scientists Reveal

Chocolate of 2025 May Make Soldiers 'Invisible' to Thermal Imaging

Virtual Bird Brain Helps Decode Melodic Songs

Computer IDs Still-Alive Patients as Dead

Terror Weapon From a Humble Bean

Special Commission Says Smithsonian Institute has Become 'Unfocused and Underfunded'

Scottish Scientists Discover New Species of Cattle

Rare Snail-Killing Fly Species Found in Scotland

The Soft Bomb