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SCIENCE
Ancient
Lake Holds Secrets to Earth's Past - Scientists will
soon be drilling into what could prove to be the longest
and richest archive of Earth's past climate. They're trying
to get a year-by-year continuous record going back millions
of years in an area where they believe humans first evolved.
The researchers will use a newly developed drilling system
to obtain sediments from the bottom of Lake Malawi for the
first time. Lake Malawi, which sits at the southern end
of the East African rift valley, is 750 meters deep and
possibly seven million years old. The researchers say the
data they could obtain about past climatic variations could
give them the environmental background they need to understand
human origins and evolution.
Goofy
Galaxy Spins in Wrong Direction - A galaxy captured
by the camera of the Hubble Space Telescope seems to be
rotating in the direction opposite of what it should, astonished
astronomers announced this week. Most spiral galaxies have
arms of gas and stars that trail behind as they turn. But
this galaxy, known as NGC 4266, has two leading outer arms
that point toward the direction of the galaxy's rotation,
according to Hubble researchers.
Genetic
Archeology Uncovers Early Animal Evolution - Biologists
at the University of California, San Diego have uncovered
the first genetic evidence that explains how large-scale
alterations to body plans were accomplished during the early
evolution of animals. In
an advance online publication February 6 by Nature of a
paper scheduled to appear in Nature, the scientists show
how mutations in regulatory genes that guide the embryonic
development of crustaceans and fruit flies allowed aquatic
crustacean-like arthropods, with limbs on every segment
of their bodies, to evolve 400 million years ago into a
radically different body plan: the terrestrial six-legged
insects.
The
Inner Savant - Are you capable of multiplying 147,631,789
by 23,674 in your head, instantly? Physicist Allan Snyder
says you probably can, based on his new theory about the
origin of the extraordinary skills of autistic savants.
And
Now for Something Completely Different - “The constraints
of the genetic code are history,” proclaims Peter Schultz,
of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Then, with a touch of modesty creeping into his tone, he
adds, as a bit of a fig-leaf: “At least in bacteria, the
genetic constraints that we have had to cope with for the
last few billion years are gone.” Dr Schultz's statement
is no idle boast. For years, biologists have been tinkering
with life's tangled web of genes and proteins by tweaking
a molecule here, deleting one there and seeing what followed.
By contrast, Dr Schultz's laboratory, along with another
team of chemists based in Japan, are introducing completely
new strands to these webs. If successful, they will fabricate
what could reasonably be described as a new sort of living
thing.
Brain
Part Appears to Accentuate Negativity – A region of the brain a few inches behind the bridge of the
nose may hold the key to why some people have a negative
outlook on life, scientists announced yesterday. The study
published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences is the first to examine the neurological roots
of what scientists call "negative affect," a trait
that predisposes people to anxiety, irritability, anger
and a range of other unpleasant moods.
The
Art of Making Bone - Advances in materials science and
bioengineering technology have added significant impetus
to the search for replacement materials for bone that can
better mimic nature and integrate into the host body.
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TECHNOLOGY
Researchers
Create Robotic "Bugs" To Explore Mars -
Insect-like robots may one day swarm
over the surface of Mars, helping scientists better study
the planet, says a University of Missouri-Rolla researcher
developing this new breed of robots. Dr. K.M. Isaac,
professor of aerospace engineering at UMR, is working with
NASA, The Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) and Georgia Institute
of Technology to create a robotic flying machine called
an Entomopter.
Dreams
of the New Power Grid - At the nuvera fuel cells lab
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 25-year-old chemical engineer
Darryl Pollica stands in front of a prototype 5-kilowatt
fuel cell -- a miniature powerplant that can make most of
the electricity needed by a family of four.
"Bionic"
Replacement Parts Becoming More Human - Bionic limb replacements that look and work exactly like the
real thing will likely remain a Hollywood fantasy, but fast
advances in human-to-machine communication and miniaturization
could bring the technology close within a decade. That is
the outlook of Rutgers biomedical engineer and inventor
William Craelius, whose Dextra artificial hand is the first
to let a person use existing nerve pathways to control individual
computer-driven mechanical fingers.
'Presence'
Software: Now you Can't Hide - Making a phone call has always been a game of chance.
You never know whether the person you are calling is available.
You just punch in the numbers and hope to get lucky. Imagine
being able to learn without dialing a single digit whether
another person's phone is in use, or in the case of a cell
phone, whether it is even turned on. Now imagine being able
to do the same thing with any wired or wireless device of
the future - whether it is in the car, in an airplane or
at the gym. Not only could you learn whether a person is
available for a chat, but you could also deduce what that
person might be doing at that exact moment, all without
exchanging a word.
British
Telecom Argues It Holds Patent on Internet Links
- British Telecommunications PLC claimed in federal court
Monday that it owns the patent on hyperlinks - the single-click
conveniences that take Internet surfers from one Web page
to another - and should be paid for their daily use by millions
of people. But a federal judge with a laptop on her desk
warned that it may be difficult to prove that a patent filed
in 1976, more than a decade before the World Wide Web was
created, somehow applies to modern computers.
The
Nanotube Computer - In the hype-filled world of nanotechnology,
Phaedon Avouris, head of IBM Research’s nanoscience and
technology group, has a reputation as a meticulous and somewhat
skeptical scientist. By his own description, he is one of
those researchers whom reporters call to get a “realistic
assessment” of the latest nanotech breakthrough. These days,
though, the IBM chemist sounds uncharacteristically upbeat.
The reason
for his excitement can be seen in a microscopic image recently
produced in his lab. It shows a thin thread draped over
several thick gold electrodes. What is not so apparent is
that the thread, a single carbon nanotube, has been modified
and positioned so that it forms two types of transistors,
each a few nanometers (billionths of a meter) in diameter—
a hundred times smaller than the transistors now found on
computer chips. What’s more, the nanotube transistors work
together as a logic gate, the fundamental computer component
responsible for selectively routing electrical signals,
transforming them into meaningful ones and zeroes.
A
Different Kind of Mobile Computing – The idea of an
intelligent car is nothing new to the auto industry. Many
manufacturers have been developing and refining related
technologies since the early '80s. Although Ford Motor,
General Motors, BMW, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz aren't likely
to build K.I.T.T. any time soon, they are optimistic about
the future of telematics, or wireless communications and
navigation systems for cars. And they're not the only ones.
The Strategis Group, a research firm, predicts that 84 percent
of new cars sold in 2004 will feature some form of telematics
equipment. And Forrester Research estimates that telematics
will become a $20 billion industry worldwide by 2006.
The auto industry hopes these developments will invigorate
new markets, increase margins, and ultimately grow revenue.
Silicon Valley startups are jumping into the fray as well,
contributing software and electronic wizardry to this new
Model A for the information age--nothing less than a big
computer on wheels.
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BUSINESS
The
Tidal Wave Bearing Down on Telecom - It started with Global Crossing's undersea-cable boondoggle.
Now, debt-burdened players large and small face a major
shakeout.
Energy
Merchants Cease Bandwidth Trading
- The collapse of Enron Corp. last fall apparently
put the emerging liquid bandwidth trading market on extended
hold. At
the same time the market maker shut down its broadband unit
and filed Chapter 11, other U.S. energy merchants ceased
trading circuits using the standard Bandwidth Trading Organization
(BTO) contract for delivery at common pooling points and
have settled forward contracts. Many of these merchants
have returned to their core businesses: electricity and
natural gas.
The
Friction Economy – Today, post-Sept. 11, the economy
faces a subtle new reality: Call it friction. It's as if
fine sand has been sprinkled into the gears of American
business--the intricate productivity machine that had been
so well oiled during the 1990s. From higher security costs
to airport delays, from planning for supply-chain breaks
that might arise to dealing with personnel problems that
have already occurred, companies are staring at substantial
new costs in their operating budgets. The bill this year
may top $150 billion, a full 1.5% of U.S. domestic output.
PwC:
Sharing the Hot Seat with Andersen? – So far in the
Enron scandal, Arthur Andersen has borne all the weight
of the accounting profession's failures. But that's about
to change. BusinessWeek has learned that congressional
investigators are taking a keen interest in PricewaterhouseCoopers'
role -- or roles -- in deals between Enron and its captive
partnerships. A congressional source says the House Energy
& Commerce Committee is collecting documents and interviewing
officials at PwC. At issue is the firm's work for both Enron
and those controversial debt-shielding partnerships, set
up and controlled by then-Chief Financial Officer Andrew
Fastow.
The
Businessman as Villain - Only the other day Kenneth Lay was heralded as a business genius. Now he
is dismissed as a villain. This week, Enron's former boss
further burnished his reputation for villainy, first by
refusing to appear before two congressional committees and
then, when faced with a couple of subpoenas, turning up
and—like any Hollywood villain in such circumstances—exercising
his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
Does Mr Lay's fall from grace presage a wider change in attitudes to business?
Many think so. Ralph Nader, a veteran anti-corporate crusader,
points out that the Enron affair has all the right ingredients
for galvanising opinion: identifiable villains such as the
shifty Mr Lay and the unbearably arrogant Jeffrey Skilling;
poor working stiffs who have been bilked of their pensions;
and plenty of collusion and corruption in high places. Paul
Krugman (an economist-turned-columnist who was once on Enron's
payroll) argues that the Enron scandal will prove a greater
turning-point for America than September 11th. George Will,
hardly a leftist, talks in his columns of a “systemic crisis
of capitalism”.
Good
Guys Wear Suits - Can a profit-oriented enterprise be
ethical? Social responsibility has widespread implications
for employment practices and economic performance. This
green paper sets the stage for the development of a European
framework.
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SOCIETY
World
Faces Cyber Space Threat - The
next big global terrorist attack could be unleashed through
cyber space, says an Internet security expert. Mustapha
Sarhouk, the president of Internet Security Systems (ISS),
speaks passionately about the catastrophic risk that exists
should terrorist groups take their campaign on to the Internet.
"We are in an age where cyber terrorism is going to
be the main issue," he told the Middle East Times.
Where's
the Smart Money? - American banknotes bear the motto
“In God we trust”. A humorous extension to this phrase—ascribed,
unofficially, to the National Security Agency—is “All Others,
we monitor”. That joke, though, may soon pale into reality,
for such a phrase might well be a suitable slogan for the
cash of the future.
Supernatural
Selection – When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses
upon the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, in 1517,
he could hardly have imagined that he would succeed in spawning
a new, Protestant branch of the Christian Church. He would
also no doubt be surprised if he could see the direction
Protestantism has taken in the past 500 years. The evolution
of Protestantism is but a tiny example of the constant churning
change taking place in the world of religion. And not only
are established religions always mutating, but new ones
are constantly being born. According to the World Christian
Encyclopedia, an 800-page volume that attempts to track
every religion practiced around the world, there are 9,900
distinct religions and two or three new religions created
every day.
EU
Approves E-Commerce Tax -
Ignoring US objections, European Union finance ministers
approved new rules for taxing internet purchases of software,
music and other "virtual goods" from non-EU companies.
Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo Rato, whose country holds
the EU presidency, called the decision "an important
step forward, particularly in bringing new technologies
into the European economy". "The European
Union here is now at the cutting edge" of adapting
its tax system to the information economy, he said.
But the action set the stage for another potential trans-Atlantic
trade rift.
Technology
Spurs Rise in Identity Theft - With a bit of persistence, and some help from the Web and the
White Pages, those who once relied on sleight of hand to
nab a wallet can now commandeer consumers' finances with
just a few pieces of personal information. Thieves can use
the data, usually a name and Social Security number, to
open false credit and bank accounts, as well as obtain driver's
licenses and passports. The criminals are then able to spend
thousands of dollars posing as people they have probably
never set eyes on. Identity theft, not even designated as
a crime four years ago, now ranks as U.S. consumers' top
fraud complaint, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The problem caught fire this past decade - an unfortunate
offshoot of a technological boom in the spread of sensitive
personal information, experts say.
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ENVIRONMENT
Ozone
Layer Thins Over Europe - The ozone layer was
up to 30 per cent thinner over Europe during the first week
of February and periodic depletions like this are becoming
more frequent, say scientists at the European Space Agency
(ESA).
Scotland
Fired Up to become Europe’s Leader in Green Energy
- Environmental
pressure groups were warned yesterday that their opposition
to radical "green" energy schemes will jeopardise
thousands of new jobs in Scotland. Brian
Wilson, the energy minister, said at the launch of the government-commissioned
energy review that under the report’s proposals, Scotland
could become the "renewables capital of Europe".
But he urged groups
such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace to drop their
"illogical" objections to wind and wave technology
or put at risk hundreds of jobs.
Scientists
Warn Aggressive Fishing is Destroying Ocean Ecosystems
– Scientists say aggressive deep-sea fishing is destroying
entire species and ecosystems in the world's oceans. They
blame the use of sophisticated technology originally developed
for the military. The BBC reports, 40 per cent of the world's
trawling grounds are now in deep ocean.
Earth
Probes May Seed Life on Other Planets - Like early explorers
who brought the diseases of Europe to indigenous peoples
around the world, the question has been raised whether space
probes from Earth might be carrying deadly bacteria to other
parts of the solar system and beyond. Bacteria have been
found in some of the most inhospitable areas of Earth, like
deep in the ice of Antarctica and have survived dormant
or hidden for long periods of time until conditions were
right for their emergence. The transmittal of bacteria to
and from points in space was the concern expressed by Abigail
Salyers, outgoing president of the American Society for
Microbiology, at the annual meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science in Boston.
Global
Warming Will Persist At Least A Century Even If Emissions
Curbed Now - Though
significant uncertainty remains regarding the amount of
global warming that will occur over the next century or
two, scientists agree that the trend will continue for the
next hundred years even if fossil fuel consumption is dramatically
reduced. Scientists predict significant increases in global
temperature and sea level this century. And related changes
in weather patterns are expected to affect agricultural
production. Global warming is likely to have the greatest
human impact in poor countries unable to adequately respond
to the changes.
Nuclear
Waste Decision Provokes Storm of Protest - US President
George W. Bush's decision to turn Yucca Mountain into one
of the world's biggest underground radioactive waste dumps
has provoked a storm of protest from politicians and environmentalists.
The flat-topped ridge in the Nevada desert, 100 miles north
west of Las Vegas, is now destined to become the final resting
place for 77,000 tonnes of US nuclear waste. Waste from
civil and military operations is currently stored above
the ground in 131 facilities across 39 states. In endorsing
a recommendation from his energy secretary, Spencer Abraham,
on 15 February, Bush argued that proceeding with Yucca Mountain
would protect public safety, health and national security.
"Successful completion of this project would isolate
in a geological repository at a remote location highly radioactive
materials now scattered throughout the nation," he
said.
How
Do You Feel About Nuclear Power Now? - On the western
edge of the vast Nevada Test Site, where hundreds of nuclear
weapons have been detonated, lies a dusty ridgeline known
as Yucca Mountain. Located in a desert region of north-south
mountain ranges, it is surrounded by alkaline dry lakebeds--dead-end
watersheds that don't lead to the ocean. This hydrologic
isolation, government scientists say, makes these lonely
areas the safest places to store waste from nuclear reactors
without endangering future generations. For years, the Department
of Energy has been taxing nuclear electricity at one-tenth
of a cent per kilowatt-hour to pay for the construction
of a permanent, high-level waste repository. So far this
fund has swelled to $17 billion, and the DOE has spent several
billion dollars over 20 years studying the Yucca Mountain
site. Who knows how long the inquiry might have continued
had not the Sept. 11 attacks left people freaked out by
the thought of terrorists trying to blow up a reactor and
unleash a Chernobyl on American soil? Here's an even scarier
thought: Terrorists who really did their homework might
go after one of the concrete "swimming pools"
where spent reactor fuel is currently stored underwater
at nuclear power plants.
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THE FUTURE
Civilization
in the 21st Century - We have just entered a new year
with a mixture of hope and anxiety over the future. In 2001,
the first year of the 21st century, the world was suddenly
wrapped in dark clouds because of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks in the United States. The struggle to eradicate
terrorism will be one of the major challenges of 2002 and
beyond. At the same time, attention must be paid to other
problems that confront contemporary civilization. This series,
starting today, delves into the issues now facing society,
including globalization, poverty and discrimination, in
pursuit of remedies for these problems through interviews
with distinguished intellectuals from around the world.
The first installment features Bill Joy, a corporate executive
officer of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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