Innovation Watch Newsletter 1.08
May 4, 2002

SCIENCE

New Drug Leaves Diseased Cells Nowhere to Hide - A revolutionary new breed of drugs will leave diseased and cancerous cells with nowhere to hide. The new drugs - which will only destroy diseased cells - are being touted as the biggest breakthrough since the late César Milstein discovered monoclonal antibodies in the 1980s.

Retinal Cell Implants Improve Parkinson's - Implanting retinal cells into the brains of people with advanced Parkinson's disease can improve motor function by almost a half, according to a follow-up study of six patients. Parkinson's is caused by the progressive loss of dopamine-producing cells in a region of the brain called the striatum. Retinal pigment epithelial cells, which are found in the inner layer of the neural retina, produce dopamine.

Real-Time, Multi-Scale Look at Life's Building Blocks - Scientists have developed a new molecular-tagging technique to chronicle the development, movement and interactions of proteins as they do their work in living cells. The results are published in the April 19 issue of Science by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) researchers at the UCSD campus in La Jolla. The research is funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Strange Stars? Odd Features Hint At Novel Matter - Exotic forms of matter never observed before in the wild may have turned up in the remnants of two collapsed stars, according to new findings publicized last week by NASA. At an April 10 briefing at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., researchers argued that observations by the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory indicate that the astronomical object dubbed RXJ1856.5-3754 may lack the neutrons, protons, and electrons of ordinary matter. Another object, 3C58, may contain odd forms of matter surrounded by neutrons.

Stardust Spacecraft Sets New Distance Record - Since its launch on February 7, 1999, the Stardust spacecraft has traveled over two billion kilometers completing one and a half elliptical orbits around the Sun. On Thursday, the mission reached a major milestone when it arrives at its furthest distance from the Sun, also known as its aphelion. At the furthest point, the spacecraft was 2.72 Astronomical Units (407 million kilometers or 253 million miles) from the Sun, and near the middle of the asteroid belt.

Synthetic Molecules Could Lock Away Sections of DNA - Research chemists have found a class of synthetic molecules that could quite literally act as a key to lock away sections of DNA into a closely wound coil, preventing proteins from interacting with particular sections of DNA code. By locking up the DNA in this way, scientists could stop particular sequences of DNA from activating biological changes that doctors or scientists would rather avoid, or wish to regulate closely.

Cool Science: Origin Clues from Dawn Mother - A 5-inch-long creature that looked more like a mouse than a man may be the earliest known member of the mammal group that includes humans, according to U.S. and Chinese scientists who have studied fossilized remains of the animal. The fossil, resembling a contemporary tree shrew, is believed to be 125 million years old. It was unearthed in China in 2000.

RoboCup Dreams of Martian Games - Since 1997 the International RoboCup Federation is organizing regular tournaments to let the different concepts in robotics and artificial intelligence compete with each other. The long-term goal of RoboCup is, to develop before the year 2050 humanoid robots that can beat the human soccer world champion.

The Next Computer Interface - The desktop metaphor was a brilliant innovation-30 years ago. Now it's an unmanageable mess, and the search is on for a better way to handle information.

No Hiding from a Cell Phone - Technology that pinpoints mobile users is coming. A potential boon for emergency services and marketers, it has privacy advocates worried.

Here Come Talk 'n' Toss Cell Phones - Sensing a big potential market, two companies are hoping to add a new kind of disposable to your shopping list.

Awareness: Mystery of the Mind - In the quest to make a brainpower computer, perhaps the biggest mysteries remains the most nebulous: Where does awareness come from? Can it be simulated? What does awareness by itself look like? While the first question remains unanswered, Rodney Brooks of MIT presented new research on robot algorithms that mimic aware behavior, which leaves open to interpretation whether it will pave the road to machine consciousness or simply build a better parrot.

Robot Cameras 'Will Predict Crimes Before They Happen' - Computers and CCTV cameras could be used to predict and prevent crime before it happens. Scientists at Kingston University in London have developed software able to anticipate if someone is about to mug an old lady or plant a bomb at an airport. It works by examining images coming in from close circuit television cameras (CCTV) and comparing them to behaviour patterns that have already programmed into its memory.

Taiwan's Cabinet to Increase Nanotech Funding - To keep up with China and South Korea, the government plans to ask the legislature for NT$23.17 billion in funds to devote to nanotechnology research, an increase of 20 percent.

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BUSINESS

The Race Towards Robotics - Domestic robots have long been in the making, but who will emerge as the Bill Gates of robotization? Evolution Robotics in California recently stepped forward. They plan to release an operating system late this year that will bring household robots one giant step closer to reality. According to New Scientist, Evolution Robotics' operating system will cut time and cost of developing chore-doing-droids. Furthermore, the operating system will allow owners to program their robots.

AOL Time Warner Posts $53.2 Billion Loss - Media conglomerate AOL Time Warner Inc. reported that it posted a total loss of $53.2 billion in the first quarter, largely from the deficit resulting from the merger of the Internet provider and news organization.

Russia's Growing Mobile Market - Russia's mobile phone operators are waging a battle for customers on a new front - the Russian regions. Almost one third of Moscow's population uses a mobile, following a marketing frenzy conducted by two industry giants last year.

Corporate America Confesses - The Enron/Arthur Andersen scandal has left an indelible mark on American business, not just in fortunes lost and lives shattered but in the great corporate autobiography known as the annual report. Suddenly, confession is right there alongside the bluster, particularly in the footnotes.

Biotech Executive's DNA Used in Mapping Human Genome - Former Celera Genomics President J. Craig Venter admitted his own genome was used for the company's landmark map of the human genetic structure. Venter said that he was one of five anonymous donors the company used to complete the job two years ago. The research has already helped Venter personally - he's found a gene related to heart disease in his genome and is taking medicine to ward off any future problems.

Wal-Mart Plans a Cut-Price Attack on US Car Market - In a major blow to America's auto showrooms, the US supermarket giant Wal-Mart is planning to sell cars, taking on the only area of retail it does not already dominate. The world's largest retailer, whose empire extends around the world, has made its name selling a vast range of goods at very low prices. In many parts of the US, especially small towns, Wal-Mart has used its massive economies of scale to undercut local competition. That strategy has dominated food shopping, home improvement, sports equipment, electrical goods and clothing.

100 Best Corporate Citizens - It's one of the oldest questions in the field of business ethics: Does socially responsible behavior pay off on the bottom line? New research shows it does, based on last year's list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens.

A Bid to Legislate Love Splits a New England Town - It started simply enough, with an eighth-grader's inspiration for a community-service project. Hannah Hoy wanted her small town north of Boston to proclaim itself a "No Place for Hate" zone - just like 54 other Massachusetts communities. But town leaders refused to sign such a proclamation.

For Shaken Institutions, A Demand for Accountability - In recent months some of the pillars of American society - be they religious, business, or charitable and sports institutions - have seen their reputations battered by allegations of incompetence, fraud, and/or attempted coverups.

AIDS to Hit Young South Africa's Adults Hardest - While lobby groups work frantically towards preventing mother to child transmission of HIV/Aids, a new report suggests that South Africa will be economically hardest hit by Aids deaths in young adults over the next decade. According to a report entitled 'The Jagged Tear: Human capital, education and Aids in SA, 2002 to 2010' released by the Centre for Development and Enterprise, educated young adults struck down by Aids represent the most devastating body blow to the SA economy.

Pathways to Housing the Homeless - In the hallway of Pathways to Housing, a loud, chaotic office in East Harlem, Hughes Smith can't stop talking about his furniture: "It's unbelievable," he says. It's not often that someone brags about 10-year-old futons. But for Mr. Smith, shuffling down the hall wearing a tan baseball cap and yellow headphones, permanence is something to celebrate. "After being homeless so long," he explains, "you just don't believe it." His L-shaped studio, blocks from the East River and boasting three big closets, still dumbfounds him.

Japanese Let Their Thumbs Do the Talking - Leaning alone against a wall, wearing sunglasses on a rainy afternoon, Daisuke Yoshioka is a black-jacketed image of urban loneliness. But, for this member of Japan's thumb generation, a cyberweb of friends is only thumb strokes away.

The Struggle for the Soul of the 21st Century - (William Jefferson Clinton) The great question of this new century is whether the age of interdependence is going to be good or bad for humanity. The answer depends upon whether we in the wealthy nations spread the benefits and reduce the burdens of the modern world, on whether the poor nations enact the changes necessary to make progress possible, and on whether we all can develop a level of consciousness high enough to understand our obligations and responsibilities to each other.

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ENVIRONMENT

Star Wars Could Make Space Unusable - Space-based missile defences could result in swarms of dangerous debris that make low-Earth orbits permanently unusable, a prominent US astronomer has warned. Joel Primack of the University of California at Santa Cruz told a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization conference that the orbiting anti-missile battle stations proposed by the US could result in so much space junk that other satellites could not operate.

Massive Icebergs May Affect Antarctic Sea Life and Food Chain - NASA-funded research using satellite data has shown large icebergs that have broken off from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf are dramatically affecting the growth of minute plant life in the ocean around the region -- plant life vital to the local food chain. Scientists say the icebergs appear to have caused a 40 percent reduction in the size of the 2000-2001 plankton bloom in one of Antarctica's most biologically productive areas. The icebergs decrease the amount of open water that the plants need for reproduction.

Feminized Frogs: Herbicide Disrupts Sexual Growth - At common environmental concentrations, the popular weed killer atrazine strips male frogs of a key hormone and turns some of them into hermaphrodites, according to new research. The finding raises concerns that the chemical may be contributing to global amphibian declines. In use for about 4 decades and currently employed in 80 countries atrazine is the most common herbicide in the United States. It's found in virtually all the nation's waterways and is especially prevalent around cornfields in the Midwest. It has also been identified in tests of preschoolers' drinking water. "There seems to be no atrazine-free environment," says Tyrone B. Hayes of the University of California, Berkeley.

Melting Glaciers in Himalayas Threaten Catastrophic Floods - The giant glaciers of the Himalayas are melting so quickly that within five years dozens of glacial lakes could burst their banks and kill tens of thousands in their path, a report today from the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) warns. Researchers who have been monitoring the glaciers for 15 years are deeply alarmed by the speed with which many lakes are filling as glaciers shrink under the impact of global warming.

Slash and Burn May Wipe Out the World's Forests in 20 Years - Urgent action is needed to prevent the world's forests being destroyed within 10 to 20 years by mining, roads and illicit logging, an extensive report claims. Indonesia and Russia are particularly affected by the destruction. What were once pristine forests are now turning into patchworks, with serious implications for the future.

Lake Victoria Faces Ecological Disaster - Startling new revelations have emerged regarding the ecological fate of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest fresh water mass. Fresh studies have reported incidence of massive ecological damage taking place on the lake's general bio-diversity. Both local and international concern is being generated by reports of declining fishery precipitated by dwindling oxygen levels, putting into jeopardy its survival. New insights suggest that the lake's future is in jeopardy as scientists and environmentalists grapple with dramatic changes taking place in the lake's ecosystem.

Running On Fumes - It's like looking for salt in the ocean or sugar in cake. Hydrogen is everywhere and nowhere. Although it is the most abundant element in the universe, on Earth it is locked up in water and other compounds. Yet large volumes of pure hydrogen are what it will take to get cars powered by fuel cells- the great green hope for future transportation-onto highways.

Thousands Remember Chernobyl - Clutching flickering candles and bunches of spring flowers, survivors of the world's worst nuclear disaster held a solemn memorial meeting in the wee hours Friday in the town that thousands of Chernobyl workers still call home. Hundreds of residents of Slavutych joined similar crowds at churches, cemeteries and squares across the former Soviet Union in remembrance of the suffering when the No. 4 reactor at Chernobyl exploded at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation across Europe. People in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were the most immediately affected.

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THE FUTURE

Meddling With Human Nature - In The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama argued that history was over because the world was converging toward societies of democratic capitalism. The book's thesis, much disputed when it was first published as an article in 1989, seems all the more dubious in the wake of September 11. Now, in Our Posthuman Future, a volume likely to be similarly contested, he claims that biotechnology has brought about "the recommencement of history." By that he means that the biotechnological manipulation of human beings may well "move us into a 'posthuman' stage of history"--change human nature in ways that erode the foundations of the putative convergent political order.