Innovation Watch Newsletter 1.10
June 1, 2002

SCIENCE

Strangelets from Outer Space Attacking Earth - [Ananaova] Scientists believe Earth is under attack from tiny cosmic missiles weighing tons and travelling at 900,000 mph. They are only the size of a pollen grain but so dense they can rip through the planet and exit on the other side in seconds.

Single Gene Failure 'Explains Cloning Deaths' - [New Scientist] The catastrophic failure of a single gene's regulation seems to explain the early death of most cloned embryos, suggests a new study in mice.

Parasite or Partner? New Role Suggested for Junk DNA - [Cosmiverse] Junk DNA is the Rodney Dangerfield of the genetics world. It makes up nearly half of all human DNA, but many scientists dismiss it as useless gibberish. A new study published online today from the June 2002 issue of Nature Genetics, however, suggests that segments of junk DNA called LINE-1 elements deserve more respect.

Study Indicates No Natural Limit to Life Expectancy - [Cosmiverse] The lifespans of people in developed nations are increasing at a remarkably constant rate, suggesting that there is no natural limit on life expectancy, said a Duke University researcher in an article in the May 10, 2002, Science.

Odds On Aliens - [Nature] If there are other planets like Earth out there, at least one in three probably harbours life, say two physicists in Australia. If life can arise on planets unlike ours, then the odds on finding life are even more favourable.

ESA to Probe Asteroid Blind Spot - [Space Daily] In the past five weeks two asteroids have passed close by Earth, at distances of 1.2 and 3 times the distance to the Moon. Another asteroid has recently been shown to be on course for a collision with Earth in 2880.

Laws of Physics May Change - [BBC] The Universe may be a stranger place than we imagined because of new evidence that appears to show the very laws of physics have changed since the cosmos was young.

Mobile Keypad Reinvented - [BBC] If you are frustrated by the time it takes to tap out text messages on your mobile phone, help could soon be at hand. A US company has redesigned the traditional 12-number keypad to give every letter and number its own key.

UK Government Launches Artificial Intelligence Drive - [ZDNet UK] The UK government is attempting to boost Britain's involvement in intelligent computing by launching a research project into cognitive systems. The collaboration, which is part of the government's UK Foresight programme, will involve business leaders, academic researchers and representatives of government organisations.

Nanotechnology, Microsystems Will Bring Us Back to the Future - [Small Times] Electronic paper. Sure. Flexible computer screens. Sounds good. Internet-enabled cereal boxes. Say what? These are just a few of the devices that could hit the market in years - rather than decades - as some of the world's largest chip companies develop new semiconductor materials to enhance or replace silicon.

Robots With a Friendly Manner - [BBC] Researchers in the Irish Republic are looking at ways of making robots more lifelike, to make it easier for people to interact with them. Their prototype, called Anthropos, is designed to overcome the barriers between robots and humans.

From Molecular Movements to Nanoconstruction Tools - [UniSci] Molecular movements that could evolve into some of the first useful tools at future nanoconstruction sites, where proteins might be shuttled from place to place in tiny chemical wheelbarrows or built upon molecular scaffolding, were seen recently.

IBM Reaches Nano-Computing Breakthrough - [ZDNet UK] IBM researchers have created transistors out of carbon nanotubes that can outperform similar silicon transistors, a development that helps build the case that carbon may one day become a building block of computing.

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BUSINESS

The Big Handover - [BRW] When information technology outsourcing became
popular in the mid-1990s, it was promoted as a way of cutting costs and
improving the level of service offered. For many Australian companies it
delivered the opposite. Realising that traditional outsourcing models - in
which an outsourcer provides services at a fixed price over a set period -
are risky, companies are increasingly setting up partnerships to reduce the
risk involved in handing a key function or division to an outsider.

A Bright Future for Technology Start-Ups? - [Business 2.0] Despite the steep
decline since 2000, venture investment in startups this year will roughly
equal the total of the period from 1990 to 1996.

IBM Wants a Few Good Nano Start-Ups - [cnet news] IBM has created a small
group within its semiconductor division to work with a select few
nanotechnology start-ups on manufacturing issues and in exploring trends,
another incremental step toward molecular computing.

Expert Predicts a Second Industrial Revolution - [Scoop] One of the United
States’ foremost authorities on the business and technological opportunities
arising from global climate change will visit New Zealand next week as a
guest of the Government and BP Oil New Zealand Ltd. Eileen Claussen is
President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and former US Assistant
Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs. She believes that meeting the challenge of global climate change
will require nothing short of a second industrial revolution.

Sony Eyes China Chip Plant - [BBC] The Japanese consumer electronics giant
Sony has said it might build a semiconductor assembly plant in China.

VCs Turn the Screws - [Business Week] Today's venture capitalists are
demanding onerous terms. That could hurt both innovation and investors.

India, Pakistan Were Near Nuclear War in '99 - [Washington Post] Pakistan was preparing to possibly fire nuclear weapons during a 1999 border conflict with India, moving the countries closer to nuclear war than was commonly known at the time, according to a new article by President Bill Clinton's chief White House adviser on South Asia.

Dicing With Armageddon - [The Economist] Indian and Pakistani forces continue to bombard each other in Kashmir as both sides are pushed closer to the brink. Could this spark the first war between nuclear powers?

There's a Fungus Among Us - [Newsweek] Who knew that mold could be so mouth-watering? I'm talking about Quorn, a new meat substitute from England that recently began showing up in American grocery stores-and later in the headlines.

Help Build the Web of Knowledge - [Wired] Altruistic programmers and word-nerds with an urge to connect the historical dots are needed to help build a website that will blend the best of old and new technology. "Knowledge Web" is the pet project of James Burke, an Oxford-educated historian whose fascination with technology resulted in Connections,, a television series that explored the strange links between technological breakthroughs and historical events.

Cybervillains - [The Guardian] One million fans saw the new Star Wars movie - before it was released. How pirates who download films from the internet are costing Hollywood billions in lost profits.

First-in-Nation Bill Lets Internet Consumers Block Disclosures - [silconvalley.com] Minnesota would become the first state to give Internet users control over whether their service providers disclose or sell their personal information under a bill headed to the House and Senate for final votes.

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ENVIRONMENT

New Antarctic Iceberg Bigger Than Delaware - [CNN] Satellite images have detected another in a series of massive icebergs calving off the frozen continent of Antarctica, the latest one bigger than the entire state of Delaware.

Sandstorm Swept China to Spend Billions On Trees - [Environmental News Network] China will spend several hundred billion yuan in the next 10 years to protect forests and plant green belts as it combats blinding sandstorms, illegal logging, and rapid soil erosion, a top forestry official said on Tuesday.

Dell Partners for PC Recycling - [cnet news] Dell Computer on Friday got a little greener with the announcement of a program designed to recycle consumers' outmoded notebook and desktop PCs. The fee-based program, which will go into effect in September or October, will accept computers from any manufacturer, not just Dell.

Alien Species Colonize on Plastic Rafts - [New Scientist] Plastic bottles floating across the oceans may carry more than a message - they could be carrying the seeds of ecological chaos for wherever they end up. In a survey of the beaches of 30 remote islands, David Barnes of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK, has found that a rising tide of plastic debris has now replaced wood as the major shoreline debris. And riding on the back of the rubbish are alien stowaways such as worms, barnacles and various larvae.

How One Creature Drives So Many Species to Extinction - [Independent] Planet Earth is going through its sixth and probably its most devastating period of mass extinction with scores, and possibly hundreds of species of animals and plants dying out each year. But unlike the previous five extinction waves, this time the culprit is just another lifeform, Homo sapiens. A United Nations report will identify some 11,046 species of plants and animals known to face a high risk of extinction, including 1,130 mammals - 24 per cent of the total - and 12 per cent, or 1,183 species of birds.

Honeybees Are in Big Trouble - [International Herald Tribune] In recent years, two tiny spider-like parasites have been weakening and killing bee populations across the United States. While the media have played up the threat of Africanized "killer" bees in the Southwest, the rest of the country has been losing 80 percent or more of its wild honeybee populations.

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THE FUTURE

2002 TR100 - [Technology Review] From college-age wunderkinds to seasoned entrepreneurs, Technology Review presents 100 innovators under 35 whose work and ideas will change the world.