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SCIENCE
A
Question of Quarks - [Science & Technology Review]
To learn more about the early universe, scientists are attempting
to create a state of matter that hasn't existed since the
first moments following the big bang.
University
Of Missouri Physicist Creating Vascular Tissue - [Science
Daily] Gabor Forgacs' work with organ engineering is an
excellent example of how current interdisciplinary research
in the life sciences may have a profound impact on future
generations. Forgacs, a biological physicist at the University
of Missouri-Columbia, is an integral part of a research
team that ultimately plans to build organs in laboratories
for the purpose of human transplantation.
3-D
Images Show How Alzheimer's Engulfs Brain - [Science
Daily] UCLA and University of Queensland (Australia) neuroscientists
using a powerful new imaging analysis technique have created
the first three-dimensional video maps showing how Alzheimer's
disease systematically engulfs the brains of living patients.
Scientists
Gene-Engineer First Human Stem Cells - [ABC] Using the
method that made the laboratory mouse so valuable to genetic
researchers, the team at the University of Wisconsin deleted
a disease gene from human embryonic stem cells. They now
have a way to help control how the cells develop, so they
can direct them to become brain tissue, or perhaps heart
cells or pancreatic cells, said Dr. Thomas Zwaka, who conducted
the study with stem cell expert American James Thomson.
Age
of Universe Refined - [Spaceflight
Now] NASA unveiled the sharpest picture ever taken of the
infant universe, a landmark set of data showing when the
very first stars "turned on" a surprisingly brief
200 million years after the big bang birth of the cosmos.
Long-Distance
Quantum Teleportation Draws Closer
- [New Scientist] A practical problem plaguing long distance
quantum teleportation has been solved by researchers in
Austria. Until now, verifying that information has been
transmitted has required the quantum link itself to be destroyed,
preventing any further use.
Thinktank
Predicts Nanotechnology Backlash - [Guardian] There
is a growing backlash against the rapidly emerging field
of nanotechnology that could see a rerun of clashes over
genetically modified crops, experts at one of the world's
leading medical ethics thinktanks warned today.
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TECHNOLOGY
The
Intelligent Swarm - [Business 2.0] Dust Inc.'s tiny
sensors could one day remotely monitor traffic, temperature,
and troop movements.
Here
Comes the Superchip - [Fortune] It's Intel's most powerful
processor ever. It has the ability to take on IBM, sink
Sun, make or break HP, and crush or revive AMD. It's keeping
every CEO in computing up at night. And it's just getting
started. The multibillion-dollar battle between Itanium
2 and its rivals has begun.
Education
Overhaul Urged for Nanotech Revolution - [Advanced Technology]
Nanotechnology is taking on a life of its own, inexorably
changing electronics in the same way as the transition from
tubes to integrated circuits. But the educational community
has yet to respond, and research officials are concerned
that the fledgling industry will not grow unless nanotechnology
becomes a standard part of the U.S. physics and chemistry
curriculum.
US
Military Expands Radio Wave Tracking - [C|NET] The U.S.
Department of Defense is expanding its use of an emerging
technology that combines radio waves and computer networks
to track shipments of military supplies, in what some consider
the largest project of its kind.
Lucent
Designs Chip for Faster Mobile Speeds
- [InfoWorld] Lucent Technologies Bell Labs research unit
this week unveiled a new "turbo decoder" chip
the company says can enable wireless transmission speeds
up to ten times faster than today's most advanced mobile
networks.
Space
Camera Blazes New Terahertz Trails
- [Science Daily] New imaging technology came to life when
the European Space Agency's StarTiger team captured the
world's first terahertz picture of a human hand.
Our
Friends Electric Try Broadband Again - [vnunet] New
trials of high-speed internet access over power lines a
'success.'
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
M-Commerce
Takes Credit in Norway - [Europemedia] Telenor Mobil,
the Norwegian mobile operator, has signed an agreement with
Visa to allow subscribers of the operator's MobilHandel
m-payment service to use their credit card as a payment
mechanism.
India
Slips to 56th Position in Globalization Index
- [India Express] Slow pace of integration with global economy
besides fall in portfolio capital investment brought India
down to 56th rank from 49th last year in AT Kearney's 2003
Globalization Index. As a result countries like Pakistan
(50), Bangladesh (54) China (51) and Philippines (52) are
ahead of India in the Index, management consultancy firm
AT Kearney said in its latest report.
Banking
On Growth - [Economist] Signs
of a more serious attempt to reform China's banks and stockmarkets.
Strong
Medicine - [Fast Company] It's time to face the harsh
facts of life: This is the way it is. Now choose one of
these four strategies for getting on with your work life.
The
Human-Capital Balancing Act - [Optimize] You've heard
the refrain many times: Even with hiring on hold, don't
overlook your human-capital resources. You've been told
to leverage existing staff and to do a better job of managing
people so the IT organization can improve partnerships and
integration with the wider enterprise. Your staff has to
be ready to bounce back when the economy does.
The
Humble Yet Mighty Business Process - [Darwin] How does
your company do things? Efficiently and appropriately? Or
are you outdated and arthritic? A lot depends on the process.
E-Commerce
as a Way of Life - [Internet News] Internet usage as
a part of people's everyday lives is increasingly pervasive
around the world, says a new study, and e-commerce is more
than ever a part of life online. Almost two-thirds (62 percent)
of Internet users have by now purchased a product or service
online, according to "The Face of the Web," an
annual study of Internet trends by marketing research firm
Ipsos-Reid in New York City.
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SOCIETY AND POLITICS
HIV
Infection Rates Appear to be Rising in USA - [USA Today]
HIV infection rates in the USA that have remained stable
for years now appear to be rising, researchers reported.
E-Democracy
in Europe - [Newsfox] Over the next six months, the
Greek Presidency of the EU Council will be hosting a series
of interactive e-democracy projects on the Internet. The
project is designed to give European citizens a chance to
voice their opinions on pan-European issues and European
initiatives at the upper EU government level.
More
Internet Access to Farmers - [China Daily] Statistics
from the Ministry of Science and Technology revealed that
the total number of Internet users in rural China has reached
600,000. The figure is in sharp contrast to the country's
entire number of Internet users which currently stands at
more than 60 million. Owing to the rapid development and
popularization of information technology (IT), China now
boasts the world's second largest population of Internet
surfers.
Peddling
the Internet - [CBS] Villagers in this remote jungle
hamlet have lived for years without electricity or telephones,
relying on occasional visitors and a sluggish postal system
for news of the outside world. But soon many of its residents
will be jumping on stationary bikes to pedal their way onto
the Information Superhighway.
US
Cities Start Cutting Police Amid Budget Crunch - [Forbes]
Budget problems have forced one in four U.S. cities to cut
their police forces or plan for cuts despite increased terrorism
risks in recent months, the National League of Cities said.
Belgian
Move Against Sharon Angers Israel
- [BBC] Israel has reacted angrily to a ruling by Belgium's
Supreme Court which could pave the way for the prosecution
of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes.
Text
Service Warns of Attacks - [BBC] Londoners are getting
a text message service that will tell them what to do if
terrorists attack the capital. The City Alert Texting System
(Cats) will warn people where attacks are taking place and
pass on information about what to do to people caught in
an incident.
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ENVIRONMENT
Hidden
Clouds May Help Shape Global Climate - [ENS] Hard to
detect clouds and water vapor, hidden until now from most
atmospheric sensors, could be helping to shape global climate,
a new study suggests.
Global
Warming Threatens Italian Coastline
- [Space Daily] As rising sea waters lap at its low-lying
coastline, Italy faces a tough choice in the coming decades:
to prop up its shore with colossal investment, or to let
it sink.
Climate
Change Affecting Even Remote Arctic Environment - [NSF]
The remoteness of one of the world's largest ecosystems
has not made it immune from global environmental problems,
according to a major new report on the state of Arctic biodiversity,
funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The report includes contributions from more than 150 specialists
and experts throughout the Arctic.
Doing
the Dishes Wastes Water - [Nature]
Some people who wash their dishes by hand are sending the
environment down the drain. They can consume more than ten
times the water and twice the energy of a dishwasher.
Swiss
Cement Industry Agrees to CO2 Cuts
- [Newsfox] Switzerland's cement industry has become the
first sector to join forces with the government in setting
targets to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In a signed
agreement the sector has pledged to reduce emissions between
now and 2010.
Warming
Oceans Linked to Four Year Drought - [ENS] Droughts
that spread across the United States, southern Europe and
southwest Asia over the past four years may have been linked
by a common thread: ocean conditions created by a warming
climate. A new study suggests that cold sea surface temperatures
in the eastern tropical Pacific and warm sea surface temperatures
in the western tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans worked
together to cause widespread drying.
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THE FUTURE
Future
Visions - [Time] How will genetics change our lives?
TIME invited a panel of scientists and science writers to
close their eyes and imagine the world 50 years from now.
This is what they see.
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