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SCIENCE
Chimp
Study Yields Clues to Evolution of Human Speech - [Scientific
American] We humans are nothing if not talkative. Indeed,
it's one of our most salient characteristics as a species.
But exactly how we came to be so chatty is less obvious.
Blood
Substitute from Worms Shows Promise - [Nature] Haemoglobin
from sea creature could replace red cells.
It
Really is a Small World We Live In
- [Telegraph] A variation of pass-the-parcel suggests the
ties that bind us are amazingly tight.
Asteroid
in the Atlantic - [Astronomy.com] On March 16, 2880,
asteroid 1950 DA will pass near Earth, possibly close enough
to crash into the Atlantic Ocean. According to two researchers,
this 38,000 mile-per-hour (61,000-kilometer-per-hour) impact
would create enormous tsunami waves as high as 400 feet
(120 meters) that would cover the U.S. Atlantic coast.
Human
Arteries Grown from Scratch - [Nature] Human arteries
have been grown from scratch in the lab. The technique could
produce spare blood vessels for bypass surgery, researchers
hope.
'God
Particle May Not Exist' - [BBC]
The most sought after object in particle physics, the Higgs
boson, may not even exist. This is the astonishing conclusion
of researchers at the Cern nuclear physics lab near Geneva
who have just reviewed five years' worth of data from experiments
they thought would confirm the legendary particle's role
in the construction of the Universe.
Dawn
of Human Race Uncovered - [New Scientist] Three fossil
skulls from Ethiopia have been revealed as the oldest human
remains yet discovered. The 160,000-year-old finds plug
an important gap in the fossil record around the time our
species first appeared and provides strong new evidence
that Homo sapiens originated only in Africa.
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TECHNOLOGY
Gesture
Your Mouse Goodbye - [Wired] FingerWorks of Newark,
Delaware, has developed a technology that turns hand gestures
into some of the most common computing tasks, like opening
files. The technology could gain favor with people who suffer
from repetitive stress injuries.
Weedkilling
Robots Slash Herbicide Use - [New Scientist] Trials
of a Danish robot that maps the position of weeds growing
among crops suggest that herbicide use could be slashed
by 70 per cent if farmers used it to adopt more selective
spraying techniques.
Packet
Tracking Promises Ultrafast Internet - [New Scientist]
Imagine an internet connection so fast it will let you download
a whole movie in just five seconds, or access TV-quality
video servers in real time. That is the promise from a team
at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who
have developed a system called Fast TCP.
Trashing
the Internet: Spam Growth Starts to Choke Web's Most Popular
Use - [Star Tribune] Brightmail Inc., a San Francisco-based
provider of spam filtering software that serves six of the
10 largest U.S. Internet service providers, estimates that
46 percent of all e-mail traffic in April was spam, based
on its customer base of 250 million e-mail users, most of
them in North America.
Organic
Robot Mixes Rat Brain with Silicon - [ZDNet] The Hybrot
looks like many other experimental and kit robots -- an
exposed circuit board above a chassis containing motors
and batteries. But one of the chips sits on top of a small
metal cylinder, a patented sealed incubator system that
contains the control circuits of the device: live rat brain
cells. The system will keep the neurons alive for up to
two years, while other circuits connect them to the electronics
of the robot.
Spam
War Settles into Mobile Phones - [c|net] Spam sent by
text message could become a bigger problem than e-mail-based
spam unless the industry takes action, according to an independent
mobile phone regulator.
Smart
Airline Seat Detects Shifty Passengers - [New Scientist]
Intelligent airline seats could automatically alert busy
cabin crew to nervous, shifty passengers, who might be terrorists
or air-ragers. The seats, being designed by Qinetiq, the
UK's part-privatised defence lab, could also warn if passengers
have been sitting still so long they risk developing deep
vein thrombosis.
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
Reports
Slam WorldCom Corporate Culture - [The Register] Two
reports into the collapse of WorldCom argue that a strong
culture of secrecy saw management repeatedly burying financial
data from its board and auditors.
Amazon
Launches B2B Unit - [Net Imperative] E-tail giant Amazon
aims to build on its own success to help other would-be
e-tailers with the launch of a new business unit called
Amazon Services.
It's
IP or Death, Promises BT Chief - [Personal Computer
World] BT is to merge its telephony and data networking
businesses into a single organisation, making it the largest
IP convergence business in Europe.
Storm
Warning - [CFO] The switch to new, complicated and controversial
international accounting standards (IAS) is causing reactions
ranging from confusion and frustration, all the way through
to outright resentment.
The
Sky's the Limit - [Fast Company] Some 11,000 miles above
the earth, 28 satellites beam down data that enables the
targeting of locations with once-unthinkable precision.
It's a lethal tool in war -- and a killer app for business.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is transforming everything
from auto insurance to agriculture, from hauling freight
to trading stocks. Is your business next?
Is
a Start-Up Wave Sweeping Japan?
- [Inc.] Japan produced far more IPOs than the United States
last year. Business planning courses are popular. A magazine
for entrepreneurs was recently launched. And Tokyo may soon
reform incorporation and employment law.
The
Grayest Generation - [Business Forward] The aerospace
industry's Right Stuff whiz kids are all grown up and then
some. But nobody's following in their footsteps, and that
means a huge demographic crunch coming for defense CEOs.
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SOCIETY AND POLITICS
Latest
Theme Park: Third World Slum - [Herald Sun] Habitat
for Humanity has built a Third World slum in its own back
yard as a sort of theme park of poverty that it hopes will
motivate visitors to contribute to efforts to build affordable
housing around the world.
Drama
of Globalization Plays Out on Uneven World Stage - [Seattle
Times] Since the 1970s, governments around the world have
slashed regulations and turned over control of businesses
and economies to free-market forces. The shift has produced
far greater wealth than under the state-managed systems
that emerged after World War II. But the shift has drawn
rebuke from people and groups who've lost out.
Europe
Tends to Favor Internet Privacy - [International Herald
Tribune] When balancing freedom of speech against personal
privacy rights, "the default in Europe is more toward
privacy rights," said Simon Davies, director-general
of Privacy International, a nonprofit consortium in London.
"And that default is not just legal but deeply cultural."
Looters
Riddle Ancient Iraqi Sites with Holes - [New Scientist]
Looters digging for treasure have riddled ancient sites
in southern Iraq with holes, according to the first major
survey since the end of war. Tens of thousands of artifacts
are feared lost and the destruction has obliterated much
of the archaeological value of the sites.
New
Laws for Phone Cameras - [Mercury News] The use of camera
phones to take and transmit offensive images would be banned
under new laws to be drafted by the NSW Government. The
State Government said the legislation would address privacy
concerns raised by the new technology.
U.S.
Corporations Face a Slew of Lawsuits Alleging Human-Rights
Abuses - [US News] Lawyers and activists spearheading
suits under the Alien Tort Claims Act say that U.S. corporations
that partner with foreign governments or paramilitaries
should be held legally responsible for human-rights abuses
that occur during their projects. But companies say they
are besieged with litigation for incidents over which they
have no control and for abuses that they, in fact, decry.
They warn that the lawsuits could begin to curb U.S. corporate
investment in developing countries, worsening human-rights
conditions.
Prepare
for Personal Data Boom, Users Told - [vnunet] New sources
of data, cheap storage and faster processing will lead the
coming explosion of personal data, experts at Accenture's
technology labs have said.
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ENVIRONMENT
Disposable
DVDs Go to the Dumps - [Wired] Environmentalists are
steamed about one movie studio's latest attempt to market
home movies to the public. Flexplay and Buena Vista Home
Entertainment, a division of Disney, announced they will
sell DVDs of popular movies that, once opened, can be viewed
for 48 hours, then tossed in the trash.
India
'To Approve GM Potato' - [BBC] The commercial growing
of a genetically modified potato which contains nutrients
lacking in the diets of many of the poorest is expected
to be approved in India within six months.
Anti-Whalers
Push for Revolutionary Change - [New Scientist] A controversial
resolution has been tabled by countries opposed to whaling
and aims to push the IWC firmly towards conserving whales,
rather than managing how many are caught.
Ballyhooed
Hydrogen Fuel Cells May Have Environmental Drawback
- [Mercury News] Widespread use of the hydrogen fuel cells
that President Bush has made a centerpiece of his energy
plan might not be as environmentally friendly as many believe.
Scientists say the new technology could lead to greater
destruction of the ozone layer that protects Earth from
cancer-causing ultraviolet rays.
Study
Finds Safety of Drinking Water in U.S. Cities at Risk
- [NDRC] We often take the purity of our tap water for granted
-- and we shouldn't. NRDC's What's on Tap?, a carefully
researched, documented and peer-reviewed study of the drinking
water systems of 19 U.S. cities, found that pollution and
deteriorating, out-of-date plumbing are sometimes delivering
drinking water that might pose health risks to some residents.
Last
Chance for European Cod - [New Scientist] Cod fishing
in northern Europe must be totally abandoned, because fish
populations are on the brink of collapse, say the scientists
who advise the European Commission.
Reef
Losing Battle with Pollutants - [The Age] Soil sediment
thick with contaminants is settling on the Great Barrier
Reef at an increasing rate, smothering coral and damaging
its capacity to reproduce, marine scientists warn. Between
11 million and 14 million tonnes of soil is dumped by rivers
each year onto the reef, almost triple the pre-1850 levels
of between 1 million and 4.4 million tonnes, according to
the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
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THE FUTURE
Just
Values: Beyond the Business Case for Sustainable Development
- [Forum for the Future] It’s time for business leaders
to come out fighting for what they believe in, concludes
a new report from BT and Forum for the Future. Businesses
and government have a moral obligation to push the boundaries
of the business case for sustainable development beyond
the comfort zone, according to Just Values. (PDF
file)
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