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SCIENCE
Human-Rabbit
Embryos Intensify Stem Cell Debate - [New Scientist]
"Human" embryonic stem cells have been harvested
from cloned embryos created by fusing human cells with rabbit
eggs, claims a soon-to-be published report by Chinese scientists.
Worm
Turns Out to Be One of Man's Closest Relatives - [Telegraph]
An enigmatic worm that resides in the mud at the bottom
of a Swedish fjord is identified as mankind's long-lost
relative, after being written off for years as an obscure
mollusc.
'Sophisticated
Molecular Machine' is Found to Govern Cell's Reading Of
Genetic Code - [Science Daily] Research at Cornell University
has shown that a protein complex known as FACT is positioned
in living cells at sites where chromosomal DNA is unpacked
so that its code can be read. It is part of what the researchers
call "a sophisticated molecular machine" that
is not yet completely understood.
Chemists
Create Specialized Dust - [USA Today] Grains the size
of dust that can sense their environment, orient themselves
and assemble in groups have been developed by a team of
California chemists who want to build miniature robots.
Primate
Cloning Gets a Boost - [Betterhumans] The US National
Institutes of Health is giving a five-year US$6.4 million
grant to the Pittsburgh Development Center at the Magee-Womens
Research Institute to fund primate cloning projects aimed
at improving understanding of the molecular biology of embryonic
stem cells, which could be used to treat such diseases as
diabetes and Parkinson's.
Was
the Universe Born in a Black Hole? - [Science Daily]
The universe may have been created by an explosion within
a black hole, according to a new theory by two mathematicians
recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences of the U.S.A.
New
Study Tests Genes’ Sway Over IQ - [MSNBC] A groundbreaking
study of the interaction among genes, environment and IQ
finds that the influence of genes on intelligence is dependent
on class. Genes do explain the vast majority of IQ differences
among children in wealthier families, the new work shows.
But environmental factors -- not genetic deficits -- explain
IQ differences among poor minorities.
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TECHNOLOGY
Robotics,
the Future of Surgery - [Seattle Times] Robotic surgery
is still a rarity, but it's poised to become more popular
as patients push doctors to adopt technology that can make
surgery less stressful.
Security
Experts Find Open-Source Flaws - [ZDNet] Although Microsoft
Windows vulnerabilities get most of the headlines, researchers
identified vulnerabilities in two commonly used open-source
software products.
Making
Sense of Sensors - [Advanced Manufacturing] Smart, networked
sensors will soon be all around us. These sensors will process
vast amounts of previously unrecorded data to help run factories,
optimize farming, monitor the weather and even watch for
earthquakes.
Japan
Develops Quake ‘Snake’ Rescue Robots - [Daily
Times] Researchers in quake-prone Japan have developed snake-like
robots capable of literally worming their way through the
rubble of earthquake-destroyed houses to find trapped survivors.
Windows
to Power ATMs in 2005 - [Wired] Within three years,
most bank machines that dispense cash will run on the Windows
operating system, according to a study.
Artificial
Development To Build Biggest Spiking Neural Network
- [Space Daily] Artificial Development, Inc. announced that
it has completed assembly of the first functional portion
of a prototype of Ccortex, a 20-billion neuron emulation
of the human cortex, which it will use to build a next-generation
artificial intelligence system.
Intel
Previews Future Chip Technology
- [E-Commerce Times] The chip giant shone the spotlight
on its Tanglewood family of high-performance computing chips,
saying they will achieve speeds seven times as fast as currently
marketed chips. However, it did not offer a time frame for
the processors' market availability.
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Intel,
Zagat Offer WiFi Guide - [Boston Globe] Computer chip
giant Intel Corp. and the leisure-class bible Zagat Survey
have produced a guide to the best restaurants and hotels
in America that offer wireless fidelity, or WiFi, Internet
access.
PwC
to Make India Infotech Hub - [Business
Standard] Leading global consulting and advisory firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers
(PwC) will move its entire software development and services
work to India in the next five years.
What
Price Security? - [CFO] When it comes to thwarting terrorism,
only a handful of companies have had to worry about controversial
big-ticket items like intrusion-detection equipment for
chemical plants or antimissile defenses for airliners, which
some lawmakers want to mandate. For the rest of Corporate
America, aggressive investment in "guards, gates, and
guns" was supposed to be enough to counter the postSeptember
2001 threat. Or so the White House thought.
The
Customer Comes Eighth - [Conference Board] Ahead of
the customer stand at least seven other people you'd better
satisfy -- or else.
Rise
of the New Breed - [Chief Executive] The age of the
imperial CEO is waning. In its place, a crop of new CEOs
-- humble, team building, highly communicative -- are rising.
Marketers
Keep Close Tabs on Anti-Spam Bills - [BtoB Online] Industry
fears ‘do-not-e-mail’ list could do more harm
than good.
The
“Fraudsters Playground” - [ABA Banking Online]
While consumers relish the ease of online shopping, so do
criminals, who find the internet an easy way to commit online
payment fraud.
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SOCIETY AND POLITICS
Verisign's
SiteFinder Finds Privacy Hullabaloo - [The Register]
Privacy advocates have joined the chorus of critics of Verisign's
"SiteFinder," which began directing mistyped dot-com
and dot-net e-mail and Web addresses to a pay-for-play search
site operated by the company.
Personal
Data Stores to Protect Key Data - [Computer Weekly]
Estimates suggest that as many as seven million US citizens
have experienced identity theft in some way. Most of this
is down to the theft of credit card and debit card information,
only some of which has happened by the penetration of IT
security in companies or on websites.
Ban
Cloning Babies, Demand World's Top Scientists - [New
Scientist] Cloning babies should be banned worldwide by
the United Nations, more than 60 of the world's leading
scientific academies demanded.
Basic
Services 'Fail World's Poor' - [BBC] The real curse
of world poverty is the lack of access to crucial services
such as education and healthcare, the World Bank has warned.
Affluence
Threshold - [Resurgence] It is time to examine the relationship
between economic growth and social wellbeing.
Public
Wants Biotech Food Tested - [Wired] Most people believe
the FDA should verify whether a genetically modified food
is safe before consumers eat it, according to a new study.
A Pew Initiative study found that 89 percent of the people
interviewed believe the FDA should not allow genetically
modified foods on the market until they're proven safe.
Environmentalists
Turn To Violence - [CBS News] It's been guerrilla warfare
all summer out west, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill
Whitaker.
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ENVIRONMENT
First
Degree in Environmental Forensics Begins - [Nature]
Students enrolled in the world's first environmental-forensics
degree course start hitting the books. On completion, they
should be the first trained graduates in environmental policing.
Salmon
Packed with Pollutants - [Nature] Salmon travelling
to Alaska's lakes to spawn are carrying large doses of industrial
pollutants with them, a study has shown.
World
Cereal Stocks Plunging; Experts Blame Climate Change
- [Manila Times] World cereal stocks are plunging to their
lowest levels in recent history and might not recover due
to climate change, experts say.
'Miscalculation'
Could Mean the End of Caviar - [New Scientist] One of
the world's most valuable fish could be driven to extinction
because an international conservation body has miscalculated
how many are left in the wild.
What
Seashells Say About Global Warming - [Hudson Institute]
Dr. Jan Veizer, a geologist at the University of Ottawa,
has reconstructed the earth's temperature record for the
last 500 million years, using the fossilized remains of
seashells. He was surprised to find a major global warming-cooling
cycle every 135 million years, a time period that coincides
with no other earthly phenomenon.
Climate
Change Blamed as Largest Arctic Ice Shelf Breaks in Two
After 3,000 Years - [Independent] The largest ice shelf
in the Arctic, a solid feature for at least 3,000 years,
has broken in two and climate change is to blame, say American
and Canadian scientists.
Europe
Gets Annual Break from Pollution - [Motorista] Europeans
breathed a bit easier as they cycled, walked or used mass
transit to get to work on annual "car-free" day,
but the global push to curb pollution was undermined by
limited participation on the continent and failed to take
off in Asia.
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THE FUTURE
Predicting
the Future? New Methods, New Possibilities - [RAND Corporation]
The less-than-successful history of predicting the future
often dissuades policymakers from considering the long-term.
But new methods may transform society's ability to reason
about the future.
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