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SCIENCE
First
Cloned Rats Born - [Nature] Genetically identical rodents
may help pinpoint gene function.
Biological
Basis For Creativity Linked To Mental Illness - [Science
Daily] Psychologists from the University of Toronto and
Harvard University have identified one of the biological
bases of creativity.
Scientists
Map Dog’s Genetic Structure - [MSNBC] Man’s
best friend, in this case a male poodle, is genetically
more similar to humans than is the mouse, a more commonly
used laboratory animal, according to researchers who have
completed the first rough draft sequence of the genes of
a dog.
Gamma-Ray
Burst Linked to Mass Extinction - [Nature] Some 440
million years ago, a nearby gamma-ray burst may have extinguished
much of life on Earth, say US astronomers.
Gene
Behind Stroke is Uncovered, Scientists Say - [International
Herald Tribune] Researchers in Iceland say they have discovered
the first gene that underlies common forms of stroke, a
disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people each
year.
Study
Predicts Trillions Of Planets - [Discovery Channel]
The chances of Earth being alone in the universe just got
a whole lot smaller, as astronomers have dramatically raised
the estimate on how many planets are out there.
Drug
Produces Faster Healing and Fewer Scars - [New Scientist]
Initial trials of a drug that reduces scar formation have
produced encouraging results. Although the substance still
has numerous regulatory hurdles to clear, it is the first
of its type to be tested on people.
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TECHNOLOGY
E-Books,
Once Upon a Future Time - [Wired] Readers hungry for
a good page-turner will still turn to bookstores and libraries,
but cheaper computers and changing consumer habits suggest
that electronic books, or e-books, still have a future.
What’s
Next for Digital Photography - [MSNBC] 'Shooting Digital’
sums up the state of the art and points toward the future.
Wi-Fi
Future for UK's Phone Boxes - [BBC] BT is reviving its
network of ailing public phone boxes by breathing some wi-fi
life into them.
Berners-Lee
Talks Up Semantic Web - [Internet News] What if the
World Wide Web were one giant database, linking both human
readable documents and machine readable data in a way useful
to both mankind and machine?
The
See-It-All Chip - [TIME] Radio-frequency identification
— with track-everything-anywhere capability, all the
time — is about to change your life.
Electronic
Paper Reaches Video Speed - [Nature] Paper capable of
playing videos has been invented at the Philips Research
laboratory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Switchable
Net Woven from DNA - [Nature] US researchers have woven
DNA into a net that expands and contracts. It could be used
as a nano-filter or in biological sensors.
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Shock!
Horror! Computers in Productivity Boost - [Computerworld]
The productivity paradox, that nagging economic anomaly
that suggested the billions of dollars spent on computers
over the past few decades had been wasted, has been declared
solved.
Flying
on One Engine - [The Economist] America can no longer
propel the global economy. Unless other countries take over,
argues Zanny Minton Beddoes, the economic outlook is grim
and globalisation is at risk
Film
Industry Joins War on Internet File Sharing - [International
Herald Tribune] While the major labels in the music industry
squabbled about how best to deal with Internet piracy and
failed to develop consumer-friendly ways to buy music online,
the movie industry has gone on a coordinated offensive to
thwart the free downloading of movies before it spins out
of control.
Benetton
on RFID and Privacy Worries - [CIO Insight] Mauro Benetton,
director of marketing for the company that bears his name,
admits the flap caught him off guard. In March, a group
called CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion
and Numbering) called for a boycott of the Italian apparel
company after learning that it planned to use radio frequency
identification tags to track its clothing.
War
on Terror Takes Toll on U.S. Economy - [Boston Globe]
Two years into the war on terrorism, hopes that the struggle
would be only a brief drag on the economy are fading. Businesses
and consumers are facing a growing list of security-related
burdens, the federal deficit is ballooning from increased
military spending and Americans are jittery about the future.
Boeing
and Airbus Take Their Rivalry to China - [International
Herald Tribune] Planemakers are eager to woo China as airlines
elsewhere have reduced orders for new aircraft.
Organic
Style with Soul - [Catalog Success] Organic fashions
may be the next merchandise trend to watch, and Under the
Canopy is at the leading edge.
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SOCIETY AND POLITICS
Annan
Tackles Remaking the UN - [Christian
Science Monitor] Dogged by questions of relevancy, UN secretary-
general calls for 'radical' change in power structure.
Cities,
Swarms, Cell Phones: The Birth of Urban Informatics
- [The Feature] Howard Rheingold: "I've wondered about
the ways mobile phones might be changing cities ever since
I noticed people on the streets of Tokyo and Helsinki (but
not New York or San Francisco) looking at their telephones
instead of listening to them."
Health
Experts Disturbed by Dangerous Trends - [FOXNews] Cat-eye
contact lenses, facial tattoos, toe-shortening surgery:
These “trends” may sound humorous to the layperson,
but health and social experts aren’t laughing.
Economic
Impact of Aids Huge - [News24] Aids could slash African
economic growth by up to half, far more than previously
suggested by researchers, the World Bank said at an international
conference.
Fewer
Leaving Inheritences - [NZOOM] With expected life spans
stretching longer and longer and the cost of healthcare
skyrocketing, the idea of parents leaving largesse behind
is becoming secondary to their using it to live as comfortably
as possible.
UK
Public Strongly Rejects GM Foods - [New Scientist] The
UK public resoundingly rejected the case for growing and
eating genetically modified food. The emphatic snub comes
in a report announcing results of the UK government's "GM
Nation" public debate on the future for GM foods.
22
Million Americans are Addicts - [Washington Times] Around
22 million Americans were addicted to alcohol or drugs last
year, according to a federal survey designed to capture
more accurate data about substance abuse.
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ENVIRONMENT
Tourism
to Earth's Most Threatened Areas Surges by Over 100 Percent
In Last Decade - [Science Daily] Tourism has increased
by more than 100 percent between 1990 and 2000 in the world's
biodiversity hotspots, regions richest in species and facing
extreme threats, according to a report released by Conservation
International and the United Nations Environment Programme.
Scientists
Race to Bank Endangered Plant Species - [Planet Ark]
Deep in the lush English countryside south of London a group
of scientists is racing against time to save from extinction
as many of the world's endangered plants as they can.
Alternative-Fuel
Event Takes a Global View - [Mercury News] New research
presented at an event dedicated to alternative fuels shows
that newer cars with cleaner-burning gasoline engines --
technology that's available in dealer showrooms today --
could help the Los Angeles Basin meet 2010 federal smog
standards.
Europe
Paves Way for Hydrogen Economy - [EDIE] The European
Commission announced the first steps for a fully integrated
hydrogen economy with a partnership that will devise a ‘hydrogen
research strategic agenda’.
Giant
Study Probes Humanity's Impact on Ecosystems - [IPS]
With the global economy set to quadruple and another three
billion people likely to be living on the planet by 2050,
managing our dwindling natural resources in a sustainable
way has literally become a matter of life or death.
Park
Initiatives May Connect Dots of Life - [ENN] Environmentalists
are grinning broadly in the wake of the World Parks Congress,
their spirits raised by huge commitments from Madagascar
and Brazil to protect crucial ecosystems.
Eco-Friendly
Cars On Display - [CBS News] General Motors Corp. calls
it the Hy-wire: a car that puts fuel-cell technology in
a futuristic body. It lacks foot pedals and a traditional
steering wheel.
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THE FUTURE
The
Way We Are Going - [The Economist] A book review...
Baroness Greenfield's purpose is to issue a warning: that
the coming integration of IT and biotechnology will have
such a profound effect on the way we think and live that
“we are standing on the brink of a mind makeover more
cataclysmic that anything in our history.”
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