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SCIENCE
Secrets
of the World's Smallest Genome - [Forbes] N. equitans
doesn't have any of the normal cellular machinery one
would expect to find in a cell. It can't make its own amino
acids, proteins or sugars. Even basic molecules used to
move energy within the cell must be scavenged.
Could
You Suffer From Psychosis? The Nose Knows - [Science
Daily] Your nose could provide the first reliable diagnostic
tool for predicting a person's likelihood of developing
psychosis, new research has found.
Do
You Fancy a New Face? Surgeons Could Transplant One Today
- [Independent] A team of American surgeons is preparing
to transplant a face from a cadaver to a living person.
The operation will mark an emotive surgical milestone, which
some will regard as miraculous and others as disgusting.
US
Develops Lethal New Viruses - [New Scientist] A scientist
funded by the US government has deliberately created an
extremely deadly form of mousepox, a relative of the smallpox
virus, through genetic engineering. The new virus kills
all mice even if they have been given antiviral drugs as
well as a vaccine that would normally protect them.
Cosmic
Reality Check - [Wired] Surprise! Our little corner
of the universe is even smaller than we thought.
"Supersized"
DNA Like Nothing on Earth - [Betterhumans] An expanded
version of DNA has been created that is larger and more
heat resistant than normal DNA and could be a building block
for life in outer space.
SARS
Sources Widen - [Nature] A new study has heightened
fears that severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could
hit back this winter. The pool of animals harbouring the
lethal virus may be bigger than first realized, researchers
warn.
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TECHNOLOGY
Pilot
Study May Give Quadriplegics Computer Control - [Nature]
Human trials of a device to give quadriplegics mouse control
and computer access should start in the New Year.
Cellphone
'Radar' Tracks Traffic Flow - [New Scientist] Signals
from cellphone masts can be used to track aircraft, monitor
traffic congestion and spot speeding motorists without tipping
them off that they are being watched.
Rights
Tools Could Bite Back - [vnunet] Microsoft technology
designed to allow greater control over documents and emails
could create security and privacy headaches for IT managers.
Full-featured
PC Fits in Pocket - [New Scientist] A full-featured
PC that is small enough to slip into a shirt pocket is being
hailed by its makers as the world's first modular computer.
The machine can perform as both a PC and a handheld computer,
but it remains to be seen if consumers are willing to pay
for such a hybrid device.
Nanoparticles
May Help Fight Fraud - [Nature] Barcodes peppered with
magnetic particles millionths of a millimetre across could
mark out fake goods and documents.
Physicists
Stop Polarized Light, Create Bit Of Quantum Memory Rubidium
- [Science Daily] Much as a journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step, the journey to a quantum computer
begins with a single qubit -- a single bit of quantum memory.
New
Processor Computes at Light Speed - [New Scientist]
A superfast computing processor that uses light, not electrons,
to perform calculations has gone on sale for the first time.
Lenslet, the Israeli company that developed the processor,
say its light speed calculations deliver the power of a
supercomputer in a single device.
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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Who
Wins in Offshoring? - [CNET] Widely cited figures predict
that by 2015, roughly 3.3 million U.S. business-processing
jobs will have moved abroad. As of July 2003, around 400,000
jobs already had.
China
Capitalists Seek a Beachhead in U.S. - [International
Herald Tribune] While many American manufacturers look to
China as a place to make their products with cheap labor,
an odd turnabout is taking place in this small town northeast
of Columbia, the state capital.
Amazon.com
Gets a Taste for Gourmet Food - [CNET] Amazon.com began
selling gourmet food on its Web store, taking it into a
new category markedly different from its book, music, DVD,
kitchen products, apparel and other product offerings.
Mergers
and the Supersizing of Business - [Christian Science
Monitor] Revival of acquisitions is driven by healthier
stock market -- and spurs consolidation of industries.
More
British Banking Jobs to Move to India - [The Guardian]
Thousands of British banking staff could learn that their
jobs are being exported to India when Lloyds TSB and Barclays
reveal the extent of their intentions to expand on the subcontinent.
Kremlin's
Corporate Seizure as a War of Elites - [Christian Science
Monitor] In the latest, dramatic escalation in what is being
seen as essentially a confrontation between the Kremlin
and big business, Russian judicial authorities seized a
large chunk of shares in oil giant Yukos.
Scanning
for Superiority - [Chief Executive] A graduate student
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has invented
a hand-held electronic device that can instantaneously tell
a consumer whether the manufacturer of a product is a “good
corporate citizen.”
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SOCIETY AND POLITICS
Spammer
Told to Pay $2 Million - [San Diego Union-Tribune] California
snared its first spammer, winning a $2 million judgment
against a Los Angeles County marketer that ironically specialized
in hawking how-to-spam books over the Internet.
Aging
Population May Curb Economic Growth in Japan - [VOA]
The Japanese government is warning that declining birthrates
and an aging population will hamper the country's economic
growth.
China
Reins in Internet Cafes - [ZDNet UK] China is bringing
its 'troublesome' Internet cafes under the management of
larger state-controlled firms.
Unmarried
America - [Business Week] Say good-bye to the traditional
family. Here's how the new demographics will change business
and society.
Net's
Dark Side Dents Broadband - [BBC] People are so fed
up with spam, porn and viruses that they are put off high-speed
broadband, says a study.
E-Vote
Software Leaked Online - [Wired] Software used by an
electronic voting system manufactured by Sequoia Voting
Systems has been left unprotected on a publicly available
server, raising concerns about the possibility of vote tampering
in future elections.
Rights
to Remember - [Economist] How has September 11th changed
America's approach to human rights? Dangerously, suggests
Harold Hongju Koh, but perhaps only temporarily.
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ENVIRONMENT
Big
Melt Warning for Arctic - [BBC] The ice covering the
Arctic ocean is getting thinner as summers lengthen, say
British scientists.
Climate
Change Threatens U.S. Farms - [Discovery] The closest
look yet at climate change in the United States predicts
trouble for many U.S. farmers.
Europe
Launches Chemical Safety Crackdown - [New Scientist]
The safety of thousands of potentially toxic chemicals in
everyday use will have to be tested for the first time under
a new regulatory framework launched by the European Commission.
Senate
Rejects Global Warming Cap - [MSNBC] In the Senate’s
first vote in more than six years on the controversial issue
of climate change, lawmakers rejected a plan to curb carbon
dioxide emissions from industrial smokestacks.
Message
in a Bottle - [emagazine] Despite the hype, bottled
water is neither CLEANER nor GREENER than tap water.
Plankton
May Protect Planet from Icy Fate - [New Scientist] The
evolution of tiny, shelled sea creatures ended a 200 million
year era of extreme ice ages and has protected the Earth
from any repeat ever since, suggest the results of a new
modelling study.
Ecuador
Maps 20-Year Plan to Slow Deforestation - [ENN] Ecuador,
which lost more of its forest cover than any other nation
in South America in the 1990s, is developing a 20-year plan
to work with the private sector to plant new trees and protect
old forest.
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THE FUTURE
Life
in 2020: Solar Power, Hens in the Garden and a Robot in
the Loo - [The Guardian] Scientists see an energy efficient
future in which traffic jams are rare and the air is cleaner,
but imported food is a luxury.
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