|
SCIENCE
Mosquitoes
Could Fight Malaria - [Nature] Researchers have identified
genes that control the way mosquitoes respond to the malaria
parasite. Their discovery could aid the development of anti-malarial
strategies by using a mosquito's own immune system to curb
the disease.
Scientists
Seek 'Map of Science' - [BBC] Scientists need new ways
to monitor the progress of science in the digital age, according
to reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
New
Asteroid Impact Simulator Available - [Universe Today]
Scientists from the University of Arizona have developed
a handy calculator that you can use to determine your fate
in the event of an asteroid impact. This tool takes into
account not only the size of the asteroid and its composition,
but what it slams into.
Cellphones
May Boost Forces on Biological Tissue - [New Scientist]
Mobile phone radiation may cause a massive increase in the
forces that living cells exert on each other, suggests a
new study from Sweden.
Methuselah
Man - [Technology Review] A self-professed “troublemaker,”
Aubrey de Grey works to scrutinize and encourage work in
human longevity. De Grey is a cofounder of the Methuselah
Mouse Prize, “a contest designed to accelerate progress
toward real longevity-enhancing medicine, promote public
interest and involvement in research on healthy life extension,
and encourage more such research.”
Science's
Mind Games - [The Age] Brain scans can now tell whether
you're lying or racist. But there are ethical dilemmas about
reading people's minds, reports Deborah Smith.
Biology
Society to Go Digital - [BBC] The world's oldest biological
society plans to make all its major collections available
in a digital format.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TECHNOLOGY
Miniature
Fuel Cells May Oust Batteries - [New Scientist] A trick
that boosts the power of miniature hydrogen fuel cells by
up to 50 per cent has been revealed by US researchers. Such
fuel cells could help keep portable gadgets up and running
-- cellphone giant Nokia warned that battery technology
is not keeping pace with advanced phone functions.
Beekeepers
Tagging Hives with Microchips - [Boston Globe] Hoping
to foil a wave of bee poaching, almond growers who use the
insects to pollinate their orchards are turning to modern
technology -- tagging the hives with microchips. A rise
in the price of honey and a shortage of bees has fueled
the outbreak of poaching in the Central Valley, where many
of the state's almond orchards are located.
Thought-Controlled
Robotic Arm May Work in People, Say Scientists - [New
Zealand Herald] Scientists who trained a monkey to move
a mechanical arm using thought alone say that experiments
in Parkinson's disease patients show the technique may work
in humans too.
Beyond
Nano and a Scale Sensitive Enough to Weigh a Virus -
[Space Daily] Cornell University researchers already have
been able to detect the mass of a single cell using submicroscopic
devices. Now they're zeroing in on viruses. And the scale
of their work is becoming so indescribably small that they
have moved beyond the prefixes "nano" "pico"
and "femto" to "atto." And just in sight
is "zepto."
Oil
Exploration by Remote Control - [BBC] A geologist wearing
3D glasses stands in front of a giant screen showing a computer
generated model of the sea bed under an oil rig in the Norwegian
North Sea. He is hooked up to the 3D image through various
cables, and moves effortlessly around in the virtual landscape
simply by moving his head and hands.
Cleared
for Take-Off? - [The Economist] Contrary to popular
belief, mobile phones do not pose a safety threat to airliners.
On an average transatlantic flight, several phones are usually
left switched on by accident, and the avionics systems on
modern aircraft are hardened against radio interference.
No, the use of phones on planes is banned because they disrupt
mobile networks on the ground.
U.S.
Bets on Land Mine Technology - [Wired] The Bush administration's
argument for shunning a global treaty on land mines rests
largely on the U.S. military's use of "smart,"
self-destructing mines that don't linger after wars end
to kill and maim civilians. But it has a quiet subtext:
the expectation that future generations of mines will be
so smart that soldiers can activate and deactivate entire
minefields by remote control.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Consumer
Robotics to Fuel Electronics Growth - [Electronics Talk]
A new report predicts that robots will become mainstream
consumer products within the next decade, providing a significant
growth opportunity for the electronics sector.
The
Outsourcing Bogeyman - [Foreign Affairs] According to
the election-year bluster of politicians and pundits, the
outsourcing of American jobs to other countries has become
a problem of epic proportion. Fortunately, this alarmism
is misguided. Outsourcing actually brings far more benefits
than costs, both now and in the long run.
Emerging
Business Applications in the Japanese Mobile Internet
- [Online Journalism Review] The mobile Internet may have
gained popularity in Japan because of cool ring tones and
text messaging, but now businesses are finding that using
cell phones to track information increases productivity
-- and saves money.
China
to Offer Incentives to Boost Exports of Autos, Parts
- [NewsAsia] China has unveiled an ambitious automotive
export plan which aims to boost the export of cars and car
parts to 70-100 billion dollars annually by 2010.
Smart
Strategies: Putting Ideas To Work - [Fast Company] In
the early 1980s, Michael Porter gave us Competitive Strategy
and told us what fueled the engines of corporate growth.
A decade later, C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel told us to
mind our "core competencies." In the years since,
however, there hasn't been a whole lot of shaking going
on in the world of corporate strategy.
Commercial
Space Flight Takes Big Step Up - [New Scientist] The
dream of commercial space flight has taken an important
step towards reality with the granting of the first licence
to a private company to launch people to a height of 100
kilometres.
China
Banks on B2B Exchange - [c|net] China is building an
online procurement exchange to support its $80 billion electronics
industry. Called e-Hub, the electronic data exchange is
aimed at providing Chinese manufacturers of electronics
and other products with a way to exchange information online
with international customers and suppliers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SOCIETY AND POLITICS
Seeing
Iraq Through the Globalization Lens - [Christian Science
Monitor] If you haven't been in Jordan in several years,
Amman's fashionable Mecca Mall is a bit disorienting --
especially if you've just come from more than a week in
Baghdad. There are luxury shops selling designer clothes
made in Syria, ads for "Sex and the City," a chic
bowling alley and coffee shops, and a multiplex theater
showing first-run movies, including "The Passion."
Google
Mail is Evil – Privacy Advocates - [The Register]
Google began offering a free e-mail service with 100 times
as much storage as Yahoo's $59.99 service. Privacy advocates
who had never before voiced criticism stepped forward.
New
Software Detects Plagiarized Passages - [CNN] White-collar
copycats may be less inclined to pilfer the well-chosen
words of others now that software designed to ferret out
plagiarism is moving out of academia and into the business
world.
French
CNN Rival Delayed by Brussels - [Expatica] French president
Jacques Chirac's plan to launch a CNN-rivalling French 24-hour
international news channel this year has been postponed
because its state funding may flout European Union competition
rules, according to a French press report.
World
Heritage Also Under Assault in Iraq - [MSNBC] Across
southern Iraq, often in the dead of night, tomb raiders
and temple thieves are systematically looting ancient treasures
that have lain undiscovered for thousands of years.
Millions
Use the Net Religiously - [San Jose Mercury News] Jimmy
Chu sent a mass e-mail to his Bible study group asking for
help setting up for Easter services. He posts the group's
prayer requests on his Weblog, downloads hymns from his
church's Web site and listens to Sunday sermons online.
Chu, 23, who lives in Mountain View, is one of the almost
82 million Americans who use the Internet for religious
or spiritual purposes.
Back
to the Future - [National Business Review] Descriptions
of US author Susan Shapiro Barash's recently released book,
The New Wife, do not mince words: "She's young,
she wants kids now, work can wait. Where the hell did she
come from?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENT
Western
Australia Bans All GM Crops - [New Zealand Herald] Australia's
largest state, Western Australia, says it will ban the growing
of all genetically modified (GM) crops. The state is a major
producer of wheat, barley, canola and pulses.
Chinese
Dams Blamed for Mekong's Bizarre Flow - [New Scientist]
Giant Chinese dams on the headwaters of the mighty Mekong
River in southeast Asia are being blamed for sudden bizarre
fluctuations in the flow of the river. The river is the
region's largest and many millions of people rely on its
flow.
Water
Quality 'Worrisome' in Three Gorges Area - [CENN] Citing
'worrisome' levels of industrial pollution, China's state
environmental agency has acknowledged that pollution-control
efforts in the Three Gorges reservoir area have not gone
as well as planned.
Slightly
Greener - [The Economist] Europe is not finding it easy
to enter the brave green world of carbon constraints. By
signing the United Nations' Kyoto treaty on climate change,
European Union governments promised to reduce, during 2008-12,
emissions of greenhouse gases to, on average, 8% below what
they were in 1990.
Russia
Finally Acknowledging '57 Nuclear Disaster - [Seattle
Times] One of the world's ghastliest nuclear accidents happened
in a secret atomic city that didn't have a name and never
appeared on any maps. An explosion of radioactive sludge
sent up a toxic plume that contaminated a quarter-million
people.
Greenland
Ice Cap 'Doomed to Meltdown' - [New Scientist] The Greenland
ice sheet is all but doomed to melt away to nothing, according
to a new modelling study. If it does melt, global sea levels
will rise by seven metres, flooding most of the world's
coastal regions.
Intel
to Launch Environmentally Friendly Chips - [MSNBC] For
environmental reasons, Intel Corp. plans to reduce the amount
of lead in its microprocessors and chip sets by 95 percent
starting this year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FUTURE
Tech
Pioneers Preview the Future - [PC World] Predicting
the future is risky business, and even visionaries turn
conservative when facing that challenge. But the four winners
of this year's Draper Prize from the National Academy of
Engineering are as qualified for the task as anyone.
|
