|
SCIENCE
Could
Astronauts Sleep Their Way to the Stars? - [Nature]
The state of suspended animation that astronauts enter during
long-haul space flights is a staple of science-fiction movies.
But now the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to turn it
into reality.
Gene
Therapy Cures Monkeys of Laziness - [Nature] Procrastinating
primates can be turned into workaholics, thanks to gene
therapy. The discovery, which sheds light on the workings
of the brain's reward centre, may further our understanding
of mood disorders, such as depression and obsessive-compulsive
disorder.
Sniffer
Moths Detect Whiff of Explosives - [ABC] Sniffer moths
are being trained to detect plastic explosives, according
to U.S. scientists who have shown for the first time that
moths can be trained to detect specific odours.
Worm
Protein May Slow Parkinson's - [BBC] A type of protein
which helps increase lifespan in yeast and worms could offer
hope for new treatments in diseases such as Parkinson's
and Alzheimer's.
Schizophrenia
Gene Variant Linked To Risk Traits - [Science Daily]
Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH) have identified a relationship between a small section
of one gene, the brain chemical messenger glutamate, and
a collection of traits known to be associated with schizophrenia.
The finding confirms the gene responsible for management
of glutamate is a promising candidate in determining risk
for schizophrenia.
Cannabis
Extract Shrinks Brain Tumours - [New Scientist] Cannabis
extracts may shrink brain tumours and other cancers by blocking
the growth of the blood vessels which feed them, suggests
a new study.
Pollutants
Cause Huge Rise in Brain Diseases - [The Guardian] The
numbers of sufferers of brain diseases, including Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, have soared across
the West in less than 20 years, scientists have discovered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TECHNOLOGY
Intel's
Vision: A Wireless Melting Pot - [C|NET] The different
strands of wireless technology will one day work in harmony,
Intel predicts.
NASA
to Test First Mars-Earth Laser Communication Link -
[PhysOrg.com] A NASA–MIT Lincoln Laboratory team will
forge the first laser communication link between Mars and
Earth. This unique experiment, part of NASA's Vision for
Space Exploration, will greatly benefit the transmission
of data from robotic spacecraft.
Smart
Windows Block Heat Not Light - [Nature] Chemists know
how to be cool. A team of researchers has created a window
coating that reflects the Sun's heat without filtering out
visible light.
Skin
Used to Transmit Key Data - [New Scientist] Unlocking
cars and activating devices securely could soon be a matter
of simply touching them, thanks to a communications system
that transmits data across the skin.
A
New Charge - [ABC News] From flashlights to portable
radios to cell phones, the common chemical-based battery
provided some source of electricity while engineers struggled
to get massive power plants back online. While the battery
has become the dominant form of portable power, some say
its reign will soon be challenged by a "super"
opponent: the capacitor.
I,
Standard Man - [Wired] Stan D. Ardman is one lucky stiff.
If his heart gives out and he stops breathing on the operating
table, a simple reboot will bring him back to life.
Nanotechnology
To Supercharge Internet - [Space Daily] Canadian researchers
have shown that nanotechnology can be used to pave the way
to a supercharged Internet based entirely on light. The
discovery could lead to a network 100 times faster than
today's.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Microsoft
Corp. 2.0: A Kinder Corporate Culture - [Boston Globe]
Bill Gates was a brilliant technologist when he cofounded
Microsoft, but as he guided it to greatness in both size
and historical consequence, he blundered. He terrorized
underlings with his temper and parceled out praise like
Scrooge gave to charity. Only the lash inspired the necessary
aggressiveness to beat the competition, he thought.
Considering
Offshore Sourcing? Take Time to Do It Right - [Destination
CRM] As part of their fiduciary responsibilities, executives
are obliged to explore the viability of overseas sourcing
and its potential positive effects on profitability. Technology
advances continue to yield productivity gains in contact
centers, but vast differences in pay scales between the
U.S. and emerging nations cannot be ignored.
Perplexing
Problem? Borrow Some Brains - [HBS Working Knowledge]
You’re smart - but not that smart! Teams
often defer to their best decision maker, but more is better
than less when it comes to brain power. From Harvard
Management Communication Letter.
Blogging
for Business - [Business Week] With readers flocking
to their Web postings, execs are finding blogs useful for
plugging not just their products but their points of view.
It's
the Post-Industrial Economy, Stupid! - [American Reporter]
So now, even journalists aren't immune from the outsourcing
juggernaut.
China
Loses Manufacturing Jobs - [The Conference Board] As
part of its integration into the world economy, China has
undergone massive restructuring of its industrial enterprises
and has granted market access to foreign and private domestic
firms. While these changes have led to enormous productivity
gains, they are also closely linked to an important side
effect: China is rapidly losing manufacturing jobs.
Low-Carb
Bubble - [Macleans] In the history of almost any business
fad, there is a point at which people insist what's happening
is not a fad at all but permanent social change -- the beginning
of a new mainstream. Often, that's the moment when big corporations,
terrified of being left behind a burgeoning groundswell,
over-invest. It's also when things usually start to fall
apart.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SOCIETY
Tracking
Plan to Keep Criminals' Children Out of Jail - [Telegraph]
Children with criminal parents will be "tracked"
from early childhood to stop them ending up in jail, a minister
said yesterday. Hazel Blears, a Home
Office minister, said it was important to intervene early
because currently 65 per cent of children with a father
in jail get imprisoned themselves.
Hungry
World 'Must Eat Less Meat' - [Global Policy Forum] World
water supplies will not be enough for our descendants to
enjoy the sort of diet the West eats now, experts say.
Porn
Spam Increases by 350 Percent - [ZDNet Australia] Pornographic
e-mails have shot up by almost 350 percent in July over
June, according to security solutions provider Clearswift's
latest spam index.
Bikes
Bring Internet to Indian Villagers - [ABCNEWS] For 12-year-old
Anju Sharma, hope for a better life arrives in her poor
farming village three days a week on a bicycle rickshaw
that carries a computer with a high-speed, wireless Internet
connection.
Radio
Tags for China's Products, Blood and People - [Asia
Times] The Chinese have been at the helm of the electronic
and semi-conductor revolution. They may also be at the top
of the radio frequency identification (RFID) revolution,
thanks to the 2008 Summer Olympics and Wal-Mart.
Many
Large Industrialised Nations Will Lose Population by 2050
- [Daily Times] Many of the world’s largest industrialised
nations will lose population between now and 2050 as low
birth rates, struggling economies and curbs on immigration
stifle growth, says the author of a world population report.
Japanese
Children Shun the Rising Sun - [Guardian Unlimited]
Half of Japanese primary and secondary school students have
never seen a sunrise or sunset, according to a survey.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GLOBAL POLITICS
Ariel
Sharon is a Sissy - [The Economist] Mr Sharon's plan
to pull out of Gaza and the northern West Bank next year
enjoys wide public support in Israel, but a determined minority
of extremists could yet scupper it.
Where
Have All the Bombers Gone? - [World Press Review] Israel's
killing of Ahmed Yassin was supposed to have been followed
by rivers of blood on Israel's streets. It didn't happen.
Here is why.
China
Views Globalization: Toward a New Great-Power Politics?
- [The Washington Quarterly] Although China initially accepted
greater interdependence largely out of economic necessity
early in the reform era, Beijing has since come to embrace
interdependence and globalization with increasing enthusiasm.
Yet, the country’s political elites recognize that
economic globalization is a double-edged sword for China.
The
Unsettled West - [Foreign Affairs] Three new books detail
Xinjiang's long history of oppression. As they show, Beijing's
rule there has always been harsh -- but never so bad as
in the last few years.
US
and France Begin a Great Game in Africa - [Global Policy
Forum] France and the United States have begun a new race
to compete for favours with undemocratic regimes in Africa.
The competition is growing particularly in the oil-rich
North and West Africa.
New
US Strategy: 'Lily Pad' Bases - [Global Policy Forum]
Under dramatic changes envisioned by the Pentagon, tens
of thousands of US troops will leave sprawling, citylike
cold-war bases in Germany and Korea to return home in coming
years. Meanwhile, smaller numbers will shift to austere
yet strategically located new bases such as Manas, expanding
the military's reach into world trouble spots.
Libya
Invites Bids for Drilling Rights - [Telegraph] Libya,
which was welcomed back into the international fold four
months ago, invited oil and gas companies to bid for drilling
rights there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENT
Elusive
Dead Zone Tracked in the Pacific - [MSNBC] Two years
ago when local fishermen started hauling up pots filled
with dead crabs, scientists figured out that a huge mass
of sub-Arctic water with very low levels of oxygen and high
levels of nutrients had welled up from the ocean’s
depths and settled in for the summer on the Continental
Shelf off central Oregon.
Sun-Powered
Homes? Calif. Could Require It - [MSNBC] California
officials are proposing that half of all new homes in the
state be running on solar energy in 10 years, an effort
spurred by $100 million in annual incentives paid for by
electricity consumers.
Tidal
Flow to Power New York City - [Nature] Verdant Power,
an energy company based in Arlington, Virginia, plans to
plunge six electricity turbines into the East River. If
the $4.5-million project is successful, the generators will
form the first farm of tide-powered turbines in the world.
Model
Predicts Future Heat Waves Will Be More Intense - [Scientific
American] Last year's hot weather in France made August
miserable for most citizens and claimed thousands of lives.
Climate modeling results published in the journal Science
indicate that heat waves at the end of the 21st century
will be more severe, more frequent and longer lasting than
those of recent years.
Technology
Already Exists To Stabilize Global Warming - [Space
Daily] Existing technologies could stop the escalation of
global warming for 50 years and work on implementing them
can begin immediately, according to an analysis by Princeton
University scientists.
A
Chinese Town's Get-Rich Scheme: E-trash to Cash - [IEEE
Spectrum] Here in Guiyu, in China's southeastern Guandong
province, it's not difficult to find the back-street shacks
where thousands of tons of old motherboards, printers, and
monitors from the United States end up each year. All you
have to do is follow the slow-moving trucks that look as
if they're about to tip over from their brimming loads of
electronic trash.
Warning
of Global Warming 'Insanity' - [The Australian] Vast
tracts of northern Australia will turn to desert, the nation's
alpine vegetation will disappear and thousands of plant
and animal species will become extinct this century.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FUTURE
The
Connection: Water and Energy Security - [IAGS] The energy
security of the United States is closely linked to the state
of its water resources. No longer can water resources be
taken for granted if the U.S. is to achieve energy security
in the years and decades ahead. At the same time, U.S. water
security cannot be guaranteed without careful attention
to related energy issues. The two issues are inextricably
linked.
|
