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The mysterious brain...
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
have found that compartments of the brain stop communicating
with each other during deep sleep. "The brain breaks
down into little islands that can't talk to each other,"
lead scientist Giulio Tononi says. The study may lead to
a better understanding of mind and consciousness.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania
have shown that functional MRI scans of the brain can detect
lies, and these results have been replicated by other scientists.
Scans show that different parts of the brain are active
when a subject is speaking the truth or telling a lie.
Small world...
Scientists are looking at using wireless
communication between microchips as a way of simplifying
nanoscale systems and eliminating bottlenecks, Space
Daily reports. Optical communication offers one possibility,
nano-magnets another. When nano-magnets are combined in
arrays, the scientists say, they reinforce each other, creating
a signal that is strong enough to be used in cellular phones.
Scientists have built a car -- with a chassis,
wheels, axles and a pivoting suspension -- that is only
4 nanometers across. Just a little wider than a strand of
DNA. Each of the wheels contains 60 carbon atoms. Researcher
James Tour says, "We'd eventually like to move objects
and do work in a controlled fashion on the molecular scale."
Changing the world...
The San Francisco Chronicle says
Google Inc. will commit almost $1 billion to philanthropy.
Google.org will support non-profit groups and fund private
companies that are helping to make social change. Bay Area
companies HP, eBay and Chevron have already made similar
commitments. "We believe business can be a force for
social good," says Michelle Goguen, speaking for the
Omidyar Network -- a foundation created by eBay founder
Pierre Omidyar.
Bayer is testing a new antibiotic -- moxifloxacin
-- against tuberculosis, and has committed to supplying
millions of doses to poor countries at low prices if it
proves to be effective. News-Medical.net says no new tuberculosis
medication has been registered within the last 40 years.
More than 5,000 people a day die from the disease.
Steet beat...
Trend watching is trendy, the New Zealand
Herald says. There are more trends that ever, and they
come and go quickly. "There isn't much," writer
Cathrin Schaer says, "that isn't touched by the magic
wand of cool." Trend-spotting, she says, is now the
occupation of "hipster fortune tellers," "citizen-spotters,"
and even the Department of Statistics. Spencer Willis, manager
of a youth-market research firm located in Auckland, New
Zealand, says the longevity of a trend depends on its authenticity
-- whether it arose naturally or was manufactured.
Global learning...
ABC News reports that tutoring on
the Internet is yet another sign of globalization. The California-based
company Growing Stars provides online help from India for
American students. "India has very good teachers, especially
in math and science," Kiran Karnik, head of India's
National Association of Software and Service Companies,
says. "Online tutoring is an area which shows enormous
potential for growth." Thousands of Indian teachers
now coach U.S. students in mathematics, science and English.
Eureka...
Graduate student Michael Bowers at Vanderbilt
University has found an alternative to the traditional light
bulb, by coating an LED with small quantum dots. The new
device produces twice as much light and lasts 50 times as
long as a regular 60-watt bulb. The Department of Energy
estimates that LEDs could reduce energy consumption in the
United States by 29 percent by 2025.
Reuters says the global demand for electricity
is expected to double between 1990 and 2020. Leaving television
sets in standby mode, it says, accounts for 50 million pounds
(US$ 87 million) of wasted electricity in Britain every
year.
David Forrest
we welcome your comments and feedback at mail@innovationwatch.com
SCIENCE
Eye
Test Looks to Predict Future Stroke Victims - [The Australian]
A simple eye test could predict who is likely to have a
stroke in the next seven years. A study of more than 3600
people over the age of 50 found those with a condition called
retinopathy, or lesions of the retina, were three times
more likely to suffer a stroke, even if they displayed no
other risk factors.
Mid-Latitude
Glaciers on Mars - [Universe Today] New high-resolution
images of Mars have revealed several glaciers in the planet's
mid-latitudes, far away from its polar ice caps.
Skin
Cancer May Be Caused by Single Gene - [PakTribune] A
new medical study says a particular gene may play a major
role in contracting skin cancer.
Doctor
Pushes for First Face Transplant - [Red Nova] In the
next few weeks, five men and seven women will secretly visit
the Cleveland Clinic to interview for the chance to have
a radical operation that's never been tried anywhere in
the world.
Liars
Beware: A Brain Scan Could Tell Truth - [Daily Pennsylvanian]
Would-be criminals may find life difficult in the future,
as a group of Penn researchers have developed an advanced
method of detecting lies -- by scanning brains.
Brain
Areas Disconnect During Deep Sleep - [MSNBC] Your brain
never stops working. But it does cease talking to itself
when you lose consciousness, a new study shows.
Bird
Flu May Kill 150m, Warns U.N. - [CNN] global influenza
pandemic could come at any time and claim anywhere between
5 million and 150 million lives, depending on steps the
world takes now to control the bird flu in Asia, the United
Nations said.
TECHNOLOGY
Nano
Radios For Microchips - [Space Daily] Radios the size
of bacteria employing nano-magnets could help microchips
wirelessly communicate with one another, experts told UPI's
Nano World.
A
Fuel Cell to Gas Up Your MP3 Player - [ZDNet] Toshiba
is gearing up to release a fuel cell cartridge powered by
methanol that could keep an iPod running for an additional
two and a half days without a recharge.
Nanotechnology
in Future Cars - [techwire.com] Windscreens that no
longer steam up, or paint that no longer gets dirty or can
be scratched: all this could be everyday reality for car
drivers in just a few years time. As part of their research
work, engineers at the BMW Group are examining the use of
nanotechnology in future cars.
The
World's Smallest Car - [MSNBC] Using the parts inside
a single molecule, scientists have constructed the world's
smallest car. It has a chassis, axles and a pivoting suspension.
The wheels are buckyballs, spheres of pure carbon containing
60 atoms apiece.
Will
Web Users ‘Flock’ to Social Surfing? - [New
Scientist] A “social” web browser has been created
to meet the needs of a new generation of web users who want
to edit, comment on and share web content, rather than just
peruse it.
Space
Elevator Robot Passes 1,000-foot Mark - [MSNBC] A private
group has taken one small step toward the prospect of building
a futuristic space elevator.
Goal:
$100 Laptop for Kids - [St. Petersburg Times] Researchers
at MIT want to get a computer into the hands of every child
in the world, even if there's nowhere to plug it in.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Greener
Planes, Higher Fares - [The Times] The European Commission
said that it will push ahead with plans to control aircraft
emissions. The scheme, which should come into force by 2008,
could end the era of rapid expansion of low-cost flights
across Europe.
Google
Lays Out Plan to Change the World - [San Francisco Chronicle]
Google Inc. hopes to eclipse its success as a company by
committing nearly $1 billion to help solve problems including
poverty and environmental destruction.
Retail:
The Next Big Thing? - [Hindu Business Line] THE Indian
consumer could well be crowned King with all economic indicators
in the right place. Queuing up for the coronation ceremony
are a multitude of global companies that are looking at
India as the next consumer market powerhouse.
Bayer
to Produce New Tuberculosis Drug at Low Prices for Poor
Nations - [News-Medical.Net] A promising new antibiotic,
moxifloxacin, produced by Bayer Healthcare is about to be
tested against tuberculosis, a disease that kills 5,000
people a day. Current treatment for the disease usually
takes six months, and if, as promised, the new antibiotic
substantially shortens TB treatment, the company plans to
produce millions of doses to be sold at low prices to poor
countries.
MIT
Completes First Phase of Supply Chain 2020 Project -
[Frontline] Most models of future global supply chain operations
assume an information-based model where global partners
freely exchange data in a tightly integrated network. A
new project at MIT, though, is questioning that conventional
wisdom in an attempt to build new models of what supply
chain operations will look like, and what underlying principles
companies can use to prepare for those realities.
10%
of Population has Shopped on Web, Study Shows - [International
Herald Tribune] Roughly 10 percent of the world's population
-- more than 627 million people -- has shopped online at
least once, the research firm ACNielsen determined in a
study.
Corporate
Blogging Takes Off - [internet.com] Business blogging
is taking off. Companies are using blogs for both internal
and external communications, to improve customer relations
and improve business processes, according to a survey.
SOCIETY
Predicting
Our Future Style of Life - [New Zealand Herald] Call
them what you will, social fashions, psychographics, idea
viruses, cultural barometers or plain old fads, but it feels
as if, every week, we hear about a new one. There is a plague
of trends and buzzwords.
Boomers'
Wealth of Knowledge - [Business Week] Developing countries'
techies are meeting more of America's IT needs, but older
workers offer a key element in short supply -- experience.
Farmers
Fret Over Fertilizer Costs - [Washington Post] While
rising natural gas prices are causing concerns about heating
costs this winter, farmers are wondering how they'll pay
for fertilizer, which uses the energy source to produce
its main ingredients, such as ammonia or nitrates.
Homeless
in Old Age - [The Star] Kanji Takahashi lives in the
heart of Tokyo, next to a cluster of government ministries
and just a short walk from the posh Ginza shopping district.
But the 62-year-old’s home is a makeshift tent of blue
vinyl sheets and scrap wood, built in a park. Takahashi,
and around 100 other homeless park dwellers, are living
proof that Japan’s once-egalitarian society is showing
its cracks.
Videogames
for Social Change Conference - [1up.com] Game designers,
nonprofit organizations, educators, and academics convene
to talk about how videogames can be a social good. The event
is hosted by Games for Change and is a part of the Serious
Games Initiative.
E-Tutoring
Broadens Bounds of Outsourcing - [ABC News] With help
from India e-tutors, math and science become a little easier
for US high schoolers.
Chinese
Realizing a New Social Reality - [Houston Chronicle]
Rift between classes in a system that once thought of itself
as classless becomes obvious.
GLOBAL POLITICS
Overseas
Investment Trends Change - [China Daily] According to
the World Investment Report for 2004, drafted by the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development, China absorbed
a total of US$53.5 billion worth of foreign direct investment
(FDI) in 2003. Other statistics also point to the importance
of foreign capital in China's economic growth.
China's
Space Message - [UPI] With the successful launch of
its second manned spacecraft, Shenzhou VI, China has shown
the world that it is moving confidently towards the status
of a global leader, one among eight or 10 -- or even two
or three -- world powers that will be at the top in the
next few years.
Civil
Society -- and the UN -- Should Transcend Our Great National
Divides - [Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star] How will
current US social and political trends -- amid the rise
of the right -- affect the world in the decades ahead? Surprisingly,
some sociologists say that they augur for curbing the excesses
of national power and capitalist markets, while strengthening
the UN and other forms of global governance.
Europe
in Hindsight: A Remarkable Recovery - [International
Herald Tribune] Sometimes it's hard to believe that just
20 years ago the eastern half of Europe was in the grip
of governments so hopelessly incapable of dealing with the
present, let alone providing for the future, that only the
continual erasure of history could provide them with a semblance
of success.
Rumsfeld
Warns Against a New 'Wall' - [International Herald Tribune]
The US defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, urged the next
generation of China's Communist leadership to become "a
major player" in the global economy by taking steps
to strengthen the system and not just reap the financial
rewards, and he warned against erecting "another type
of Great Wall" restricting free expression and choice.
Grim
Outlook for Africa's Future - [Wired] Deadly epidemics.
Ruined crops. The extinction of some of Africa's legendary
wildlife. The potential consequences of global warming could
be devastating for the world's poorest continent, yet its
nations are among the least equipped to cope.
World
Will Be Poorer in 2025 but India to Buck Trend - [Financial
Express] By 2025, global wealth will decline sharply by
about $31 trillion, from $85 trillion currently to $54 trillion,
registering a fall of 36%, according to McKinsey. While
Japan, US and Europe will witness a decline in wealth, India
and China will witness an increase in financial assets.
ENVIRONMENT
Hunger
For Natural Gas - [AlterNet] The era of cheap natural
gas, like that of cheap oil, is ending. We have barely begun
to assess the drastic, worldwide changes that will ensue.
Saving
the Planet at Flick of Switch - [Reuters] Eve Black
always turns the light off when she leaves a room and never
leaves the TV on standby -- and she wishes others would
follow suit.
Antarctic
Glaciers Calving Faster into the Ocean - [New Scientist]
The edges of the Antarctic ice sheets are slipping into
the ocean at an unprecedented rate, raising fears of a global
surge in sea levels, glaciologists warned.
New
Invention Makes Light Bulbs Obsolete - [Smart House]
The simple light bulb is set to be replaced by a new light
source following an accidental discovery. Based on LED light
technology the discovery has taken LED lighting to a new
level, suggesting it could soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting
alternative to the traditional light bulb.
Cold
Comfort from New Warmth - [Houston Chronicle] For those
living north of the Arctic Circle, climate changes bring
some opportunities -- and imperil their environment.
Rain-Forest
Damage Much Worse than Thought - [Red Nova] Loss of
trees in the Brazilian rain forest is much worse than had
been thought, according to a new study.
California
Water Wars: Water Flowing to Farms, Not Fish - [San
Francisco Chronicle] After 50 years of legal infighting,
a victor has emerged in California's water wars -- agriculture.
THE FUTURE
Spotting
Trends: Cool Loses its Cool - [Clarion Ledger] There
was a time, way back in the late 1990s, when coolhunting
was still cool, when nearly every Madison Avenue ad agency
wanted a resident hipster to interpret the spending habits
of those inscrutable Gen-Xers. Then the Internet exploded
and suddenly the art of predicting the next big trend got
way more complicated.
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