June 30, 2003
Chipmaker Sandbridge packs in standards
BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com
Sandbridge Technologies said Monday that it's the first chipmaker to pack an entire world of cell phone standards into a single handset.The White Plains, N.Y.-based company will begin shipping the chips this year to handset makers, and the first "world phones" will appear by the end of 2004, according to Sandbridge spokesman Jeffrey Schwartz. "That's three to five years ahead of what people thought," he said.
Italy Takes on EU Presidency
He's already Italy's richest man, a billionaire media tycoon, soccer supremo and Italian prime minister. On Tuesday, Silvio Berlusconi gets to represent the European Union.The prospect is provoking diplomatic concern and howls of outrage from headline writers around the continent as Italy with Berlusconi at its helm assumes the six-month rotating EU presidency Tuesday.
Terror scare a boon for SAS
SAS is seeking a bigger chunk of the financial software sector with an aggressive strategy based on mandatory compliance with new global international banking settlements and accounting standards to combat money-laundering....
In the US alone, financial institutions will spend some $US695 million on systems to stop money-laundering by 2005 to comply with the Patriot Act.
June 29, 2003
Online Dating Sheds Its Stigma as Losers.com
Online dating, once viewed as a refuge for the socially inept and as a faintly disrespectable way to meet other people, is rapidly becoming a fixture of single life for adults of all ages, backgrounds and interests. More than 45 million Americans visited online dating sites last month, up from about 35 million at the end of 2002, according to comScore Media Metrix, a Web tracking service.
June 28, 2003
At 13, She Already Has Tiger in Her Sights
[Michelle] Wie, who is six feet tall, averages about 290 yards off the tee with her driver. ...Next to Annika Sorenstam, who shot 71 and 74 in a PGA Tour event in Fort Worth last month, Wie — who started playing golf at age 4 — is now the world's most-talked-about female golfer.
She has said she "wants to win the Masters," although a woman has never played in that tournament, much less won it. Then again, Tiger Woods has won it three times.
"And Tiger is her benchmark," said Wie's father and caddie, B. J., a professor of transportation at the University of Hawaii. "Not women — Tiger."
States' Budget Outlook Bleakest Since War of 1812
With 46 states facing the end of their fiscal years on Monday, 9, an unusually high number, remain locked in disputes over their budgets. This worsening fiscal crisis comes after a spring in which states have made record tax increases and spending cuts, and nearly wiped out their rainy day reserves, a nationwide survey released today reports.The new data, compiled by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers, describe a fiscal bad dream descending into nightmare this spring as a languishing economy met upward spiraling health-care costs.
A Gay Rights Landmark
Gay Americans won a historic victory yesterday when the Supreme Court struck down Texas' sodomy law. The sweeping 6-to-3 decision made a point of overturning a 17-year-old precedent that was curtly dismissive of gay rights. Yesterday's ruling has implications that reach beyond sodomy, and is an important step toward winning gay men and women full equality under the law.
Maui: Once-dying cowboy outpost transformed into a Sedona of the Pacific
Makawao then was a barroom brawl of a town, filled with gun stores, feed depots, barber shops and saddle makers, all serving people the surrounding cattle ranches. Makawao (pronounced MOCK-a-wow) still evokes the little known and fast-fading Hawaiian cowboy life in its wood-shingled buildings, the horses tied up in front yards and the cowboy dolls and miniature Black Angus cattle in the toy store.
...
Over the last decade or so, artists have transformed this once-dying cowboy outpost into a Sedona of the Pacific that many residents and business owners say is just starting to hit its stride.
"As far as a local place, like SoHo used to be, that's where it's at right now," said Robert Zaleski, a painter and an owner of Gallery Maui.
... But tourists who likely know of SoHo in Manhattan and Sedona in Arizona have hardly heard of this place. An hour inland from the beach resorts that made Maui famous, and away from the busy main route to the Haleakala crater, Makawao is not on the usual tourism circuit. ...
... Some old-timers complain that the place has been overrun by out-of towners, people they don't know and don't want to know. And despite the many authentic reminders of old Makawao — the quaint buildings, the absence of traffic lights, the rodeo — they mourn what they say is the loss of true cowboy life.
"We can't even ride a horse in Makawao town," said Herman-Louis DeCoite, president of the roping club, referring to the rise in motorized traffic.
June 26, 2003
Arrogance and Military Transformation
In his farewell address, retiring Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki warned against "arrogance," seen as a code for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his supporters. Yet, arrogance has never been in short supply in the Pentagon, among senior officers as well as political appointees. Even among a leadership lacking in humility, there is widespread acceptance of the proposition that the Defense Department and the military need transformation and reform.
... The key question that will guide defense transformation must be: What will be the nature of future war? Unless one believes that all such future wars will end without the need for a continuing U.S. presence on the ground or military participation in enabling security and reconstruction, a capability and willingness to carry out such missions must be a critical part of any future U.S. military.
India: Transformation and Its New Wine Economy
NASIK, India — Educated in Silicon Valley but seduced by Sonoma Valley, Rajeev Samant decided to come home to these dry hills northeast of Bombay to try making wine in India, a nation where annual wine consumption works out to one teaspoon per person.
Six years after planting his first cuttings of sauvignon blanc from France and chenin blanc from California, Mr. Samant has a big problem: "We keep running out of wine."
... But Mr. Samant's Sula Vineyards is a runaway success, doubling its output each year since 2000 and still not keeping up with demand.
... Sula's success speaks to two factors transforming India's economy: globalization and the cutting of red tape. These new forces are contributing to India's projected economic growth this year of 5 percent, a peppy rate after years of slumber.
With 20 million Indians studying or working overseas, this formerly inward-looking nation is increasingly open to new ways of doing things — though many of the old strictures still survive, including a ban on advertising alcoholic beverages.
Watch out Napa Valley
- nmw
June 25, 2003
Smart Electodes: Enhancing the Mind
New York Times Magazine: Registration Required
Allan Snyder claims that he can turn on a person's inner Rain Man, and then turn it off again, with the flick of a switch. All it takes is a strange set of electrodes; and a radical new theory of autism, genius and the human brain.In a concrete basement at the University of Sydney, I sat in a chair waiting to have my brain altered by an electromagnetic pulse. My forehead was connected, by a series of electrodes, to a machine that looked something like an old-fashioned beauty-salon hair dryer and was sunnily described to me as a ''Danish-made transcranial magnetic stimulator.'' This was not just any old Danish-made transcranial magnetic stimulator, however; this was the Medtronic Mag Pro, and it was being operated by Allan Snyder, one of the world's most remarkable scientists of human cognition.
... Two minutes after I started the first drawing, I was instructed to try again. After another two minutes, I tried a third cat, and then in due course a fourth. Then the experiment was over, and the electrodes were removed. I looked down at my work. The first felines were boxy and stiffly unconvincing. But after I had been subjected to about 10 minutes of transcranial magnetic stimulation, their tails had grown more vibrant, more nervous; their faces were personable and convincing. They were even beginning to wear clever expressions.
I could hardly recognize them as my own drawings, though I had watched myself render each one, in all its loving detail. Somehow over the course of a very few minutes, and with no additional instruction, I had gone from an incompetent draftsman to a very impressive artist of the feline form.
Snyder looked over my shoulder. ''Well, how about that? Leonardo would be envious.'' Or turning in his grave, I thought.
Who needs school?
-Norm
Camera phones catching on
The trend toward wireless cameras embedded in cellular phones is acceleratingAccording to the company that was first into the market in this country, Rogers AT&T, the trend is apparent.
"If we look carefully at what causes the breakthrough, it's actually when the number of phones that a given carrier is shipping becomes predominantly camera phones," said David Neale, Rogers AT&T's vice-president of new product development. "What you're starting to see is that we're adding more and more camera phones to our list."
This is especially interesting given last week's warning from Kodak that they will miss their earnings number.
One thing to think about is the new and interesting applications which will come about as the result of these camera phones. For clues on that one ask your kids!
-Tim
Growth signal discovery prompts pancreatic cancer hope
A team from Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center has discovered that a growth signal, which under normal circumstances is turned off in adult tissues, is turned back on again after damage to the pancreas.The “Notch” pathway, when functioning normally, regulates embryonic development in a whole range of organisms, from fruit flies to humans. In adult tissues, the pathway becomes dormant as cells differentiate to perform specialised functions.
New Ovarian Cancer Hope For Women; Scientists Bring Early Detection Closer
Scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) in Seattle announced a new biomarker for ovarian cancer today. Their discovery promises improved diagnosis of the disease, which usually remains hidden until it is too late for effective treatment.
DNA files do not invade privacy, court says
The state crime lab did not violate Tony Notti’s privacy when it linked evidence from two unrelated DNA files to identify him as the killer of a hitchhiking Vietnam veteran in 2000, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled.The court, citing the doctrine of “inevitable discovery,” unanimously refused to overturn Notti’s 80-year prison sentence for murdering Richard Slawek near an Interstate 90 rest area east of Butte on May 20, 2000.
Isolation of ferret protein promising for cancer, reproductive studies
Biologists studying early pregnancy in ferrets have isolated a protein vital to embryonic implantation. The discovery at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign eventually could enhance assisted-reproductive efforts in many threatened species.In addition to its implications for reproduction, the discovery opens a window to study numerous cancerous tumors that secrete the same protein, said Janice M. Bahr, a professor of reproductive physiology in the department of animal sciences at Illinois.
Technology transmits sense of touch over Web
Engineers in the Virtual Reality Laboratory at UB have developed a new technology that transmits the sensation of touch over the Internet.The breakthrough could lead to creation of haptic technologies that convey the sense of touch and would teach users how to master skills and activities—such as surgery, sculpture, playing the drums or even golf—that require the precise application of "touch" and movement, says Thenkurussi Kesavadas, director of the Virtual Reality Lab and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Gives new meaning to the ad slogan "Reach out and touch somebody."
-Tim
Hope for halting Alzheimers
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the modern world’s greatest scourges. Not only does it rob 4 million aging Americans of their minds every year but it costs the country more than $100 billion annually in medical expenses. And unless effective treatments are developed, the problem will only get worse — much worse. About 1 in every 10 people over the age of 65 has the disease. As America’s population ages, the number of victims is expected to soar to 14 million by 2050.Now, a small clinical trial of a new drug offers hope that it may be possible to prevent the disease’s terrible dementia. Predicts Francesco Bellini, chairman and CEO of Montreal biotech outfit Neurochem: “We’re on the verge of a major breakthrough in Alzheimer’s. This is going to stop the disease.”
Prostate Cancer Breakthrough?
Scientists have discovered the first drug that promises to prevent prostate cancer, but deciding who should use it won't be easy: Sexual side effects aside, it may actually increase aggressive tumors in some men.The drug is finasteride, already sold as a treatment for enlarged prostates under the brand name Proscar and, in a much lower dose, as Propecia for baldness.
Men who took Proscar daily for seven years cut their chances of getting prostate cancer by nearly 25 percent compared with men given a dummy pill, researchers reported Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
US engineers harness palladium in nanotechnology breakthrough
Engineers in the US say they have used palladium to develop a way to grow silicon nanowires and carbon nanotubes directly on microstructures, thus paving the way for cheaper and faster commercialisation of a myriad of nanotechnology-based devices.
June 24, 2003
US Bancorp: China To Become Largest Internet Market
US Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy initiated coverage of three Chinese Internet portals on Wednesday, saying is expected to become the largest Internet market over the next 10 years....
"We believe the Chinese Internet market has three distinct characteristics: it's in a very early stage--even with about 60 million users it is the second-largest market in the world; direct user monetization beyond advertising has already begun, and the potential size of this market exceeds any other country," Rastchy said. He said US Bancorp expects 180 million users by 2007, but gave no projection for the number of users over the next 10 years.
June 23, 2003
Move afoot to speed XML traffic
The growing use of XML and Web services is fueling development of hardware that promises to accelerate the processing of XML traffic and eventually become a staple of network architectures.
Auto-ID chip to speed up shopping
It's not fantasy, but within a few years of reality, say Procter & Gamble and other big companies working on a plan to put a computer tag or chip half the size of a dime on every item in every store....
"I believe this is every bit as transformative as the Internet revolution we just went through," said Steve David, chief information officer at P&G.
Advances in Telemedicine
...In March, four Orlando doctors at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center held a virtual meeting with specialists in Houston to discuss Biela's case - a meeting that until a few years ago would have been conducted by phone.In this case, even though the doctors were 1,000 miles apart, they were all seeing the same images at the same time - as if they were in the same room.
The Orlando group gathered in a new $200,000 telemedicine facility equipped with several cameras and two wall-mounted, six-wide TV screens that would make a deluxe home theater system if they weren't used to save lives.
June 22, 2003
Jack Welch On the New 'Old Economy'
... In the short term, Welch sees a US where the economy will remain sluggish but corporate profits will rise strongly because companies have substantially lowered their costs, their balance sheets are strong, interest rates are low and the US dollar has fallen -- giving them extra pricing power....
Welch believes that the Internet was a new technology that substantially lowered business costs, rather than a new business model, and relatively few companies were able to create new businesses out of the internet.
...
Welch believes that China will be an enormous force in global business during the next 50 years. As China moves to make half the world's manufactured goods, he can see many countries debating whether they should limit the amount of Chinese manufactured goods they import each year.
Very interesting 'change' perspective from someone in the know.
-Tim
Vacuum sales in the dumps
It's as if everyone has stopped cleaning.Until this year, Americans were buying vacuum cleaners like there was no such thing as recession. And then, boom! The year turns, and sales of vacuums fall off, for everything from the little handhelds you keep in your car to the heavy-duty uprights that remind you of your mother.
For the first time, DVDs outdistance video rentals
Are VHS tapes about to join vinyl albums in the dustbin?In the latest sign of the rise of digital media, weekly DVD rentals have exceeded videocassettes for the first time ever, according to the Video Software Dealers Association. The trade organization said an estimated 28.2 million DVDs were rented for the week ended June 15, outpacing 27.3 million VHS rentals.
June 21, 2003
Top Artists Balking At A La Carte Downloads
Despite the major labels' success in clearing hundreds of thousands of tracks for purchase online through services like Apple's iTunes Music Store, some top artists continue to resist authorizing the dismantling of their albums for Internet consumption as a la carte singles.
Isolation, an Old Medical Tool, Has SARS Fading
Three months ago, SARS appeared poised to sweep the world, a mysterious new disease racing out of southern for which there was no vaccine, cure or diagnostic test.Today, SARS is disappearing almost as fast, and almost as unpredictably, as it arrived. This week, the World Health Organization declared it under control, with only a handful of cases worldwide in the last week.
The agency's only remaining advisory against travel — to Beijing — is expected to be lifted in a few days. Hong Kong, the city with more cases and deaths relative to its population than anywhere else, has had no new cases since June 2.
Harry Potter: Bigger than Beatlemania?
[In 1997 no] one had the faintest idea it would be the start of a cultural juggernaut. No one would guess that six years later, boys and girls, children and adults all over North America would be waiting for this day, when the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, is being released, to obtain their copy by courier from Amazon.com or in midnight lineups at bookstores.No one predicted, in short, that a printed book would cause a stir equivalent to Beatlemania or to the bursting on the scene of Elvis Presley in the mid-1950s. A printed book, one might add, that nestled cosily in a Victorian setting, possessed a narrative voice with a pronounced English accent, and made references to a good deal of retro-wizardry, such as flying broomsticks and crystal balls. Its spell has spread like an air current in the upper troposphere, covering vast territory.
Pottermainia descended on San Francisco tonight as we got our copy of Phoenix tonight at Book, Inc. in Laurel Village. Our kids did a great job of keeping us adults awake in the accumulated body heat of a couple hundred people waiting to get their hands on the latest J.K. Rowling tome.
After getting to bed so late tonight, we, too, hope to rise like the Phoneix tomorrow morning!
-Tim
June 20, 2003
McDonald's Asks Meat Industry to Cut Use of Antibiotics
Responding to public health concerns about the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals, the McDonald's Corporation said today that it would ask its meat suppliers around the world to reduce their dependence on antibiotics....
McDonald's said it was making the change because of growing evidence that the use of antibiotics in farm animals was creating antibiotic resistance in animals and in the bacteria that cause diseases in humans.
Open Source Paradigm Shift
Gotzeblogged: Tim O'Reilly Talk:
The open source paradigm shift is happening now as part of the wider internet paradigm shift. We're seeing commodity software with an open architecture, and information applications decoupled from both hardware and software.The main characteristics, the three C's:
- Commodisation
- Customisation
- CollaborationWhat are the business models? All over. Linux as the BIOS of the internet OS. But mainly, the new business models are about services. Both various professional services, but also services to the end users.
Convenient Healthy Food
Convenience, health and innovation are once again the order of the day in the food and drink industry, as the latest visit to the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD) shows.
Breakfast cereal manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to interest consumers in their products at a time of day when many are pressed for time. To meet growing demand for convenient products, US cereal giant has recently launched a range of on-the-go cereals for the German and Austrian market called Kellogg's Fjølk & Corn Flakes.
... In the past, British consumers have tended to shy away from iced tea, perhaps finding it hard to associate a popular and traditional hot drink with a cold version. However, this may be changing as new RTD iced teas continue to be introduced, often focusing on the healthy antioxidant benefits of tea.
June 19, 2003
'Designer' baby to cure brother
A British 'designer' baby has been born to a couple desperate to cure their four-year-old son, who has a rare form of anaemia, a British daily reported yesterday.Jamie Whitaker was delivered by caesarean operation on Monday after being genetically matched, while still an in-vitro fertilisation embryo, to his brother Charlie, The Daily Mail said.
Charlie has the rare diamond blackfan anaemia, which only a transplant of stem cells from a sibling with a perfect tissue match can cure.
Panel Urges Caution on Smallpox Inoculation
A panel of medical experts overseeing the Bush administration's smallpox immunization campaign advised yesterday against expanding the effort to millions of emergency response workers, saying a series of unexpected heart complications raises concerns about the safety of the vaccine.The recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices comes as many state and federal health officials say privately that the program is at a standstill, falling far short of President Bush's desire to vaccinate millions.
Ancient Chinese Secret: White Tea Everywhere
White is the new green.We are talking about tea, not T-shirts.
The mythical fountain of youth is now filled with white tea.
The pale minimally processed Chinese tea is being pitched as the next great thing for drinking and as a cosmetics ingredient. It's even said to eclipse green tea's benefits.
Researchers are finding white tea has more disease-fighting antioxidants than green tea. The white elixir has joined green tea as a possible preventative for many troubles, from stopping certain cancers to fighting wrinkles.
- Cheaper than plastic surgery!
June 18, 2003
Rumblings in Iran
New York Times by William Safire:
...Why didn't the ayatollahs order the protesters jailed? Why hasn't the theocratic regime rounded up the 250 intellectuals who recently dared to state that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was accountable to the people and not just to God?
The answer is that every segment of Iranian society is split. In labor, industrial workers fume at jobs lost to outside sanctions while oil workers bask in the sun of high oil prices. In the military, many air force and navy officers silently scorn the anti-secular allegiance of the Revolutionary Guard, which is subdivided into zealots and careerists.The answer is that every segment of Iranian society is split. In labor, industrial workers fume at jobs lost to outside sanctions while oil workers bask in the sun of high oil prices. In the military, many air force and navy officers silently scorn the anti-secular allegiance of the Revolutionary Guard, which is subdivided into zealots and careerists.
Race to cash in on China's telecoms
The liberalization of 's telecommunications market - one of the world's largest and most enigmatic - will continue to be a mixed bag for both foreign investors and the Chinese government, which is hanging on to its role as both player and regulator.But according to a report by Fusion Consulting, a research company headquartered in Hong Kong, China's deregulation efforts will be accelerated as the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games approach.
June 17, 2003
SARS 'Stopped Dead In Its Tracks
The World Health Organization says the worst is over in the fight against SARS less than three months after a global alert triggered an unprecedented worldwide response.The pneumonia-like disease that spanned to Canada has killed about 800 people and infected more than 8,000, sending authorities scurrying to contain it through centuries-old measures of isolation, quarantine and travel restrictions.
Prescription drugs at risk in loose system
There is growing concern that inadequate controls over wholesale drug distribution across the United States, coupled with a burgeoning traffic in pharmaceuticals via the Internet and mail, may leave patients open not just to bad medicine, but even to outright poisoning at the hands of terrorists.
Most SUVs Flunk New Crash Test
Only two out of 12 compact sport utility vehicles scored a "good" grade in a new crash test designed to measure injuries resulting from a SUV or pickup truck ramming into the side of the vehicles.Head-protecting side air bags, which can make the difference between minor injuries and death in a side-impact crash, were the difference between the vehicles that earned "good" ratings and others that scored "poor" in the test.
June 16, 2003
WHO: Stay on the lookout
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has strongly advised countries to strengthen their surveillance efforts even though the SARS situation worldwide appears to be improving, as there is still a lack of information on the deadly virus.WHO Medical Officer for Global Alert and Response Dr. Mark Salter said WHO was confident the measures taken by the international community to control the disease were effective, as the organisation had seen a significant decrease in cases around the world.
"But now is not the time to relax with it (SARS) tapering off, but to strengthen and redouble efforts to ensure we detect every case."
Music industry changing its tune
Fourteen-year-old Miriam Rosenau is a typical member of "Gen D," a generation of customers vital to the survival of the recording industry.That's "D" as in "digital" and "download," two words that also describe an inexorable shift in consumer behavior that experts say will force the $32 billion worldwide recording industry to overhaul the way it does business.
New York City Milestone: Number of Jews Is Below Million
The Jewish population of New York City has fallen by 5 percent since 1991, dipping below one million for the first time in a century, according to a roughly once-a-decade study that is being released today by the UJA-Federation of New York.But Jews who left the city seemed to stay in the area, because the Jewish population has risen by a corresponding amount in three suburban counties in New York state.
Scientists Say They ID Depression Gene
Scientists say they've identified a flawed gene that appears to promote manic-depression, or bipolar disorder, a finding that could eventually help guide scientists to new treatments
Canadian researchers make significant breakthrough in SARS reseach
Researchers from Alberta's Suffield military base are celebrating a major breakthrough in the struggle to crack the SARS virus -- they have become the first ever to snag fragments of the deadly disease from the air.While the findings don't resolve the question of whether severe acute respiratory syndrome can be spread through airborne infection, experts say they do show the virus can be in the air.
June 15, 2003
Internet Revolutionizes the World Series of Poker
Online play may be the most dramatic change in the World Series of Poker since the advent of satellite tournaments in the early 1980s. Prior to satellite play, the World Series was usually composed of a handful of the world’s top players, the $10,000 buy-in being out of reach for most. Eric Drache, director of the World Series of Poker for many years, came up with the idea of conducting smaller tournaments to allow lower-staked poker players to compete with the world’s top (and best-staked) players. The idea was an immediate hit.
The impact of the Internet is clearly far-reaching.
-Tim
Gene discovery holds out hope of treatment for asthma victims
A BREAKTHROUGH has been made in tackling the widespread problem of asthma, which blights the health of children across Wales. Scientists have identified 291 genes associated with asthma, in particular the gene for an enzyme called arginase, which could revolutionise the future of asthma treatment. Until now, researchers thought only a dozen or so genes were implicated in asthma, but the new study shows the picture is far more complicated.
Iran Blasts U.S. for Backing Pro-Democracy Protests
Iranian officials closed ranks Sunday to criticize the United States for backing a series of pro-democracy demonstrations after thousands staged a fifth night of protests in Tehran.
Flattest star ever seen
...Due to its daily rotation, the solid Earth is slightly flattened ("oblate") - its equatorial radius is some 21 km (0.3%) larger than the polar one. Stars are enormous gaseous spheres and some of them are known to rotate quite fast, much faster than the Earth. This would obviously cause such stars to become flattened. But how flat?
Recent observations with the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) at the ESO Paranal Observatory have allowed a group of astronomers to obtain by far the most detailed view of the general shape of a fast-spinning hot star, Achernar (Alpha Eridani), the brightest in the southern constellation Eridanus (The River).
They find that Achernar is much flatter than expected - its equatorial radius is more than 50% larger than the polar one! In other words, this star is shaped very much like the well-known spinning-top toy, so popular among young children.
Animal-to-human infections on rise?
It happens again and again. Strange and frightening new infections seem to appear out of nowhere, such as Lyme disease, Ebola and, of course, AIDS. With monkeypox coming on the heels of SARS, which emerged not long after West Nile, it's a phenomenon that seems to be happening at an accelerating rate....
"There are probably hundreds, if not thousands -- maybe even millions of viruses out there," said Robert G. Webster, a leading virologist at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. "We don't even know they're there until we disturb them. SARS is probably just a gentle breeze of what one of these big ones is going to do someday."
Frightening.
-Tim
Breakthrough 'Interface Tuning' is Macro Step for Microelectronics
The ability to make atomic-level changes in the functional components of semiconductor switches, demonstrated by a team of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, North Carolina State University and University of Tennessee physicists, could lead to huge changes in the semiconductor industry. The results are reported in the June 13 issue of Science.
Nanotechnology: The Next Small Thing
Investors are piling into a revolutionary new sector, but sceptics say it's just another bubble in the making. Richard Fletcher and Lauren Mills report.It's the stuff of science fiction: nanotechnology, a scientific breakthrough which its proponents claim will create computers the size of a grain of sand and miniature robots that will march through the body repairing damaged organs.
Beating Multiple Sclerosis
News 8 Austin | 24 Hour Local News | HEADLINES | Beating MS
Doctors now have a new option for helping people with MS -- an experimental drug called CAMPATH-1H (developed by ILEX Oncology). It works by destroying the body's T cells, which are believed to be responsible for initiating the destructive process seen in multiple sclerosis. In one small trial of 27 people with secondary progressive MS, the drug was found to virtually eliminate the formation of new lesions and the inflammation associated with the disease for at least 18 months.
June 14, 2003
WHO Expert: Proven SARS Cure Unlikely Soon
A cure for SARS is unlikely soon, a World Health Organization official said Saturday at a conference that failed to agree on how to treat the deadly virus.
Humans blamed for US spread of monkeypox
An outbreak of monkeypox, a highly infectious virus related to smallpox, has swept through four American states in the first recorded cases in the western hemisphere.The US government is scrambling to contain the epidemic, which escalated last week when doctors revealed that they believed the virus had been spread by humans.
Teen hormones linked to breast cancer risk
Some women could develop breast cancer because of the way hormones affected their body during puberty, researchers have suggested.Exposure to high levels of female hormones - oestrogens - due to early menstruation or late menopause are already suspected to affect breast cancer risk in women.
A daddy of all dilemmas
As Health Secretary Alan Milburn resigns to spend more time with his family, Rhodri Clark asks, 'Can career men be good fathers?' IF we needed proof that parenting has changed dramatically in the last generation, this is it. When a politician resigns to spend more time with his family - and means it - we can see that even the most ambitious career man considers that playing a role in the upbringing of his children is vital. A few years ago, the children of a cabinet minister would have seen him once in a blue moon.
Happy Father's Day!
-Tim
Nanotech breakthrough jogs memory
The first 10GB nanotechnology memory (NRAM) device has been built in the laboratories of Nantero, the Boston, Massachussetts company has said.Using carbon nanotubes a billionth of a meter in diameter sprinkled onto a silicon wafer, the device has been made using mostly standard chip production techniques. The company claims that the technology can combine the speed and price of dynamic memory with the non-volatility of flash, making it a strong candidate for the eagerly awaited universal memory devices that the industry hopes will replace all other types.
If commercialized at a suitable price, it could replace DRAM, flash memory and hard disks in a wide variety of digital devices including PCs, phones and MP3 players.
GM Credit Rating Cut
General Motors Corp., the most indebted carmaker with $200 billion in borrowings, had its credit rating lowered by Moody's Investors Service because increasing discounts are hurting profit and its ability to cover pension costs.
the pocket jukebox that's shaking up the world's music industry
Weighing little more than a tube of toothpaste and fitting easily inside the palm of the hand, an innocuous British-designed gadget is leading a revolution in the music industry.The iPod, slickly designed in Apple's trademark style, heralds a new generation of digital music players and is swiftly becoming the consumer phenomenon of the year.
Digital audio player market to boom
According to a market research by IDC, the worldwide market for (compressed) digital audio players (or as they're better-known, "MP3 players") might become one of the most successful areas for personal technology during the next couple of years.
Photography clicks for a snappy generation of empowered women
Women are moving in a man's world and winning the big prizes: This year's Kimura Ihei Memorial Photo Award, the country's top photographic accolade, went to a woman, as it did the year before. The year before that, it was split between three women. That's a remarkable string considering that only three women had ever been recognized from 1975 to 2000.
The Problem With Easy Mortgages
"Everyday something new happens in the mortgage marketplace," says Nicholas Retsinas, Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. "The financing system is so dramatically different than it was as recently as a decade ago."The concern is that the economy has become over-dependent on good news from the real estate sector. Like all bubbles, everyone believes it will pop; the question is when. Once Americans are no longer able to finance their homes for less--and, conversely, find that higher interest rates make it harder for them to resell their homes--they may regret that they bought the home they did, especially if they failed to lock down a 30-year rate.
New legislation would allow spammers to be sued
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has been promising for weeks to introduce an antispam bill, and on Thursday he unveiled a bill that would allow recipients of unsolicited commercial e-mail to sue spammers.The liberal New York Democrat received support from a group he's never worked with before, the Christian Coalition of America, while announcing the bill. Schumer and the Christian Coalition called themselves a "political odd couple."
Possible Breakthrough In Lung Cancer Detection
A chance meeting between a Dundee dentist and a former St Andrews physicist has led to a possible breakthrough in lung cancer detection, writes Marjory Inglis, medical reporter.The two men are hopeful that a simple "blow in the bag" test they are developing will give early warning of the devastating disease where symptoms appear so late and the long-term survival rate is very low.
China's President Expected to Announce Political Reforms
A published report says Chinese President Hu Jintao will soon announce political reforms that will allow more than one candidate to run for office at the city and provincial level.
Gays flocking down aisle in Toronto
Toronto is suddenly the gay marriage capital of North America.Since the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled this week that same-sex couples can marry legally, they've been applying in droves.
Licorice May Help Against SARS
A major ingredient in licorice has proven remarkably successful at combatting the SARS virus in lab-dish tests, according to a German study reported on Saturday in the British weekly journal The Lancet.Glycyrrhizin, a compound extracted from licorice roots which has been previously explored in anti-viral research, was highly effective at stopping the SARS virus from reproducing, the authors say.
CDC director calls West Nile, SARS "the new normal''
Emerging infectious diseases such as West Nile virus, SARS and monkeypox are "the new normal," the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, adding that the national public health system must change its approach to medicine to respond to this emerging threat.
June 13, 2003
Drug ads deliver a few side effects
Drug companies tripled their advertising budgets in recent years to acquaint American consumers with things like acid reflux disease, depression, erectile dysfunction, and even toenail fungus, a marketing blitz that accounted for roughly 12 percent of the growth in national prescription drug spending in 2000, according to a Harvard University-MIT study released yesterday....
But while the ads definitely boost consumer spending on drugs, it is not always in expected ways. The study found that direct-to-consumer ads aren't a primary reason for the significant increases in drug prices in recent years, for instance. And while the ads definitely boost sales of drugs, they boost sales for a whole class of drugs, including competing brands.
Ballyhooed hydrogen fuel cells may have environmental drawback
Widespread use of the hydrogen fuel cells that President Bush has made a centerpiece of his energy plan might not be as environmentally friendly as many believe.Scientists say the new technology could lead to greater destruction of the ozone layer that protects Earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays.
Researchers issued a report Thursday saying that if hydrogen replaced fossil fuels to run everything from cars to power plants, large amounts of hydrogen would drift into the stratosphere as a result of leakage and indirectly cause increased depletion of the ozone.
Portable CT Scanner Joins Hunt For Alternative Energy
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists have developed the world's first x-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner capable of examining entire core samples at remote drilling sites. The portable device, which employs the same high-resolution imaging technology used to diagnose diseases, could help researchers determine how to best extract the vast quantities of natural gas hidden under the world's oceans and permafrost.
Pentagon steps closer to 'GloboCop' role
By Jim Lobe
Much like its successful military campaign in Iraq, the Pentagon is moving at seemingly breakneck speed to re-deploy US forces and equipment around the world in ways that will permit Washington to play "GloboCop", according to a number of statements by top officials and defense planners.
Internet journalism's potential grows
By John Berthelsen
Advertising revenues that are transforming global Internet journalism are continuing to surge and, f anything, growing stronger during a feeble global economy. First-quarter advertising revenues for 24 members of the US-based Online Publishers Association soared 40.2 percent during the first quarter of 2003, the association said. Anecdotal evidence indicates that advertising on Asian journalism websites is growing as well although no figures are available.
Army Awards Contract for New Uniform
General Dynamics Corp. won an Army contract yesterday, potentially worth $3 billion, to outfit the soldier of the future with wired uniforms (see example) that monitor heart rates and respiration and with helmets that receive real-time video from overhead drones.General Dynamics beat Exponent Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif., for the contract, which initially is worth about $100 million but will mushroom significantly once the Army starts outfitting the troops.
U.S. Threatens NATO Funds
The United States threatened on Thursday to withhold money for a new NATO headquarters and ban Americans from attending alliance meetings unless Belgium changes a law under which Army commander Tommy Franks was charged with war crimes.
Digital radio brings new life to AM
Long wave, short wave or mid-range wave -- hardly any listeners still tune their radios to these outmoded frequency bands any more. But new life is coming back to old waves, and the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) consortium is planning to revolutionize AM with digital technology.Next Monday (June 16th) DRM plans to commence transmitting. ...
The consortium intends to replace AM transmissions gradually with new digital technology. Digitizing AM technology, which is about 80 years old, should offer advantages to all involved: for listeners, sound quality on a par with FM, improved reception conditions in the long, mid and short wave frequencies that are frequently subject to interference from loss of and mixing of frequencies, and more convenience -- radios could display additional information in the form of text, for example the transmitting station, but also stock quotes, traffic messages or other types of service information.
Russia's consumer goods boom
By Jayanthi Iyengar
The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in had revved up hope here that orders in textiles and other sectors would be diverted to India. But that may not happen. A new contender for foreign direct investment (FDI) could be Russia, a country whose president, Vladimir Putin, confessed in his Council of Federation address in 2001, "The problems haven't gone away," and extolled the Russian people, "No one is our enemy in today's world, yet no one is especially waiting for us out there, either. We must struggle for our place under the sun of economy."
Broadband elasticity of demand
As if on cue, U.S. market research company Ipsos-Insight released a survey this week supporting the need for more high-speed service. Although two-thirds of Americans are on-line, half of them are still dial-up users, the survey notes, and they're not willing to pay rates for broadband of more than $40 (U.S.) a month on average, more than Canadians pay. The survey went on to say that if the average broadband rate were to drop to $30 a month, DSL and cable could see a tripling of new subscriptions.
Transistor Advancements Rekindle Rivalry
Transistor Advancements Rekindle Rivalry
Two Silicon Valley chipmaking heavyweights Thursday went toe to toe over which company has the most advanced transistors.At a technology conference in Kyoto, Japan this week, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices outlined their progress in building low-power, high-speed components for various types of computers. The debate only fuels the flames between two bitter rivals.
...
As part of its quest to outsmart Moore's Law, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel said it's 3-D tri-gate transistor is moving from research to the development phase and is expected to appear on the market in 2007 using 45-nm process technology.
Could The Worst Ad Age Be Over
A rebound in online ad revenue is under way.Internet advertising revenue reached $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2002, up 6.7% from the same period in 2001 and up 9% from the previous quarter, according to a report issued Thursday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The fourth-quarter revenue increase, up slightly from a previous estimate, primarily reflected stronger-than-expected results from the top ad sellers, the bureau reported.
Thousands in Tehran street battle
Vigilantes on motorcycles chased down protesters and beat them with cattle prods Friday as anti-government demonstrations in Tehran exploded in street battles.
Protests Continue for 3rd Night in Iranian Capital
Protests continued for a third night in the Iranian capital, Tehran, with calls for the removal of the country's supreme leader.Despite official threats of a crackdown, the protests go on in Tehran. Early Friday morning, hundreds of student demonstrators called for the execution of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Do you suppose that the people of Iran observed what happened in Iraq?
-Tim
June 12, 2003
Perceptions: A Thin Veneer for Fat Children
Nearly a third of mothers surveyed did not realize that their children were overweight, researchers say. And among many of those who did, they were much more likely to see it as a problem in girls than in boys.The failure to identify obesity, the researchers wrote in a recent issue of Pediatrics, "may reflect a failure of mothers to recognize overweight status, a reluctance to admit that their child is overweight, or a lack of understanding of what `overweight' means.
Mortgage rates again hit record lows
Mortgage rates dropped for a ninth straight week, hitting yet another record low, Freddie Mac said Thursday. This week?s average for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan was 5.21 percent, down from 5.26 percent last week, the mortgage giant said.
Looks like it's time to refinance (again)!
-Tim
Hand-held scanner designed to detect cancer
Italian scientists have developed and are testing a hand-held scanner, similar to metal detectors used in airports, to diagnose cancerous tumours.In clinical trials of the device called Trimprobe, the scanner pinpointed 93 percent of prostate cancer tumours that were later confirmed by biopsies.
HIV's complex family history unravelled
The parent of the HIV virus was the product of a union between two monkey viruses, genetic detective work has revealed.This genetic mixing occurred in a chimpanzee at least one million years ago, although it is thought that HIV did not cross into humans until the 1930s. But the discovery has prompted researchers to speculate that chimps may still harbour other HIV-like viruses that could jump to humans.
Wisconsin Health Worker May Have Monkeypox
A Wisconsin nurse may have contracted monkeypox from a patient in what would be the first known case of the disease spreading from one person to another in the United States, officials said Thursday.Wisconsin state epidemiologist Jeff Davis said health officials are testing tissue specimens to confirm whether the unidentified health care worker is infected with the exotic African virus
1 Billion Sold: Intel Celebrates 25 Years of x86 Chips
It was 1978 when Intel introduced the first 8086 processor. Twenty-five years and one billion chips later, the company is not planning on taking its foot off the pedal.Intel's first x86-based chip, the 5MHz 8086, was introduced on 9 June, 1978. Earlier this year, the company passed the one billion mark for units shipped on x86 processors, a feat that might have been enough to prompt other companies to put up a tent and throw a party.
Chechen women join terror's ranks
The young woman was smiling and waving as she approached the bus that had stopped at a railroad crossing near the Caucasus town of Mozdok, North Ossetia. When the driver refused to open the doors, she tried to lunge beneath the vehicle. Witnesses said she screamed "Allahu akhbar" (God is great).Then came an explosion that killed at least 17 people, mostly military personnel headed to work at Prokhladny Air Force base, the main base for Russian operations in the neighboring breakaway republic of Chechnya.
Monkeypox forces rodent-import ban
Prairie dogs, a symbol of the American West, of wide-open spaces and home on the range, this week became something else: outlaws. The federal government Wednesday banned the sale of prairie dogs and other rodents possibly linked to a rare virus that has spread recently to people living in the Midwest. Now, epidemiologists are searching 15 states, including Florida, for more animals that might have been exposed.
Space Grown Soy, Tofu for the Heavens
Soybeans grown in space are similar to those produced on earth, offering the possibility that space-age vegetation could support a long-term human presence in space, scientists said on Wednesday."When we started, we were unsure if the seeds would even remain planted in space without any gravity, let alone grow," said DuPont Co. researcher Tom Corbin. "As it turned out, the project was the first ever to complete a major crop growth cycle in space -- from planting seeds to growing new seeds. It was also the first major crop grown on the International Space Station.
Mexico Starts Freedom of Information Act
The first-ever Mexican freedom of information law takes effect Thursday, designed to expose the government and its once closely guarded records and secrets to greater public scrutiny.The new law requires all branches of government to provide copies of public documents -- from government employees' salaries to details about public programs and government contracts -- within 20 days of any citizen's request.
This TV Moment Sealed Gay-Rights Gains
I didn't see the kiss myself, but I've seen photographs of it everywhere. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the musical and life partners who won a Tony Award for original score the other night, are engaged in a passionate, full-frontal liplock as they celebrate their victory at the awards ceremony.
EU constitutional talks head to the wire
Delegates drafting the European Union’s first-ever constitution continued last minute haggling today about a final text that could introduce sweeping changes to how the EU is run.The 105-member panel drafting the EU charter is expected to hold marathon talks into the night in a bid to meet tomorrow’s midday deadline.
Federal child-seat standards issued
The government issued its first-ever ease-of-use ratings for child car seats Wednesday, stressing that the seats aren't safe unless properly installed.
Biotech Industry Could Turn Profitable This Decade
Quicken Brokerage - News Center:
The U.S. biotechnology industry could turn a net profit within five to seven years if it gets a break on both regulatory and technological fronts, the author of a new report on the industry said.Profitability would be a first for the quarter-century-old biotechnology industry, which is dominated by money-losing companies that can take a decade or more to develop their first products. Only about 50 of the 318 public U.S. biotechnology companies were profitable in one of the last three years, and of those only about 20 reported sustained profitability in all three years, according to data in the report from Ernst & Young, titled "Resilience: Americas Biotechnology Report 2003."
June 11, 2003
US deflation unlikely, Fed's Ferguson says
The U.S. Federal Reserve is committed to preventing deflation by any means necessary, but it probably won't be, Fed Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson said WednesdaySpeaking to the Japan Society in New York, Ferguson said the central bank could avoid the policy errors made by Japan in the 1990s that allowed deflation to take root.
"If any economy slips into deflation, my belief is that a sufficiently determined central bank can spur aggregate demand and end the deflation," he said in prepared remarks. A copy of his text was made available in Washington. Read the speech.
Pentagon gives backing to big Nato shake-up
The Pentagon will on Thursday throw its weight behind a radical shake-up of Nato's command structures that would make the military alliance more flexible as it prepares to take on new missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.Despite last-minute haggling by some of the 19 members who fear the biggest command restructuring in Nato's 54-year-old history will lead to base closures and job losses, Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, said "a new military structure is clearly necessary".
Both Parties Face Huge Risks In Prescription Drug Bill Fight
As legislation to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare gathers momentum in Congress, both parties face difficult choices and political risks that may help shape next year's presidential and congressional elections.
British Library goes digital
The British Library has today unveiled its upgraded electronic delivery service, which will allow it to send digital copies of almost all the items in its collection direct to a researcher's PC within two hours....
This addition to the digital delivery service, means that researchers can now get access to over one billion items via their desktop. "This breakthrough will allow customers to deal direct with one of the world's great knowledge holders," says the British Library's director of operations and services, Natalie Ceene.
New Breakthrough Improves Balloon Angioplasty Procedure
A new breakthrough is changing the way doctors and patients manage heart disease.During a balloon angioplasty, doctors insert a tiny stainless-steel stent to prop the artery open. One out of every five patients experience restenosis, which is when a scar tissue forms around the stent and clogs the artery. Many of those patients need a repeat angioplasty or even bypass surgery.
"That's always been the Achilles heel or limitation of balloon angioplasty," Zidar said.
New stents, coated with medication to prevent scarring, promise to change that. Medicated stents are more expensive, but by factoring in no-repeat procedures, doctors said the costs even out.
ONLINE MUSIC WARS
Tech's big guns are wading into the online music business - and now the big question is whether Microsoft will squash its rivals like a bug, as it has so many others.Industry watchers say this time Bill Gates has his hands full.
Microsoft, Amazon.com and Yahoo! are three of the players, along with AOL Time Warner and Viacom's MTV, according to a story in The Los Angeles Times.
China's key gas pipeline crosses yellow river
One of China's most ambitious project, the west-to-east natural gas pipeline, has successfully crossed the Yellow river, the second largest river system in the country, through a tunnel, a report said today.The development marks a major breakthrough in the construction of the project, one of the four landmark projects in western China.
June 10, 2003
Russian-Korean Rail Link a Potential Watershed
In a move likely to have far-reaching consequences for the Russian economy, North and South Korea on Monday agreed to link their railways across the Demilitarized Zone for the first time in half a century.The nations, which were divided after World War II and fought to a standstill in the 1950-53 Korean War, agreed after three days of talks to link their railways at two points along the 240-kilometer border in ceremonies this weekend, news agencies in Seoul reported Monday.
Industrial evolution: Technology overturns five major businesses
Massive technology initiatives are fundamentally changing major industries looking for ways to cut costs through efficiencies in today's unforgiving economic climate.These multibillion-dollar campaigns, some mandated by law, are generating new business for hardware, software and service companies desperate to dig themselves out of the prolonged high-tech slump. In an occasional series this month, CNET News.com examines five industries in the midst of technology evolution: life sciences, finance, health care, security and entertainment.
Fuel cell products ready for sale soon
The future of fuel cells as a low-polluting energy source hinges on a hunt for hydrogen, scientists say.Hundreds of alternative energy researchers and manufacturers are meeting in Vancouver this week to talk about the future of hydrogen.
To find out more about how fuel cells work, check out this article from International Fuel Cells.
-Tim
Take Two: Second Cloned Mule Born
Two weeks after announcing the birth of the first cloned mule, the same research team said a second cloned mule with identical DNA has been born.The mule, named Utah Pioneer, was born unassisted Monday morning. The male foal joined his brother, Idaho Gem, whose birth was announced May 29, as the only equine clones in the world.
Appeals Court Rules Canadian Gays Can Marry Immediately
Ontario's highest court has ruled that the Canadian government cannot bar same-sex couples from marrying.The Ontario Court of Appeals said prohibiting gay marriage was a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of the Constitution.
Easing of airline ticketing rules urged
The Justice Department has agreed with federal transportation officials that rules governing computer reservation systems for airline tickets should be eased because they do not result in lower prices.
Hillary Clinton memoir sets Barnes & Noble record
Sen. Hillary Clinton's much-ballyhooed memoir, "Living History," is living up to the hype.The book set a Barnes & Noble sales record for nonfiction books on its first day in the stores, the Associated Press reported, quoting sales figures released by the company. A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment.
The former First Lady's White House memoirs reportedly sold more than 40,000 copies on the first day it was on the shelves, immediately qualifying it for in-house best-seller status. National sales figures weren't yet available.
Stun Guns For Airline Security
The Transportation Security Administration says non-lethal stun guns could be allowed on airplanes as another layer of security. In a report to Congress, the agency said electronic shock devices could be an effective deterrent against hijackers. But it deferred a decision on whether to approve requests by United Airlines and Mesa Air Group to let their pilots carry the weapons.
RX for pets
Drugs and sophisticated medical procedures developed for humans are being adapted by veterinarians to help pets.
Electronics giants go for Czech launchpad
Asian electronics companies are using the Czech Republic as a production launchpad for sales in an enlarged European Union. Operations are being transferred from home bases and from existing sites in old EU member countries. "The Czech Republic is at the centre of wider Europe" says Jim Chang, head of the Czech operations of Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer. "We will continue to grow here and we will move more and more manufacturing from other parts of the world to here."
IBM, Infineon Develop Better Magnetic Memory
What if you could turn computers on and off as quickly as a light switch without having to wait for software to "boot up"? Sound like science fiction?Researchers at IBM and German-based Infineon Technologies AG don't think so. The two companies Monday highlighted their advances on Magnetic (or Magnetoresistive) Random Access Memory (MRAM).The nonvolatile memory technology uses magnetic, rather than electronic, charges to store bits of data. The companies say they've advanced the technology so much it could replace current computer memory as early as 2005.
June 9, 2003
Deficit revives tax talk in Ohio
The News-Messenger of Central Ohio:
With a $200 million hole in the state budget that ends June 30, and with income projections for the next two years to be reduced -- lawmakers say sharply -- talk of changing Ohio's tax code has re-emerged at the Statehouse.Budget Director Tom Johnson is the first witness Wednesday at the first hearing of the joint House-Senate committee that must produce a compromise budget for Johnson's boss, Gov. Bob Taft, to sign by June 30.
Energy Bill Revives Nuclear Power Debate
The senior senator from the state where the nuclear bomb was first developed more than a half century ago says more needs to be done to help the nuclear power industry get off the ground.Sen. Pete Domenici, the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, is proposing in this year's attempt at an energy bill billions of dollars in government help, including loan guarantees, to the nuclear power industry. The goal, Domenici said, is to get new nuclear power reactors, a cleaner alternative to coal and natural gas manufacturing, up and running.
Legal Dispute Unnerves Linux Users
For the true believers in free software, Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, has long been the figurative devil. Yet suddenly, Mr. Gates has a rival for their animosity. The unlikely challenger is Darl C. McBride, the 43-year-old chief executive of the SCO Group, a little company in Lindon, Utah.Mr. McBride is engaged in an escalating legal fight with I.B.M., and its ripples are prompting concern in much of the computer industry and among the industry's corporate customers. The worries center on whether SCO can hobble the advance of a fast-emerging force in computing, the GNU Linux operating system.
Book Review: 'CODE NAME GINGER'
CODE NAME GINGER: The Story Behind Segway And Dean Kamen's Quest To Invent a New World By Steve Kemper
In 1994, Kemper had chanced to write a piece on (Dean) Kamen for Smithsonian magazine, which Kamen obviously liked. Almost at the beginning of the development of Segway, Kamen beckoned to Kemper from behind the curtain of secrecy, said he had something that was going to change the world, showed Kemper a prototype Ginger and then let him ride it. ("I couldn't stop grinning and didn't want to get off," he recalls.) Kamen reasoned that an invention so important ought to be documented in a book, and he suggested that Kemper was the one to write it -- under such secrecy as was summed up in the fervent hope that "you don't even talk in your sleep." With complete access to Kamen and his management, Kemper spent 18 months doing exhaustive behind-the-scenes note-taking, mostly at Kamen's research and development firm, DEKA, in Manchester, N.H. Interviews and discussions, says the author, were on the record, but with the understanding that nothing would be revealed about Segway until it was made public.The result is an almost voyeuristic account of the process of turning invention into product, all of it recorded in intimate, soul-baring detail.
...(W)hether or not Segway revolutionizes how we travel, Code Name Ginger is a lively ride around the block.
Less Lethal Cousin of Smallpox Arrives in U.S.
Monkeypox, a viral disease related to smallpox but less infectious and less deadly, has been detected for the first time in the Americas, with at least 23 cases reported in three Midwestern states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.Wisconsin reported 18 cases (15 suspected and 3 confirmed); Illinois reported four (one confirmed); and Indiana reported a single case. The patients ranged in age from 4 to 48 and became ill from May 15 to June 3. All had had direct or close contact with ill prairie dogs, which have become a fad in the exotic-pet market and which might have caught monkeypox from another species, possibly Gambian giant pouched rats; the rats are imported as pets from West or Central Africa, where the disease has long occurred. Monkeypox in Africa is carried mainly by squirrels but named after monkeys because it often kills them.
The Man Pushing Faster Internet Access in U.S.
The United States, where the Internet was invented, now falls behind Japan, Korea and Canada in deploying high-speed Internet access in homes and businesses. But advocates for quicker transfer of e-mail, Web site content and music files, take note: Peter K. Pitsch is on the case. Mr. Pitsch is a self-described staunch free-market Republican who once served as chief of staff for the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Today, he is the top lobbyist for the Intel Corporation and a coalition of the technology companies in their efforts to press the government for a national policy as crucial to general economic growth.
Marketers go postal with art, toys, furnishings
Don't look for cappuccino-flavored stamps anytime soon.But the financially struggling United States Postal Service is about to push the envelope on marketing — big time. Even as it plans to cut nearly $3 billion in yearly costs from its $69 billion budget, the Postal Service expects to add tens of millions of dollars in licensing revenue by transforming the nation's seventh-most familiar brand and — as domestic diva Martha Stewart did — bringing it into people's homes.
Laptops in schools click, win support
Maine's first-in-the-nation program that put computers on the laps of students in all 241 public middle schools has received high marks as the first full year of the experiment draws to a close this month.The program's success is underscored by the fact that state lawmakers facing a projected $1.2 billion budget shortfall at the start of the legislative session made no attempt to dismantle the project.
Rumsfeld plans major changes in U.S. Army
San Mateo County Times Online:
Active-duty divisions would be reorganized into smaller groups that can be deployed more easilyDefense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, buoyed by the war in Iraq, is preparing to launch another campaign to change the organization and structure of the U.S. Army in ways that could transform how the country's largest military service fights in future conflicts.
After forcing the resignation of Army Secretary Thomas E. White in late April and, in an unusual move, selecting Air Force Secretary James Roche to replace him, Rumsfeld has said little publicly about how he intends to reshape the Army or who he will select to replace Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as its next chief of staff. Shinseki is set to retire on Wednesday.
NTT putting super-fast fibre into commercial channel
New Zealand's National Business Review:
Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) has commercialised breakthrough technology that will allow data to move through a fibre-optic cable at ten times current speeds, Kyodo news reports.The new technology will allow data to move at one gigabit per second against 100 megabits per second for the current optic-fiber communications for use in offices and at home.
Healthy low-malt beers a big hit
It's beer and "happoshu" (low-malt-beer) season again. But in a blow to drinkers, the Japanese government in May decided to impose a higher tax on happoshu which had formerly been in a lower tax category under Japanese liquor laws.Undeterred, Japanese breweries have introduced new low-malt beer products with emphasis on healthiness. The new products are selling explosively in Japan and are a real breakthrough in the beer market.
Discovery may ease risks of cancer treatment
Canadian researchers are working on a breakthrough in what can be the most perilous period of a cancer patient's life -- the time after chemotherapy and radiation, when the immune system has been so weakened that it can no longer resist infection.The danger time might soon be cut in half by a simple change in treatment strategy involving stem cells, the journal Nature Medicine reported yesterday.
Nanotube computer memory shows promise
Computers that boot up almost instantaneously. Cellphones with enough battery-conserving memory to run full-motion video and music files for days. A trillion bits worth of data storage on a chip the size of a postage stamp.Those are some of the potentially radical implications of technology being developed here by Nantero Corp. Late this year Nantero hopes to start selling computer memory chips built with carbon nanotubes, an ultra-tiny form of matter that is 20 times as strong as steel and conducts electricity 1,000 times better than copper.
Tiny tracking chips surface in retail use
But the (radio frequency identification-RFID) chips are getting smaller all the time, creating visions of one in just about everything. Manufacturers predict that they will one day produce these RFID tags so cheaply that retailers can cost-effectively build them into the packaging of items with low profit margins, like candy bars or toilet paper.In 15 or 20 years, futurists predict, the pervasive RFID tags will link to massive computer networks, enabling speedy checkout from the grocery store, medicine cabinets that tell you when to take pills, and milk cartons that inform your fridge when to add another gallon to the grocery list.
Fuel-cell start-ups hoping for breakthrough
David Dorheim wants to run the world's laptops on race-car fuel, and he's one of many in the emerging fuel-cell industry turning to computer-chip history for inspiration.Neah Power Systems, a Seattle-area start-up where Dorheim is chief executive, is emerging as a hot company in the portable fuel-cell business, along with competitors such as PolyFuel in Mountain View. Fuel cells use a chemical reaction to produce energy from fuels such as hydrogen or the methanol used in race cars, without burning it.
Virtual Charter Schools
...In November, the Fair Oaks family discovered the only public-school option that comes without a schoolhouse: the new California Virtual Academies, six of which were launched by the state a year ago.
For the same cost to parents as a bricks-and-mortar public school -- that is, nothing -- a student can now enroll instead in a virtual charter-school program that comes with a free computer, free curriculum and certified teachers. Those teachers visit with each of their 25 students every 20 days and are available whenever needed. They also administer California's required standardized tests and serve as the accountability component.
The weak dollar: Deficit spending is the remedy
The weak dollar is the symptom, not the disease. The real problem is that the world's richest economies are headed downhill. The exchange rate measures their relative downward speed; ironically, the dollar is weaker because the United States is doing better than the other two pillars of the global economy, the European Union and Japan.The fundamental cause for the slowdown is the petering out of the information technology boom. Economic policies can't fix that, but multinational fiscal and monetary stimulus could meliorate its worst effects.
McClellan's Friendlier, Speedier FDA
These days, drugmakers and their stocks aren't just getting a boost from news of promising anticancer treatments. The industry is also benefiting from a friendlier, faster-acting Food & Drug Administration. In recent weeks, with the strong support of cancer doctors and patients, the agency has approved controversial drugs such as Iressa, which has shrunk tumors in just 10% of patients, and Fabrazyme, which the agency had declined to approve in two prior submissions. Execs give the credit to Dr. Mark B. McClellan, who became commissioner in November.
Driving License rule lures kids back to class
Almost 1,300 Central Florida students' drivers licenses were suspended during the 2001-02 school year under a state program aimed at keeping kids in school.The 4-year-old effort seems to be helping. High school dropout rates have dipped throughout Florida during the past several years. The numbers of chronic school skippers have plummeted.
Antennas Get Smart
Instead of wastefully broadcasting personal communications--such as cell-phone calls--in all directions, these innovative antennas track the positions of mobile users and deliver radio signals directly to them. These antenna systems also maximize the reception of an individual cell-phone user's signal while minimizing the interference from other users. In effect, the antennas create a virtual wire extending to each mobile phone.
Synthetic putting greens thrive
An old golf adage lends this advice: drive for show, putt for dough.Two local businesses espouse this principle by installing synthetic turf putting greens in backyards and other venues. The burgeoning - albeit still fiercely proprietary - industry offers clients a myriad of installation alternatives using two primary types of synthetic turf.
Osama's global fan club
The Washington Times: Commentary
Pew phew. The results of the Pew Foundation's Global Attitudes Project stunned the Bush Administration's public diplomacy bureaucrats. They have spent big bucks to spruce up the U.S. image in the Arab and Muslim worlds, apparently to no avail. Osama Bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist, now inspires more confidence than President Bush in Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco and among Palestinians. The war on Iraq seems to be the principal culprit.
Apple Music Store Sales Fall
The number of tracks sold by Apple's new online music store each week has fallen by about half since the service was launched in late April, The Post has learned.Soon after Apple honcho Steve Jobs unveiled the iTunes Music Store amid an avalanche of publicity, the company bragged it had sold about 1 million downloads in its first week. But, since then, those figures have tailed off. Now the company is averaging about 500,000 downloads a week, sources say Apple executives told independent music label execs at a recent meeting in California.
June 8, 2003
Episcopalians Name First Openly Gay Bishop
In a national first, New Hampshire Episcopalians on Saturday elected an openly gay man as their next bishop.The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, 56, was chosen over three other candidates in voting by New Hampshire clergy and lay Episcopalians.
Mortgage boom creates millionaires
The sustained strength in the mortgage market has made millionaires out of brokers like Thomsen and has meant strong growth for lenders such as Countrywide Financial Corp., while helping banks with large mortgage businesses including Wells Fargo & Co. and Washington Mutual Inc.It has also been credited by many economists for helping keep a weak economy out of recession.
Searching for the 'God particle'
Deep below the Franco-Swiss border lies a giant cavern big enough to house Canterbury Cathedral, and grand enough to be part of the greatest scientific experiment on Earth. At the weekend, engineers began the delicate task of preparing the snow-white cavern for the giant machine that will take up residence in its subterranean home.If all goes to plan, the Atlas instrument - five storeys high and weighing 7,000 tonnes - will lead the search for the holy grail of physics, an elusive subatomic phenomenon formally called the Higgs boson, but nicknamed the "God particle".
Industry Offers a Carrot in Online Music Fight
But for the first time in the Internet file-sharing wars, record industry executives have in recent weeks started to address music fans directly, both offering carrots and wielding sticks to persuade people to buy their product again. How well they succeed is likely to determine the way music is produced and consumed for years to come.
Editorial: The growing specter of deflation
It might seem reasonable to conclude that the weakness in prices is a byproduct of the sluggish economy, that companies are cutting prices to induce frugal consumers to buy. But it's not so simple. The specter of deflation has actually been haunting the economy since the 1990s, a time of robust, even exuberant, economic growth. The prices of many goods and services, from hotel rooms to microchips, from apparel to pork chops, have been falling for years, and the essential cause is not too little demand but too much supply.
June 7, 2003
ACLU rolls soar to record numbers
Membership in the American Civil Liberties Union and similar groups has soared since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, an increase that is especially noteworthy because the ACLU appears to be making significant headway among conservatives, who have traditionally despised the organization....
The increase suggests that despite the war on terrorism, many Americans remain deeply troubled by the potential for federal-government overreaching that is embodied in such anti-terrorism measures as the USA Patriot Act, which expands eavesdropping powers. The ACLU has often served as a barometer of public anxiety about big government.
Danish Central Bank Lowers Benchmark Rate to 2.15%
Denmark's central bank pared its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 2.15 percent, the lowest in almost two centuries. The reduction aims to keep the krone stable against the euro after the European Central Bank's cut yesterday.
Drug Makers to Expand Panel on Joint Research on Cancer
New York Times by Andrew Pollack
A proposal for pharmaceutical industry collaboration on cancer drug research took a small step forward yesterday when industry executives agreed to establish a larger task force to study the idea, executives involved in the matter said yesterday.A task force has been drawing up ideas for a pharmaceutical industry effort somewhat analogous to Sematech, a consortium set up by the semiconductor industry. Such broad cooperation in cancer research would be very unusual for the pharmaceutical industry.
Japan Adopts Laws Strengthening Military Powers
Japan's Parliament today passed a series of war contingency bills that give the government significantly increased powers in military emergencies.After two years of debate, passage of the three contingency laws was driven by sharply heightened concern in Japan over the possibility of attack by North Korea, whose ballistic missiles could reach this country in as little as 10 minutes.
Commentary: Japanese bond yields: Zero is not the limit
Would you buy a bond whose yield may fall to nothing? Investors in Japan could soon find themselves contemplating that option, and what a novel one it is.The yield on ten-year (Japanese) government bonds dipped briefly to 0.49 percent this week. In the United States, comparable securities yield 3.30 percent. In Germany and France, 10-year bonds offer 3.66 percent and 3.72 percent, respectively. Australia's yield is 4.89 percent.
...
The buying is sending yields toward zero percent. There is no commonly known example of a large government, or any for that matter, offering zero yields on conventional bonds. How low can Japanese yields go?
Scientists Find The Root Of Learning In The Brain's Hippocampus
Neuroscientists at NYU and Harvard have identified how the brain?s hippocampus helps us learn and remember the sights, sounds and smells that make up our long-term memory for the facts and events, termed declarative memory. By studying the activity of neurons of the hippocampus, the scientists have illuminated how the brain signals the formation of new associative memories, a form of declarative memory. These results provide some of the strongest direct evidence to date for learning-related plasticity in the hippocampus. The research findings are reported in the June 6 issue of the publication Science in a paper entitled ?Single Neurons in the Monkey Hippocampus and the Learning of New Associations.
Holy Grail of crypto to arrive in three years
UK boffins have demonstrated unbreakable quantum cryptography over fibre links longer than 100km for the first time. Researchers at Cambridge-based Toshiba Research Europe say their work paves the way for commercial quantum cryptography systems within three years.
Anybody know what a "boffin" is? It turns out to be Bristish slang for "scientist," especially one engaged in research.
-Tim
June 6, 2003
Internet Speeds 6,000 times faster than broadband?
More news on a development which RE:Change reported yesterday. Imagine the change which will occur when an entire movie could be downloaded in seconds!
A research team has unveiled a new system to turbocharge the Internet, claiming to be able to achieve speeds so high an entire movie can be downloaded in mere seconds.According to the journal New Scientist, the breakthrough was achieved by a team from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The team is already talking to Microsoft and Disney to look into using the system to deliver high-quality video over the Web.
The new system, coined Fast TCP, can boost download speeds dramatically while using the existing Internet infrastructure.
Diabetes: Nigerian Receives U.S. Patent for Diabetes Treatment
The United States Government has confirmed that a Nigerian, Dr. Louis Obyo Obyo Nelson, has indeed achieved a breakthrough in the discovery of a possible cure for diabetes.THISDAY had exclusively reported on May 23 that Nelson had been granted a United States patent titled 'Medicament for the Treatment of Diabetes,' a feat which has raised hopes for more than 400 million sufferers of the disease worldwide.
I would note, for readers unfamiliar with the drug development, that the granting of a patent is just the beginning of a 5-10 year drug approval process.
-Tim
Giscard secures breakthrough on EU power plan
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on Friday brought Europe's divided leaders to the brink of an historic deal that could shape the way the European Union is run..After 72 hours of tough - and sometimes ill-tempered - negotiations, the European Convention president won broad acclaim for his proposed EU power structure
Eight Game Suspension for Sosa
Sammy Sosa has been suspended for eight games after he was discovered using an illegal bat - but he plans to appeal.The Chicago Cubs slugger was thrown out of a game against Tampa Bay on Tuesday for using a cork-filled bat.
Sosa, from the Dominican Republic, claimed the incident was a one-time, simple mistake caused by grabbing the wrong bat.
Goldman, China's biggest bank to fight bad loans
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs and China's biggest commercial bank say they have agreed to create a joint venture to dispose of as much as $1.2 billion of the Chinese bank's problem loans.The venture would be the first of its kind by a foreign investor and a state bank, and a step forward for efforts to clear away unpaid loans at 's banks and modernize the industry.
Europe's Bank Cuts Interest Rate by Half-Point
Heeding the pleas of desperate European exporters and nervous public officials, the European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate half a percentage point today.The decision, which was widely expected, was aimed at tempering the recent rise of the euro against the dollar and easing the pressure on European exporters, who fear that their goods are being priced out of the American market.
On New Golf Courses, Nature Wins a Round
"There's a definite movement back toward courses that appear to fit seamlessly into the landscape," said Bill Love, the golf course architect who designed Hunting Hawk. That can include using native grasses that may sometimes be dormant and brown, outlawing the use of carts and avoiding asphalt in favor of weathered wood for paths.Jay Morrish, president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, agreed. "We're certainly leaving more untouched areas," he said.
June 5, 2003
Scholars Who Blog
The Chronicle of Higher Education:
Is this a revolution in academic discourse, or is it CB radio?In one form or another, that question inevitably arises in conversations with scholars who have taken up the habit of writing Web logs, or "blogs." Some have started blogging in order to muse aloud about their research. Others want to polish their chops at opinion-writing for nonacademic audiences.
Gates: WiFi Ubiquity
One of the main technology themes of (Wall Street Journal "D") conference was the coming ubiquity of WiFi. (Bill) Gates agreed that WiFi would soon be available in every home, hotel and airport. So much so that Gates said Microsoft is designing its products assuming connectivity. Microsoft is also betting on mesh networks -- Gates believes that by spreading WiFi backhaul among large numbers of clients, WiFi will facilitate broadband for everyone that may serve to replace cellular networks under many circumstances.
VISA Sales Volume Exceeds $1 Trillion
Visa USA announced this morning that, for the first time, its annual sales volume exceeded $1 trillion.The record usage means that an average of $32,000 went through the Visa system every second of every day over the 12-month period that ended March 31 - or nearly 10 percent of the 2002 U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
This is an example of a jaw-dropping change that has happened without most people noticing.
-Tim
Gag Rules? Bloggers Report Anyway
At a tech conference last week, journalists in attendance were told anything they heard at panel discussions was 'off the record.' But bloggers, not held to the niceties of traditional journalism, posted away. Time to rethink the rules? By Leander Kahney.
Twin Study Links Early Puberty to Breast Cancer
Women who are genetically susceptible to breast cancer (news - web sites) may be at particularly high risk if they have an early puberty, possibly due to a heightened sensitivity to hormones, a new study suggests.In contrast, for women who are not genetically susceptible, the timing of puberty appears to play little or no role in breast cancer risk.
Who killed Billy the Kid? Genetic tests may tell
For more than 120 years, Pat Garrett has enjoyed legendary status in the American West, a lawman on a par with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, even Matt Dillon. As sheriff here in Lincoln County in 1881, Garrett is credited with shooting to death the outlaw known as Billy the Kid, a killing that made Garrett a hero. For years, a patch bearing Garrett's likeness has adorned uniforms worn by sheriff's deputies here.But now, modern science is about to touch Garrett's fame in a way that some say could expose him as a liar who covered up a murder to save his reputation.
Looks like a big day for forensic DNA.
-Tim
DNA leads to arrest in 1982 killing
Armed with DNA evidence, police arrested a Sacramento man on Wednesday for the slaying of a 27-year-old Vacaville woman two decades ago....
Detectives reopened the investigation into Castaneda's death last year as part of a "cold case" review and found DNA on an item left at the crime scene, Vacaville police Lt. Scott Paulin said. The DNA was matched to Ortiz's, which was on file with the state for an unspecified crime.
Probe Sees 'Dynamic' Mars
New observations of Mars obtained in unprecedented geological detail show the planet to have experienced dramatic change in the past - and these changes continue to this day.
Boeing, Lufthansa cleared for in-flight wireless
Boeing and Lufthansa Technik have received industry-leading aircraft certifications from the German aviation authorities (LBA) and the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that will enable the use of airborne wireless applications on select commercial flights using the Connexion by Boeing mobile information service. The groundbreaking rulings pave the way for passengers to use their own IEEE b Wi-Fi devices within the airline cabin environment.
DNA hope as World's End case reopened
POLICE have announced they will re-open the investigation into the notorious World’s End murders. It is understood that a breakthrough in DNA technology has offered Lothian and Borders Police fresh hope of solving one of Scotland’s most infamous crimes.
Handling Refi From the Martha Playbook
What is the connection between Martha Stewart and home refinancings? Americans seem to be obsessed with both of them right now. They both have to do with home improvement. And experts keep predicting that both of them must have run their course in terms of growth and popularity, only to be surprised again and again at how much staying power they have.
Europe to Rewrite Aviation Rules, Aims to Open Markets
Quicken Brokerage - News Center
Europe is poised to rewrite the rules on how its airlines fly overseas, potentially triggering a marked opening of international airline markets, Thursday's Wall Street Journal reported.The European Union will as soon as today receive from its 15 members authority to negotiate a single aviation agreement with the U.S. If the U.S. agrees, EU officials aim eventually to create a combined trans-Atlantic airline market, which would account for about 40% of global air travel.
Packet tracking promises ultrafast Internet
Imagine an internet connection so fast it will let you download a whole movie in just five seconds, or access TV-quality video servers in real time. That is the promise from a team at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who have developed a system called Fast TCP.
SARS Genome Update: Animal Origins?
As health officials from Toronto to Taiwan struggle to contain SARS through measures like quarantines and the prohibition of spitting in public places, scientists are piecing together clues about the virus, its genome, and its origins.
Saving The Seas
Overfishing, pollution and relentless coastal development are imperiling America's ocean waters, and the nation needs a radically new approach to protecting them, a landmark report stated yesterday.The Pew Oceans Commission, gathered in Washington, D.C., called for a renewed commitment to the health of the oceans, focusing reforms on protecting and preserving marine ecosystems rather than enacting narrow laws to save individual species.
Executive Editor of The New York Times and Top Deputy Step Down
Howell Raines and Gerald M. Boyd, the two top-ranking editors of The New York Times , resigned this morning, five weeks to the day after the resignation of a wayward reporter named Jayson Blair set off a rapid chain of events that exposed deep fissures in the management and morale of the newsroom they had led for just under two years.
SARS epidemic 'has peaked'
The Sars outbreak has peaked in countries around the world - including China, the worst hit by the pneumonia-like disease, a World Health Organization official has said."It's fair to say that the Sars epidemic is over its peak. We can see it globally and we can also see it in China," WHO representative in Henk Bekedam told a briefing.
First Effective Drug For Sleep Disorder Identified
In a clinical trial conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers have demonstrated the first promising drug treatment for a common and life-threatening sleep disorder called sleep apnea. The drug, an antidepressant called mirtazapine, significantly reduced the symptoms of sleep apnea. It cut in half the number of times breathing stopped or slowed during sleep and reduced the number of times sleep was disrupted by 28 percent.
Help Africa's 11 million AIDS orphans - activists
Leading campaigners in the fight against AIDS urged the United States and Europe on Tuesday to devote more funds to help an estimated 11 million children orphaned in Africa by the disease. "If nothing is done to the AIDS pandemic sooner rather than later, there will be 20 million children orphaned by AIDS in the next 10 years," said Pat Yuri of the Hope for African Children Initiative, a Kenya-based organization helping children orphaned by AIDS.
USDA issues new rules to prevent listeria in meat
The U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday announced new rules for meat plants to help keep potentially deadly listeria bacteria from hot dogs, deli meats and sausage. The USDA stepped up its fight against the bacteria after being criticized by Democrats and consumer groups for a series of massive food recalls last year.Listeria monocytogenes, which thrives in a cool, damp place like a refrigerator, can be deadly for the elderly, those with weak immune systems and the unborn babies of pregnant women.
U.S. emergency room visits up 20 percent since 1992
Americans are visiting hospital emergency rooms 20 percent more often than a decade ago, a trend the government said on Wednesday was due in part to the graying of the population. An annual survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 107.5 million such visits in 2001, up from about 90 million in 1992.
June 4, 2003
On the Edge: The Future of Fuel Cells
Based on an electrochemical process that was discovered over 150 years ago, fuel cells use an electrically conductive material to convert chemical energy from hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy. They pollute less than traditional power sources, producing little more than water as a by-product. Fuel cells are not dependent on dwindling oil supplies, running instead on hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. And, unlike traditional batteries, fuel cells can be refueled. While this may sound great, all is not roses for the industry.
Bloggers Report Alt News From G8
News from inside the protests at this year's G8 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, reached the world quickly by way of on-the-spot bloggers. Offering an alternative to mainstream press coverage, some sites uploaded photos from demonstrators' Web-enabled phones. By Elisa Batista.
Iraq War Boosts Space Spending
Satellites beaming weather, communications, and target info to the U.S. military proved crucial in the Iraq attack. Now the space industry expects to reap multibillion-dollar orders as the military upgrades its satellites.
Cloning Embryos From Cancer Cells
Nuclei removed from mouse brain tumor cells and transplanted into mouse eggs whose own nuclei have been removed, give rise to cloned embryos with normal tissues, even though the mutations causing the cancer are still present. This research, from scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, appears in the June 1 issue of Cancer Research.
Microsoft to launch new "smart" watches this fall
Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that it would launch "smart watches" this fall that can deliver news, weather information, sports scores and instant messages to people on the go.
No New SARS Deaths Reported for 1st Time in 2 Months
For the first time in more than two months, no new deaths were reported yesterday from SARS, the latest indication that the epidemic is subsiding, the World Health Organization said.The cumulative number of SARS cases worldwide hit 8,402 yesterday, an increase of 10 from the day before. But the number of deaths from severe acute respiratory syndrome was unchanged -- at 772.
Broadband Internet Use Has Its Risks, Study Finds
Besides speed, the most coveted feature of a broadband connection is that it is always on. But according to a study that is scheduled to be released today, those two advantages are exposing broadband customers to far greater risk than most of them realize.The study, conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance, highlights the chasm between the assumptions of consumers about the security of their Internet connection and the reality. The result is a high risk of hacking, viruses and identity theft, according to Keith Nahigian, the spokesman for the alliance and a consultant to the Office of Homeland Security
Canada Fills U.S. Prescriptions Under the Counter
With just three computers, a fax machine and two paper shredders, a tiny storefront operation next to a Dunkin' Donuts shop here hardly seems a threat to the pharmaceutical industry.But by helping customers arrange to purchase legal drugs at steep discounts from Canadian pharmacies, compared to the prices at nearby pharmacies, Discount Rx Connection and scores of similar stores around the country are part of a revolution in the American drug market.
New CIA-funded software can scour millions of photos
The CIA is bankrolling efforts to improve technology designed to scour millions of digital photos or video clips for particular cars or street signs or even, some day, human faces.The innovative software from fledgling PiXlogic LLC of Los Altos, Calif., promises to help analysts make better use of the CIA's enormous electronic archives. Analysts also could be alerted whenever a helicopter or other targeted item appeared in a live video broadcast.
U.S. looking to reposition forces in Asia
American troops in Asia should be repositioned so they can respond more quickly to unpredictable threats, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Tuesday as he wrapped up a six-day trip to the region to discuss defense policy.
Agency would bar novice drivers' cell-phone use
Novice drivers should be barred from using cell phones -- even hands-free units -- while behind the wheel, a federal safety agency recommended Tuesday in its first effort to acknowledge a growing concern.
G.O.P. Chief's Idea for Raising Alabama: Taxes
Alabama's new Republican governor, Bob Riley, styles himself after Ronald Reagan, complete with a pompadour and campaign photos that show him on horseback. Philosophically, too, he is an avowed Reaganite who says he never voted for a tax increase in six years in Congress and was once named its most conservative member.Yet this same Mr. Riley has stunned his state and his party, and risked his political future, by calling for Alabama's largest tax increase ever: $1.3 billion, or 22 percent of the taxes the state now collects
Yao returning to China for exhibition
Yao Ming will return to China with the Houston Rockets for exhibition games in October 2004. The Rockets will play the Sacramento Kings in games in Shanghai and Beijing, the first ever played by the NBA in China. They will feature the 7-foot-6 Yao, who was the first overall choice in the draft last year.
Sammy Sosa Caught With Corked Bat
Once Sammy Sosa was caught using a corked bat, there was one big question: Was he cheating when he hit any of those 505 home runs?The Chicago Cubs ' star slugger, 17th on the career home-run list, was ejected in the first inning of Tuesday night's 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.
Say It Ain't Sosa
Five summers ago, when the bottle of andro found in Mark McGwire's locker threatened to douse the red-hot home run race that had people talking baseball once again, Sammy Sosa called a handful of reporters over in the Cubs clubhouse.He wanted to head off any questions about the source of his power, Sosa explained with a straight face, then pointed to the top shelf of his locker. There sat a bottle of ''Flintstones.''
Though nobody was laughing Tuesday night, Sosa would have us believe nothing more sinister was going on when a bat shattered in his hands and splintered his reputation like the pieces of cork that went flying in every direction.
Night shifts linked to higher cancer risk
Women who work rotating night shifts have a greater risk of developing colon cancer, and there are some reasons to think the same might be true for men, a study suggests.
Greenspan Sees Faster Growth, But Not Yet
The Fed is concerned not about "the issue of deflation in the sense of falling prices per se, but the issue of corrosive deflation, that is, a deflation that essentially feeds on itself, creates falling asset prices, which in turn brings down levels of economic activity," Greenspan said.
June 3, 2003
New Respiratory Virus Found in U.S. Kids
A new virus continues to show up wherever investigators look for it -- and it isn't SARS. It's the human metapneumovirus (hMPV), which has now been discovered in American children. Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine found that 19 out of 296 New Haven, Connecticut, children who had respiratory infections of unknown cause were infected with hMPV. Symptoms included wheezing, cough and fever.
Funny Cide in 'awesome' warm-up
Funny Cide sparkled in his final tune-up ahead of his bid to win the US Triple Crown.The three-year-old will attempt on Saturday to claim the Belmont Stakes and become the first horse to win the treble for 25 years and the first ever gelding to achieve the feat.
Oregon to charge per-mile road usage tax
In 2001 Oregon set up the Road User Fee Task Force to research ways in which the state could realistically charge drivers for road usage per mile driven within state lines. A vehicle's odometer is no help, because Oregon can only tax for usage of its own roads. The proposed tax scheme will use a GPS-enabled system to track mileage, and the task force has asked for authorization to begin testing.
It's amazing how innovative state governments have become as they look for new sources of revenue.
-Tim
Online dating up 17% since January
Traffic to online dating sites has risen significantly since the start of the year as Internet dating replaces traditional ways of meeting the perfect partner, reports internet market researchers Hitwise.
This is consistent with reports I've heard from a friend in the Internet traffic measurement business who says that the two fastest growing segments of the Internet are online dating and weblogs.
-Tim
TiVo to sell information on what people watch
TiVo Inc., which makes digital video recorders, on Monday said it will sell the data it collects about its subscribers' viewing habits to broadcasters and advertisers....
The first TiVo Commercial Viewing Report, for example, shows that 75 percent of TiVo subscribers let the commercials play during the Grammy Awards, while only 39 percent did the same for the sitcom "Friends."
Nail your dog's pedigree, courtesy DNA mapping
Good news for all dog owners, who can now proudly flaunt their dogs' pedigrees - be they part Labrador, part hound or a dash of Chihuahua. A technique is nearing completion, which will help identify crossbreed origins in the canine population, reported the journal Nature
Pentagon for close cooperation with India
The US Defence Department has recommended viewing of India as a strategic partner of US and selling modern American technology and equipment to ensure interoperability between the two countries to meet any regional crisis or threats that may loom in the 2020s.
Chicago Board of Trade Sets All-time Trading Volume Record
Soaring 50.4% in May to 43,797,299 contracts from 29,119,791 a year earlier, Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) volume set an all-time high for any month in the exchange's 155-year history. The record monthly total reflects four daily records set during the month, including the exchange?s first-ever daily trade of more than 3 million contracts--a total of 3,286,987 on May 28
Postal Revenue Falls As Mail Volume Levels
Postmaster General John Potter told the President's Commission on the Postal Service last week that for the first time in history the agency has experienced two years of declines in first-class mail, its biggest money maker. He said that is likely to get worse as more people turn to the Internet to receive and pay bills.
This is a great example of the widespread impact of digital technologies.
-Tim
'Lifelog' Super Diary Worries Privacy Activists
A Pentagon project to develop a digital super diary that records heartbeats, travel, Internet chats, everything a person does, also could provide private companies with powerful software to analyze behavior.That has privacy experts worried.
Known as LifeLog, the project aims to capture and analyze a multimedia record of everywhere a subject goes and everything he or she sees, hears, reads, says and touches
Greenspan Deflation Chat Rallies Bonds
Long-dated Treasuries surged on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's remarks about deflation inspired speculation that the central bank might buy longer-dated Treasuries to pre-empt deflation
Biotech start-up takes step toward personalized cancer treatment
Genomic Health, a Redwood City biotech start-up, has unveiled new cancer screening tests that are intended to pick the best drugs for treating an individual's tumor and predict whether a patient will be a long-term survivor.The tests are part of a push toward the latest frontier in medical care: the quest for personalized treatments that match the specifics of the patient's tumor.
June 2, 2003
Vaccine For Mad Cow Disease In Testing; CJD Treatment Possible
Research at the University of Toronto has led to an experimental vaccine in lab animals that halts further infections by prions, the cause of various neurological diseases including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) , commonly known as Mad Cow Disease. Prions are not living organisms; they are instead misshapen proteins that can cause a chain-reaction warping of other proteins that lead to brain-destroying fatal accumulations of prions.
Genes Seen as Key to Understanding Obesity
Changes in diet and a sedentary lifestyle have fueled an obesity epidemic, but genetics also play a role and could explain why some people put on weight more easily than others, a leading obesity expert said on Friday.
I don't doubt that genes are important in obesity, but it seems clear to me that poor diet and lack of exercise is the key to the obesity epidemic as genetic makeup has not changed in the past 100 years while obesity rates have skyrocketed.
-Tim
Your life at your fingertips -- courtesy of the Pentagon
Coming to you soon from the Pentagon: the diary to end all diaries -- a multimedia, digital record of everywhere you go and everything you see, hear, read, say and touch.Known as LifeLog, the project has been put out for contractor bids by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the agency that helped build the Internet and that is now developing the next generation of anti-terrorism tools.
Sounds like the ultimate weblog -- in a 1984 kind of way.
-Tim
New storage drive is in reach of consumers
A new breed of low-cost storage drive the size of an Oreo cookie will make its debut on retail shelves this summer, appearing in $200 MP3 players capable of holding 25 hours of music....
The 1.5-gigabyte drive is the work of a Longmont, Colo., start-up called Cornice, launched by storage-industry veterans Kevin Magenis and Curt Bruner, who worked at Maxtor before they left to launch Cornice in 2000.
FCC Passes Change In Ownership Rules
There were no major surprises yesterday as the FCC loosened restrictions on media ownerships.The most important areas from yesterday's decision to the media business covered four areas. One: One company is now allowed to own multiple TV stations in a local market. Two: the commissioned incrementally increased the 35% limit on reach. That means a company can own TV stations reaching no more than a 45% share US TV households. Three: ownership criteria for radio stations were changed in several areas. For example, in markets with more than 45 radio stations, a company may own no more than eight. Four: Newspaper companies can now buy TV stations.
Stomach Protects Body During Heart Attack
In an international research breakthrough, New Zealand scientists have discovered the stomach plays a key role in trying to protect the body during a heart attack. The internationally-renowned Christchurch Cardioendocrine Research Group will again make world headlines when the United States' Endocrinology Journal publishes its hormone research on obesity and heart attacks later this year.A team of consultants and researchers, led by Professor Mark Richards at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has broken new ground in the mad dash to pin down the exact function of the hormone ghrelin.
The team has discovered that ghrelin, the most potent human appetite stimulant known, also causes arteries in the heart to constrict.
Will "Gecko Tape" Let Humans Climb Walls?
Humans may someday be able to scuttle up walls, scamper across ceilings, and scurry out windows with the agility of a startled gecko in the tropical night thanks to a new adhesive tape that mimics the lizard's sticky feet."Geckoman is less than science fiction these days," said Andre Geim, a physicist at the University of Manchester, England, who is part of a team that overcame considerable engineering challenges to produce the first synthetic "gecko tape."
Pentagon report outlines chemical, biological defense needs
Government Executive Magazine:
A range of new vaccines, real-time multiagent detection systems, safer decontamination solutions and less burdensome protective clothing are among the numerous measures sought by the U.S. military to better protect U.S. forces against chemical and biological warfare threats.The various needs—and the solutions planned to address them—were outlined in the annual report of the Defense Department’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program provided to Congress in April and released to the public last month.
Burmese Rulers Close More Offices of Pro-Democracy Party
The military rulers of Myanmar continued a crackdown today that analysts said appeared to signal a new, harsher period that would leave little room for the activities of the democratic opposition.One day after announcing that it had detained the pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and padlocked her party headquarters, the government moved to close other party offices around the country, according to reports from Myanmar, the former Burma.
Petitioners Urge China to Enforce Legal Rights
Three young legal scholars have created a sensation in Chinese intellectual circles with a modest proposal: to enforce personal rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution, starting with the protection of downtrodden migrant workers in the cities.In a petition to the national legislature that has drawn unusual attention and praise in the news media, the scholars challenge the system by which big-city police officers detain, fine and expel rural migrants at will, with no judicial oversight.
Genentech Cancer drug shows promise
Patients battling advanced colon cancer lived 30 percent longer after receiving Avastin, an experimental cancer drug from Genentech, according to a study presented Sunday.The research findings, released at a cancer specialists' meeting in Chicago, are the first solid evidence supporting the theory that cancer can be slowed by a drug that cuts off the blood supply to tumors.
In Computing, Weighing Sheer Power Against Vast Pools of Data
For almost two decades the federal government has heavily underwritten elaborate centers to house the world's fastest supercomputers. The policy has been based on the assumption that only government money could ensure that the nation's research scientists had the computing power they needed to pursue projects like simulating the flow of air around a jet airplane wing, mimicking the way proteins are folded inside cells or modeling the global climate.
News analysis: Microsoft tackles the new future
The future is figuring out how to use the Internet to deliver commercial program content, mainly movies and music, to consumers who are equipped with a growing array of digital devices to receive it, from personal computers to digital televisions to smart cell phones. And they must do so in a way that is both convenient for users and profitable for media companies, while keeping digital piracy to a manageable minimum.
As Steve Jobs said, "The best way to predict the future is to create it."
-Tim
Outlook brighter for high-definition television, viewers
High-definition digital television is finally escaping from an ironic time warp.Aside from offering a much sharper picture than conventional TV, high-definition today is a throwback to 1953: There are only a few channels to watch; they broadcast only a few hours of programming a day; there's no way to record for later viewing; and signals can only be received through a roof antenna.
But I believe we'll look back on 2003 as the pivotal year for HD, the moment when the pieces fell into place to justify the cost and effort of upgrading for anyone other than bleeding-edge early adopters.
June 1, 2003
Addicted to Oil
A dependence that's so strong it's almost like a narcotic. You don't question the pusher." It may sound like the language of drug addiction, but in fact Robert Baer, a former CIA agent in the Middle East, is describing American dependence on Saudi Arabia and its oil. In "The Fall of the House of Saud" (May Atlantic), Baer details the United States's absolute reliance on oil from a country that is deeply, dangerously unstable.
Robert Baer is the author of See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism. His article for The Atlantic is adapted from his new book, Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Its Soul for Saudi Crude, to be released in July.
Erie's bayfront boom
After many incarnations as a military outpost, a key shipping port and a manufacturing hub, Erie's bayfront is on the brink of its biggest conversion yet. Once dominated by grimy manufacturing plants that spewed soot over the water, the bayfront is now poised to become the poster child of Erie's future.
Coal industry has high hopes for gasification
... Near Terre Haute, Ind., coal and petroleum coke undergo another dramatic transformation from rock to a clean-burning gas ready to fuel an electric generator. ...Such sites demonstrate the promise of technology that remakes the abundant but dirty fuel into a power source and chemical base that could contribute to a "hydrogen economy" of fuel-cell-powered vehicles.
Sharon Laments 'Occupation' and Israeli Settlers Shudder
It has been, for Israel's settlers, a most unsettling week. First the Israeli government endorsed the idea of eventually creating a Palestinian state, giving qualified backing to an American-backed peace plan. Then Mr. Sharon criticized what he called Israel's "occupation" in the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, captured in the 1967 war.
Rare Day for China: No SARS Deaths
Trade ministers of Asia-Pacific countries are set to endorse an emergency SARS recovery plan, while China reported no deaths for the first time in seven weeks.The plan to revive Asia's tourism industry and other businesses comes as health officials from to Hong Kong to Taiwan have expressed optimism the outbreaks may be ebbing.
Cocktail of drugs offers hope on breast cancer
A WOMAN'S chances of surviving breast cancer could increase by a third with a new combination of anti-cancer drugs, British doctors announced at the weekend.A study of more than 2000 women in 65 British hospitals has shown that adding a fourth chemotherapy drug to three that are routinely given to breast cancer patients reduces the likelihood of them dying by 36 per cent. They also are 30 per cent more likely to avoid any sign of the disease returning after surgery
VENICE SEEKS SEA CHANGE
Acqua alta -- high water -- is eroding the mettle of those who live and work in this city of 118 islands, 13 million visitors and 10 miles of wooden planks arranged to keep feet dry.Last year brought the worst flooding in memory: Venice was under water 111 times. Now, with the Adriatic rising and the city sinking, work has begun on a multibillion-dollar plan to close the lagoon during the worst tides
Comcast set to roll out high-detail TV format
The Bay Area's largest cable TV provider will begin offering high-definition programming to 800,000 subscribers Tuesday, in one of the nation's largest rollouts of the emerging television format.... Nearly all the region's 1.6 million Comcast subscribers will receive high-definition programming by the end of next year, the cable operator said, as it completes equipment upgrades.
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