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Science & Policy News
November 2006
MSN Money, November 28th 2006 Over the past few years, various initiatives have been proposed to equip Third World countries -- especially those in Africa -- with cheap computers. Believers in the concept that computers will solve all the world's ills are behind much of this. So Africa, South Asia and other targeted regions of the world find themselves the focus of all sorts of initiatives to provide hand-me-down, special purpose and even junked computers.
The New York Times November 21st 2006 Or perhaps the turning point occurred at a more solemn moment, when Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and an adviser to the Bush administration on space exploration, hushed the audience with heartbreaking photographs of newborns misshapen by birth defects — testimony, he suggested, that blind nature, not an intelligent overseer, is in control.
New Scientist, November 20th, 2006 The trouble began with the appearance of a virtual gold rings in several areas of the virtual world. As users touched these rings, they starting replicating wildly and, eventually, the servers on which the game is hosted began creaking under the strain of the additional activity. From 2245 GMT on Sunday, for about half-an-hour, tens of thousands of Second Life users were locked out of the world while staff removed the objects. The objects were dubbed "grey goo", after the concept of out-of-control self-replicating nanotechnology.
AZ Central, November 20th, 2006 Forest fires in some parts of the world could cool temperatures for years to come by exposing more ground to snow, which would reflect heat back out into space. Can you see where this is going?
MSNBC, November 17th, 2006 Researchers can turn a person’s brain waves into music notes using a computerized mathematical formula. Some experts say that those notes can heal. When you play the “relaxing” file on your brain music CD, your brain tells your body to relax. When you listen to your “activating” or “energy” file, the theory is that you’ll feel more alert. Called brain music therapy, this treatment has been used by thousands of patients worldwide to treat anxiety, insomnia, even depression.
The Age, November 13th, 2006 Scientists at the CSIRO's Textile and Fibre Technology division in Geelong have woven electronic sensors into a T-shirt so that it can be played liked a real guitar. Intelligent clothes could create 3D replicas of physiotherapy patients to help teach them to walk and bend again after injuries.
Wired Magazine, November 9th, 2006 On the face of it, the Democrats regaining control of the House of Representatives -- and appearing likely to hold a one-seat majority in the Senate -- would seem to be a positive in areas such as stem-cell research and the safeguarding of personal privacy, where technology plays a crucial role. But since nothing is a given in American politics, the best we can do is take an educated guess at what Tuesday's results might portend for the industry.
NPR, November 6th, 2006 Jesse Ballenger, a Penn State professor, has written a history about the way Alzheimer's disease is seen in America. He says that in 1906, Alzheimer wasn't trying to understand the illnesses of old age. He was just trying to keep the practice of psychiatry up to date.
CNET, November 6th, 2006 The genetically engineered microbes produce proteins that attach to specific metallic alloys, said Belcher, a professor of materials science and biological engineering who was awarded MIT's Germeshausen Professorship for combining humanitarian advancement with technological progress.
Christian Science Monitor, November 1st, 2006 The contest: Solve three fiendish problems in 75 frantic minutes. The assembled finalists - the best of 21,000 applicants - hailed from Buenos Aires, Warsaw, and an obscure city on Russia's Volga River.
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