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Stories and comments across the archive that link to )hotmail.%7d.
Stories · 16
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RFID: The New Big Brother ?
Makarand writes "The possibility that we could be tracked not because we have a microchip implant but merely because we wear clothes, eat and carry objects around is real according to this article on C|net news. A technology called RFID (radio frequency identification) consisting of miniscule microchips the size of a single grain of sand that listen to a radio query and respond by transmitting their unique ID can make this possible. Most RFID tags use the power from the initial radio signal to transmit their response and hence can be placed anywhere imaginable. Retailers are adoring this concept and soon everything more expensive than a Snickers bar will sport RFID tags making tracking possible through our own personal possessions. The privacy threat comes when RFID tags remain active once you leave a store and currently the RFID industry seems to be giving 'mixed' signals about whether the tags will be disabled or left enabled by default." -
Nature's Timepiece Identified
Makarand writes "Nature's timepiece, a two-sided cylindrical protein that tells cells when to grow and when to rest, has been identified according to these reports on MSNBC and on Purdue News. The protein directs 12-minute growth and rest cycles in living cells. Scientists at Purdue were able to confirm its function by first identifying the gene that produces this protein and then altering the protein to produce cycles of between 22 and 42 minutes. This discovery promises new insight into cellular activity such as cholesterol synthesis, respiration, heart rhythms, response to drugs, sleep and alertness. We may be able to improve our of methods of minimzing jet-lag and correcting sleep disorders." -
Snake Anti-Venom From Chicken Eggs
Makarand writes "Scientists have found a way to collect snake anti-venom from chicken eggs according to this article in The Times Of India. In this newly developed technique 12 week old birds injected with sub-lethal doses of venom followed by a booster dose after 2-3 weeks started to lay eggs with anti-venom antibodies concentrated in the yolk. Anti-venom produced in horses sometimes has other proteins that can cause allergic reactions, kidney failure and serum sickness in some people. Anti-venom from chicken is expected to have no such side-effects. This newly developed process is also an improvement in the quantity of anti-venom produced - antibodies produced by 1 litre of horse blood could be obtained from just 50 chicken eggs." -
New Estimates for Universe's Age
Makarand writes "In a study published recently in the journal Science, a team of researchers say that they are 95% sure the universe is between 11.2 billion and 20 billion years old according to this article on Space.com. The new calculations from cosmologists at Case Western Reserve University and Dartmouth College involved new information about old star clusters in our galaxy and a better understanding of how stars evolve." Which blows my theory that the Universe is predated by Zsa Zsa Gabor, but oh well. -
Robot Pharmacists
Makarand writes "The next time you visit a pharmacy your prescription may be filled by a robot according to a TechTV article. Hospitals and drugstores are now increasingly relying on automated technology to count, bottle, and label prescription drugs in a faster and more accurate way. The technology uses a bar-code system similar to those used to read prices in grocery stores. Doctors enter prescription details directly into the pharmacy computer. The robot springs into action when an order is recieved. Riding on a conveyor belt, the robot picks up an empty vial, identifies the bar code of the chosen drug, and automatically fills the drug bottle." -
Christmas in 2050
Makarand writes "A robotic kitchen assistant will help you with the Christmas meal preparations while you recieve instructions and monitoring assistance in real time from information systems for the cooking. Thanks to progress in biology and nanotechnology, the molecular processes needed to convert raw materials into turkey will be understood sufficiently well to make a good artificial turkey for the vegetarians. This is what we can expect this time in 2050 says Ian Pearson, BT's futurologist who is paid to dream, in this BBC News article. Absent family will join the celebrations virtually. There might be technology allowing us to read each others minds and being able to know what others are thinking may not always add peace and harmony to the celebrations. However on the upside, it will make charades a whole lot easier you will never get unwanted Christmas presents. Lastly, just as this Christmas was hijacked by a consumption fever, so too in 2050, Christmas will be all about presents." -
Wi-Fi From The Sky
Makarand writes "Some companies think that the answer to providing ubiquitous broadband access is to have telecom gear float high in the sky. High-tech blimps, called Stratellites, could be used by ISPs to carry their telecom equipment as high as 13 miles, far above commercial air traffic and turbulent weather according to this article on ABC News. At this height the Stratellite could serve an area of around 300,000 sq miles. Subscribers will merely need to put a small antenna outside and get broadband. The Stratellites will be perfect spheres and carry all electronic equipment within the Kevlar fabric and will not have any external fins or gondolas attached. Companies are already developing Wi-Fi sytems that could operate over tens of miles and these systems could be used on these Stratellites." -
Taxing Text Messages?
Makarand writes "SMS is a very popular way of communication in the Phillipines with an estimated 14 million phone subscribers sending an average of 10 text messages a day. However, that may all change if a proposal from the IMF to impose a tax on SMS is implemented to solve the country's fiscal problems according to an article in The Straits Times. The IMF is basing its suggestion on the fact that the country's tax base currently rests on the troubled sectors of the economy- banking and manufacturing, which cannot be squeezed anymore. Hopefully, our political think tanks will not get any such ideas." -
New Software Secures Data when Owners Walk Away
Makarand writes "Leave an operating laptop unattended on your desk and your sensitive data is accessible to anyone who gets hold of it. To limit this risk many users configure their systems to fall into a "sleep" mode after a period of inactivity and ask for a password before the system can be awakened. This constant re-authentication proves to be a headache for many users. Now a Professor and his graduate student at at the University of Michigan have come up with a system called Zero-Interaction Authentication (ZIA), described in this article in The Age, to protect data on mobile devices. The system works by starting to encrypt data the moment the owner walks away from the system. The owners wear a token with a encrypted wireless link with the laptop. If the token moves out of range the ZIA re-encrypts all data within 5 seconds. If the cryptographic token moves within range the system decrypts the information for the owner. The token, which could take many forms, is currently a wristwatch with a processor running Linux designed by IBM." -
Archaeologists Clean Dirty Monuments With Face Packs
Makarand writes "According to this article on indiaExpress.com archaeologists at the world famous Taj Mahal (Agra, India) are using a face-pack consisting of soil, cereal, milk and lime to beautify the monument. This recipe called 'Multani Mitti', which translates as 'mud from Multan,' is based on a beauty formula from the 16th century and contains lime-rich clay found in Multan (now a part of Pakistan) which was used for thousands of years as a face-pack by Indian women. The sticky brown mixture is smeared on the pollution-stained marble surfaces of the monument and washed off with warm water after 24 hours. Scientists from Italy have shown interest in these face-packs to restore their marble statues. The BBC News article says the same thing but has pictures." -
High CO2 Levels Can Reduce Plant Growth
Makarand writes "This article in the Stanford Report has the first released findings of the Jasper Ridge Global Change Project - a multi-year experiment, conducted at Stanford University, designed to study ecosystem response to environments that might exist 100 years from now. The currently held belief that our car and factory emissions may help grow some crops and trees faster and bigger (atleast in the short term) by emitting carbon dioxide, a plant nutrient, is being questioned by this study. They found that elevated levels of carbon dioxide when combined with other consequences of climate change - higher temperatures, increased precipitation etc, reduced plant growth. This means that increased carbon dioxide levels combined with other climate change factors might eventually limit the capacity of natural ecosystems to transfer carbon in the atmosphere to plants and soil. Instead of isolating one climate change factor and studying its effects on the ecosystem, the Stanford team included four climate change factors over several generations of plants to come to their conclusions." -
Palm OS Powered Tattooing Robot Debuts in Vienna
Makarand writes "Ananova has an article on the world's first tattooing robot. An Austrian electrician, after being left with some permanent reminders of his tattooing robot project, has unveiled his creation at a hi-tech fair in Vienna. He said that he had to test it on himself to get the robot do the right thing and has not recieved any complaints from volunteers who got a tattoo for free at the trade fair." -
ER1 Personal Robot Reviewed
Makarand writes "The Mercury News is carrying a review of the ER1 Personal Robot from Evolution Robotics Inc (of Pasadena, CA). The ER1 resembles neither a dog nor any robot in sci-fi movies. It is a 3-wheeled platform (resembling an industrial table) holding a laptop (running Windows) for its brains and a Web camera for its eye. The ER1 sells at $600 (laptop not included). For an extra $100 you get a completely assembled ER1. Evolution plans to sell expansions like grippers and infrared sensors in the future. If your laptop is Wi-Fi capable you can drive the robot around inside your home or control it using the Internet from anywhere." -
Where Has All The Rubber Gone?
Makarand writes "We all recognize vehicle tailpipe emissions to be a source of pollution. But what happens to the castoff rubber from your tires that have lost tread? No one knew where this rubbber was going until recently. Allison Draper, a professor of environmental chemistry at Bucknell University, is conducting research to end all guess work on this topic and with the hope of finding ways to make tires less polluting. She found for every kilometer a car travels, about 90 milligrams of tread wears off in particles ranging in size 10-75 microns.Toxins in the larger suspended particles leach out when exposed to water and the run off harms plant and animal life. These toxins are still being identified." -
Broadband's Unintended Consequences
Makarand writes "BBC News is reporting on the result of a long term study conducted to find how ordinary people and small businesses in and around London and Leeds used broadband. They found that broadband was actually slowing down user interaction with the Net as they are no longer afraid of spending too much time online anymore. People did not really care about the speed at which they could download from the Net. Broadband's selling points- like speed and the capacity to be always-on, were something that the average person did not care about." -
The Internet: Your Next Remote Control
Makarand writes "According to this article on NewsFactor, a Hungarian company, Timothy Technologies, wants to turn the Internet into a pervasive Remote Control. This device, called FlatStack, allows users to operate home appliances using the web. The FlatStack is an entire web server on a tiny circuit board which can be connected to the Internet and wired to the device needing remote control. Later versions of FlatStack will connect to appliances wirelessly. The FlatStack, with a variety of applications at home, can also be adapted in offices, factories and agricultural settings. It is expected to sell for around $75."