*Vision chip blends detection with image processing
(4:25 p.m. EDT, 08/03/99)
Blending an array of photo-detectors with on-chip digital image-processing
circuits, researchers at the University of Tokyo have created an ultrafast
sensor for industrial applications. The vision chip both acquires and
processes images at 1,000 frames per second, enabling a robot arm equipped
with a prototype sensor to grab for fast-moving objects without calculating
trajectories.
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG19990803S0011
*Nerve Cells with Stoppage: Evidence for a molecular key step in the process
of signal transduction between nerve cells
Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine,
http://www.mpg.de/news99/news35_99.htm
Also from Max Planck:
*Electricity from microscopic snowballs
http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/mpg-efm080499.html
*A Sloppier Copier
Mutation-Prone Copying Enzyme Identified in DNA Replication
University of Southern California News Service
http://www.usc.edu/ext-relations/news_service/releases/stories/35993.html
*Nearby supernova may have caused mini-extinction, scientists say
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The recent discovery of the rare radioactive isotope
iron-60 in deep-sea sediments could be the telltale sign of a killer
supernova, a University of Illinois researcher says.
http://www.admin.uiuc.edu/NB/99.08/supernovatip.html
*An analysis of pollen grains and plant images places the origin of the
"Shroud of Turin," thought by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus of
Nazareth, in Jerusalem before the 8th Century. The authenticity of the
Shroud has been debated for centuries, with a 1988 carbon dating process
placing it in the Middle Ages.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/08/990803073154.htm
*Australian scientists have unearthed the earliest direct evidence of when
the world’s first micro-organisms began to produce oxygen, shedding more
light on the mystery surrounding the start of life as we know it.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/fossil_oxygen990804.html
*The Internet on Mars?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/295172.asp
*DNA To Help Nab Drug Dealers Red-Handed - Report
LONDON (Reuters) - A new test based on DNA science can tell if people have
handled cannabis, but it is so sensitive that there are fears that innocent
people could be incriminated, the New Scientist said Wednesday. It said
researchers had identified DNA sequences within the part of the plant cell
responsible for photosynthesis -- the chloroplast -- which are specific to
cannabis sativa and are not found in any other species. The discovery by
researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow makes it possible to
take a swab from someone's hands and test it for the cannabis DNA
sequences.``This test is as sensitive as you can ever get,'' Adrian Linacre,
one of the inventors, told New Scientist. ''Theoretically, it could pick up
the presence of just one molecule of cannabis DNA.''
Because the test multiplies the amount of DNA, it works on minute samples,
unlike existing techniques. But this acute sensitivity is causing concern.
Chris Evans, of Surescreen Diagnostics which markets drug testing kits, said
the test could easily trap the innocent.``If you have been driving a
second-hand car and a previous owner has been using cannabis, you could get
enough on your hands to test positive,'' he told the magazine. Bank notes
could also carry trace amounts of the drug.
Linacre said he had calibrated the test so that only relatively large
quantities of DNA gave positive results. He is now developing the test to
detect the DNA profiles of different strains of cannabis, such as those
grown in South Africa or Thailand. ``We will be able to use genetic evidence
to link different batches of cannabis and trace them back to their original
source,'' he said.
*World's population reaches six billion
According to one estimate, at 1833 GMT on Monday 9 August the six billionth
person will enter the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_411000/411162.stm
*A gene therapy that causes new blood vessels to grow around blocked
arteries has been found to be safe for use in humans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_410000/410308.stm
*Audio Eclipse May Fill the Sky - As the eclipse turns day into night over
Europe on August 11, radio transmissions from near the path of totality may
spread across the globe, due to ionospheric changes caused by the Moon's
shadow. As a result, ham radio operators around the world can track the
August 11, 1999 total solar eclipse by monitoring changes in atmospheric
radio propagation.
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast04aug99_1.htm
*Nellis Air Force Base has been cracked into
Original site is now unavailable.
See the Cracked site at:
http://www.hackernews.com/archive/1999/nellis/index.html
*A GameBoy, GameBoy Pocket, or GameBoy Color has software available with the
ability to turn your GameBoy into a RedBox (Toll Fraud Device) This software
has been around for a while. These GUI based applications allow you use you
GameBoy to make free long distance calls, crack answering machine passwords,
and just use it as a tone dialer. Well the new GameBoy Color has an
interesting feature, an IR port. As mentioned on HNN and elsewhere a few
months ago there are vehicles that use IR as a locking mechanism. With
currently available software you can now teach your GameBoy various IR codes
including those to unlock vehicles. Wondering how you get these programs
into your GameBoy? Well, Nintendo recently lost the court case against the
person making and selling GameBoy ROMS which makes it real easy to transfer
files around. Another example of how it is not the tool that is malicious
but the user.
Or see:
http://homepages.go.com/~ratb0y/gameboy.htm
*The Chinese military hopes to develop the capability of engaging in warfare
over the Internet by training hackers to take the battle online.
The Liberation Army Daily (LAD), a mouthpiece of China's Peoples Liberation
Army (PLA), recently called for the development of this capability. The
paper said that, by recruiting civilian hackers and training "cyber
warriors" at Army schools, China could be prepared for an Internet war.
http://www.internetnews.com/intl-news/article/0,1087,6_173341,00.html
*Back Orifice 2000 Available On Net
http://ireland.iol.ie/~kooltek/bo2k.html
*Russian Military Slurry Polishing U.S. Precision Optics
A high-tech mix used in shock absorbers and clutches in Russian military
vehicles has been recast as an award-winning U.S. technology for polishing
precision optics, vital components in today's products such as camcorders,
CD players, surgical lasers, bar-code scanners, and telescopes.
http://unisci.com/stories/19993/0804994.htm
*Bacterial DNA May Stimulate Human Dendritic Cells
Dendritic cells, a type of white blood cell, link the primitive arms of the
immune system with the more sophisticated acquired immune system by
producing chemical signals that activate other immune cells and "tell" them
what to fight.
http://unisci.com/stories/19993/0804992.htm
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
Web:
http://www.nanoindustries.com
E-mail:
nanogirl@halcyon.com
Alternate E-mail
echoz@hotmail.com
"Nanotechnology: solutions for the future."