Science & Technology

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*update* Jan. 14, 2013 EU releases all data on GM corn linked to cancer Monday's move "aims to make data used in risk assessment publicly available," Geslain-Laneelle said, by promoting research and working with scientists.

*update* Siding with EU's ban on animal testing, Dec. 21 2012 Air Canada can refuse to ship monkeys for research

Seven Food Products Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.
1. Genetically Modified Foods
2. Stevia, the Natural Sweetener
3. Bovine Growth Hormone
4. Chlorinated Chickens
5. Food Contact Chemicals
6. Herbicides, Fungicides and Insecticides  read more »

new version "all-in-one: judge, jury and executioner"

Hal 9000, the supercomputer who commits murder in Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Einstein warned us long ago: "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."...
Philosophers and scientists: "In the case of artificial intelligence, it seems a reasonable prediction that some time in this or the next century intelligence will escape from the constraints of biology" (...will, or have escaped?) "...advanced technology could be a threat when computers start to direct resources towards their own goals, at the expense of human concerns like environmental sustainability."
VP of space technologies at Physical Sciences: "30,000 unmanned drones (which can hover 100 feet above your home or zip past your office window) estimated could be aloft by 2020. 'We’re in a rapid spool-up phase now, where we’re thinking about going from producing tens of aircraft per month to a thousand or more...' "

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global "headache": 1.5 million credit, debit cards may be breached

"when you swipe you card, all your information is stolen"... scary

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Hackers put a tiny device on the card readers where you swipe your credit or debit card. So when you scan it they get all your personal information
"They can put a phony thing over the part where you swipe your card. You think you're swiping your card through a reader and what you're really doing is swiping your card through a device the hacker has created," said Jim Lee, head of Consumer Fraud at the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office.
Lee says the trouble is this type of hacking is becoming more common at stores, gas stations, and ATM's.
"People are realizing that this is a new form of theft that they can do electronically, they can do high tech and it has a real volume to them," said Lee.
And because more and more people now pay this way thieves don't have to empty your account. They take a little here, a little there, from many accounts, which people often don't even notice.

October 24, 2012 - "appears to be a massive theft" - MasterCard and Visa warn of potential cardholder account breaches  read more »

Smart Sea Otter Stacks Cups

Sea Otter Pup

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"Nature does nothing uselessly. " - Aristotle

Global warming? Sea otters to the rescue!
Global warming is reaching new records, ice caps continue to melt at an alarming rate, and measures taken by authorities are as rare as they are questionable. But as cute as they are, where do otters step in? Well, as I was telling you, otters like to feast on sea urchins. Sea urchins eat kelp, and kelp forests trap and store massive amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. A kelp forest ‘guarded’ by otters can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than one without an otter population.

Published in the respectable online journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the research that came to this conclusion didn’t go unnoticed at all, as professor Chris Wilmers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, explains: “Right now, all the climate change models and proposed methods of sequestering carbon ignore animals. But animals the world over, working in different ways to influence the carbon cycle, might actually have a large impact.” He elaborates: “If ecologists can get a better handle on what these impacts are, there might be opportunities for win-win conservations scenarios, whereby animal species are protected or enhanced, and carbon gets sequestered.”  read more »

Thanks for the help
Queens Park Rangers' Ryan Nelsen (right) uses a boost from Chelsea's Fernando Torres to get the advantage on a header.

A crowd of customers counts down to 8 a.m. at the Apple Store on 5th Ave. in New York City.

Seen from the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the space shuttle Endeavor passes the Hollywood sign as the retired space shuttle makes the rounds of Los Angeles and Orange County landmarks before landing at LAX.

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*update* September 24, 2012 Endeavour: Astronauts hope shuttle will inspire future generations Of the folks assembled at the United Airlines hangar at Los Angeles International Airport last week to watch Endeavour's arrival, three had firsthand experience with the space shuttle.  read more »

"Grant self and others Dignity and Decency. High technology is not invented to destroy privacy or nobility, nor is Golden Rule disposable, ever." - Editor

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Topless Princess Kate Pics Spur Privacy Issues
A French magazine has published photos of the Duchess of Cambridge topless, causing a new scandal for the royal family. The Duchess and her husband Prince William were on private property at a French resort when they were photographed presumably off-limits to the public. But in today's world of hidden cameras and powerful zoom lenses, there's really no place for a celebrity to hide from determined paparazzi.

Report raises privacy concerns about the use of cameras in bathrooms, changing rooms at UK schools - 'a shock to many parents' 825 cameras reportedly located in the toilets or changing rooms of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales

RAINFORD High has been named on a list of school's using CCTV cameras in toilets and changing rooms. The school has SEVEN cameras installed in either toilets or changing rooms. It is one of only 207 schools across the country and the only school in St Helens to engage in the controversial practice.  read more »