~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #29

[human being <human@electronetwork.org>]

===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #29
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (5/31/2003)

01) Top Stories of Electromagnetism
02) Electromagnetic health & medicine
03) Electromagnetic trash & treasure
04) Electromagnetic security & surveillance
05) Electromagnetic power & energy
06) Electromagnetic current & human affairs
07) Electromagnetic transportation & communication
08) Electromagnetic matter & information
09) Electromagnetic trends & inventions
10) Electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
11) Electromagnetic business & economics
12) Electromagnetic art & artifacts

===================================================
00) --commentary--

No comments this week, though some movement has been made
by the participation of people in developing the EM Assemblage
online exhibit. Once I saw a display of insulators in San
Francisco at the Pacific Bell building & museum (SOMA) and
they have a great, small collection of beautiful lit glass
insulators for telegraph and electrical distribution poles.
Never had a photograph of this, but was fortunate to find
an insulator collection also shows these objects like jewels
and with many more varieties. Please see the link below for
two images of one part of the collection. Thanks and enjoy.

Insulator Collection by Bill Ostrander... (2)
<http://www.electronetwork.org/assemblage/zone4/insulators.htm>

===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------

// fascinating story of research and discovery. thanks *...

Electric conversations
Researchers have figured out how a small fish uses electricity
to navigate and communicate in the murky Amazon River.
http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030524/FCFISH/

	"The fish in Len Maler's lab like doing everything in the dark:  
hunting, swimming, finding mates. They can't see or hear, but they  
don't need to. Their long, thin tails generate electrical signals and  
their bodies are covered with specialized receptors that act like AM/FM  
radios." ... "Over the next five to 10 years, their work with the  
electric fish could be used to help deaf people hear and to build  
unmanned vehicles to explore Mars and other forbidding places."

// excellent article demonstrating how electromagnetism has
// become 'a measure' for international standards, such as space
// with the meter (via light) and time via the second (vibrating
// cesium atoms). this reflects how things are defined today as
// being in common relation- and it is often electromagnetically...

Scientists Struggling to Make the Kilogram Right Again
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/27/science/27KILO.html>

	"The idea of the watt balance is to measure the electromagnetic force  
needed to balance a reference kilogram. As long as the gravitational  
field is precisely known for the location of the experiment, the mass  
on the scale can be related to power." .. "The definition of the  
kilogram would then be a measurement of that power or in terms of  
something that could be derived from it, like the mass of an electron."

Monopoly or Democracy? By Ted Turner // minding public-private media
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56132-2003May29.html>

---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & medicine
---------------------------------------------------

Geiger counter in every human revealed
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993768>

	"How much damage does cosmic radiation do to frequent flyers? Is  
depleted uranium from shells causing cancers in former war zones such  
as Kosovo and Iraq? The discovery that certain kinds of radiation leave  
a distinctive pattern of damage in our cells could help answer these  
questions..."

Last Battle for Radiation Fighter // passing of Dr. Neil Cherry...
<http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59007,00.html>

	"Cherry spent many years and a great deal of his own money traveling  
the world collecting university papers on EMR research. He attended  
numerous meetings of environmental activists and presented research  
showing that almost all radio-wave-emitting technologies -- radar,  
power lines, microwave ovens, radio- and television-station towers,  
cell towers and cell phones -- pose some kind of risk to people." .. '  
"We (humans) are very good conductors (of cellular transmissions), so  
most of the cell-phone signal goes through us, and very little actually  
goes to the cell site," Cherry said at a microwave-radiation  
conference.'

Homemade Electrocardiograph // yikes. via gizmodo.net...
<http://www2.elen.utah.edu/~jnguyen/ecg/ecg_index.html>
http://www2.elen.utah.edu/~jnguyen/ecg/instructions.html

Nano-coated implants cut MRI scan dangers
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993771>

Video games boost visual skills
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993775>

Browser Boosts Brain Interface // 'surf by thinking...'
<http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_052203.asp>

'Virtual Biopsy' - A New Way To Look At Cancer
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030530081058.htm>

---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------

Giant Dam Is A Problem For The Environment
But An Opportunity For Ecoscience, Say Researchers
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030528082053.htm>

Hackers Put 'Bane' in Shadowbane // virtual genocide in online game...
<http://wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59034,00.html>

	"The population of an entire Shadowbane town was forcibly moved to the  
bottom of the sea, where they drowned. City guards turned feral and  
attacked town residents. Mobs of never-before-seen superpowerful  
creatures, seemingly spontaneously spawned from the ether, began to  
prowl the streets unchecked, killing characters in the most painful way  
possible."

---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------

ELECTROMAGNETIC EMISSIONS // TEMPEST...
<http://makrolab.ljudmila.org/research/rsrchee.html>

College plans virus-writing course // via NewsScan...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-1010538.html>

Enlisting the Young as White-Hat Hackers
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/technology/circuits/29hack.html>

Spying for Fun and Profit
<http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16009>

Chips To Secure Smartphones // ARM TrustZone on-chip security...
<http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21643.html>

Russia invents robot sniffer dog // via gizmodo.net
<http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_786012.html>

---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------

// 'Freedom Reactor'- isn't this an oxymoron? Using Nuclear
// Power to create electricity and hydrogen (and, it is also
// imagined some infrastructure from nuke plants to hydrogen
// stations via pipeline or trucks, like a refinery it seems).
// there was an ongoing debate about the efficiencies of using
// other power systems to create hydrogen, to then power cars
// as not being that cost-effective. Not sure of the details of
// the debate but it may be relevant to such developments. So
// too, to be fair, would finding out which energy companies may
// have been involved in the Energy Task Force policy proposal...

Republicans Plan a Hydrogen Economy--
at Your Expense. It's Nucular // thanks *
<http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0322/baard.php>

Calif. Starts Summer with a Power Alert
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50826-2003May28.html>

How Stars Work -
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/star.htm>

---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------

No Power, No Rebirth In Iraqi Business // all about electricity...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/25/business/yourmoney/25ENER.html>

	""Electricity is the main problem," Mr. Dhiyakh said, as one of his  
employees washed a large tree stump used as a butcher block.  
"Electricity means safety, work. It's the chain of life."" ... "Iraqi  
engineers, with the help of the United States Army Corps of Engineers  
and the Bechtel Group, the primary American contractor for rebuilding  
here, are working frantically to repair hundreds of severed  
high-voltage lines." "...electricity had been rationed around the  
country..."

Boy to spend life at sea in search of asthma cure // via  
drudgereport.com
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-692620,00.html>

	"To ensure that his education does not suffer Niky will be linked by  
webcam and a satellite dish to a classroom computer at a primary school  
on the island of Lipari."

Television show for cats set to debut // mass media by cat-people...
<http://salon.com/ent/wire/2003/05/29/cats/>

Mimicry makes computers the user's friend
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993769>

	"Knowing when someone is trying to build up a rapport with you is key  
to good social relations, they say."


---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transportation & communication
---------------------------------------------------

Drone research looks at traffic applications // an important read...
They could guide emergency crews, ease jams  // via drudgereport.com
<http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/05/26/loc_roaddrones26.html>

	"Ohio transportation officials and university researchers believe that  
unmanned aerial vehicles, sometimes called drones or UAVs, hold promise  
as a way to keep an eye on traffic, route trucks and fix stoplights so  
traffic flows better."

Fuel-cell caravan future bound // 220 mile FCV w/capacitor gauge...
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5929364.htm>

	"The event was the three-day, 400-mile Rally Thru The Valley, staged  
by members of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. In it, a caravan of  
six fuel-cell vehicles -- propelled by hydrogen and emitting no  
pollution -- traveled from Sacramento to Los Angeles through  
California's polluted Central Valley."

How Satellite Radio Works -
<http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/satellite-radio.htm>

How Remote Entry Works -
<http://auto.howstuffworks.com/remote-entry.htm>

Space station to shift to avoid a close call with Italian satellite
<http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/space/1930281>

If You Behave Yourself, I'll Print You a Toy // 3D printers...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/technology/circuits/29howw.html>

Texas Instruments' Develops Modem Chip // single-chip ADSL...
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-india-modem- 
chip,0,5848096.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dworld%2Dheadlines>

New Results Force Scientists To Rethink Single-Molecule Wires
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030530082737.htm>

	"Single-molecule switches have the potential to shrink computing  
circuits dramatically, but new results from the Arizona State  
University lab that first described how to wire a single molecule  
between gold contacts now show that laboratory-standard wired molecules  
have an unavoidable tendency to "blink" randomly."

Green lights cause gridlock // randomize...
Phased traffic lights fazed by heavy traffic.
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/030527/030527-7.html>

---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------

Study Sheds Light on Dark Matter
<http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58966,00.html>

Shhhhh. We're making a building -- When you're looking at extremely  
small things, it's important that the lab is perfectly still. JILL  
MAHONEY explains what it takes to erect a nanotechnology centre
<http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030524/ 
FCBILD>

How Analog And Digital Recording Works -
<http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/analog-digital.htm>

---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------

Electronic Order in the Court // white-noise in the jury box...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/technology/circuits/29cour.html>

	"...one-quarter of the courts in the nation's 94 federal districts  
have at least one high-tech courtroom. Such a courtroom is defined as  
one with advanced electronic presentation systems; real-time court  
reporting, in which court reporters' notes are available as they type;  
digital audio recording; and Internet access that allows the judge to  
research legal and administrative materials from the bench."

The big three-O -- The longevity of Ethernet
has lessons for today's information technologists // great.
<http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1795821>

US digital radio revolution stalls
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993772>

	"Crystal-clear digital radio was set to hit America this September -  
but the technology has run into trouble. The US National Radio Systems  
Committee (NRSC) last week decided the system's sound quality is not  
good enough to broadcast."

---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------

Rumsfeld warns of new threats to come // (to Naval Academy grads)...
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2003/05/23/rumsfeld_warning/>

	"One day the war on terror will end _ not soon, but it will end," he  
said. "And you will face still more challenging tasks, possibly a world  
with double the number of nuclear nations, and many of those new  
nuclear states (will be) terrorist nations."

// 'weaponization of space' (full spectrum dominance) via cryptome.org

U.S. 'negation' policy in space raises concerns abroad
<http://www.eet.com/sys/news/OEG20030522S0050>

	"The program will include two components: the Counter Communication  
System, designed to disrupt other nations' communication networks from  
space; and the Counter Surveillance Reconnaissance System, formed to  
prevent other countries from using advanced intelligence-gathering  
technology in air or space."

---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------

// ~ 'radical shift', consumer market fastest, economics amazing ~

 From PlayStation to Supercomputer for $50,000 // via network switch
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/26/technology/26XSUPE.html>

	"As perhaps the clearest evidence yet of the computing power of  
sophisticated but inexpensive video-game consoles, the National Center  
for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at  
Urbana-Champaign has assembled a supercomputer from an army of Sony  
PlayStation 2's." ... using the Emotion Engine, a "custom designed  
silicon chip is capable of producing up to 6.5 billion mathematical  
operations a second."

Radio ID chips may track banknotes // euro note RFIDs...
<http://news.com.com/2100-1019_3-1009155.html?tag=fd_top>

Most downloaded program on the Web? // kazaa file-sharing
<http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/05/23/media.kazaa.reut/>

---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic art & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------

Natural Radio // sound clips...
<http://www.altair.org/natradio.htm>

	"From Plate Tectonics to Particle Physics, Natural Radio is any  
electromagnetic energy which occurs in Nature."

McGreevy ground-based VLF recordings
<http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/sounds/sounds.html>

	'"Natural Radio" describes naturally-occurring electromagnetic (radio)  
signals emanating from lightning storms, aurora (The Northern and  
Southern Lights), and most importantly, the Earth's magnetic-field (the  
Magnetosphere).
	This is a presentation of Earth's natural radio emissions that occur  
in the extremely-low-frequency to very-low-frequency (ELF-VLF) radio  
spectrum--specifically, at AUDIO frequencies between approximately 100  
to 10,000 cycles-per second (0.1 - 10 kHz).
	Unlike sound waves which are vibrations of air molecules that our ears  
are sensitive to, natural radio waves are vibrations of electric and  
magnetic energy (electromagnetic waves) which--though occurring at the  
same frequencies as sound--cannot be listened to without an  
audio-frequency ELF-VLF radio receiver to convert the natural radio  
signals directly into the same sound frequencies. Another amazing realm  
of nature is thus ready to be explored and observed.
	Naturally-occurring VLF radio emissions are being studied both via  
ground-based receiving systems as well as orbiting spacecraft  
receivers.  Please check out the links toward the bottom of this page  
for much more information.'

ARTIST AS ENGINEER Symposium
Where does socially engaged, participatory and education arts activity  
stand within current debates around contemporary arts practice?
Sherwell Centre, University of Plymouth, UK. 2-3 June 2003
<http://www.interrupt-symposia.org/>

Strategies of Minimal Resistance -
Analysis of Tactical Work in the Surveillance Society
<http://www.ljudmila.org/scca/worldofart/99/99peljhantxang.htm>

Makrolab Mark 1 architectural systems // imagery
<http://makrolab.ljudmila.org/archsys.html>

Art as Research
<http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~swilson/papers/artist.researcher.html>


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