~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #59
From
human being <human@electronetwork.org>
Date
Thu, 6 Nov 2003 21:11:13 -0600
===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #59
===================================================
00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (11/06/2003)
01) Top Stories of Electromagnetism
02) Electromagnetic health & safety
03) Electromagnetic trash & treasure
04) Electromagnetic security & surveillance
05) Electromagnetic power & energy
06) Electromagnetic current & human affairs
07) Electromagnetic transport & communication
08) Electromagnetic matter & information
09) Electromagnetic trends & inventions
10) Electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
11) Electromagnetic business & economics
12) Electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
===================================================
00) --commentary-- things that could be designed
- thanks for offlist ideas about DC power system, they
are in boats and RVs (recreational vehicles, those big
long bus-like rolling houses), and can plug into AC when
docked, using DC when mobile (it seems). so it is curious
if there could be a dual AC/DC wiring system within a new
building system, one that works outside the wall system,
and may be like a highway system rather than country roads
in terms of distribution patterns. Then, outlets may be
able to automatically configure one system or the other,
based on the plugs used, running diagnostic tests, etc.
in this way 'home power' (wind, solar, possibly fuel cell)
could do Direct Current (DC) and switch to AC when on-grid
power is needed. maybe whole neigbhorhoods could be based
on a DC system, while distances could be bridged by AC.
not knowing enough to speculate this much, so imagining.
in the NYT 'battery' story below there is mention of the
transformer being put into a device, as power management-
thus it may be possible to get rid of power bricks/wall
warts, and make them software managed thus only then to
deal with the cord and AC/DC power, while the electronics
device grapples with the, then unified, main power system
of which each gadget adapts itself, not with custom cords
and plugs and transformers as intermediaries for power.
- digital camera mounted on the front of a car
this definitely has privacy issues and such, yet it would
be great to be able to photograph what one can see, even
if driving 70mph at night, just hitting a button in the
dashboard or mounted on it, to snap a night-photo in
massive movement of landscapes. there is some photo-
mobile which drives around and has cameras mounted on
it, and surely there are mobile digital photo labs which
can take picture booths on the road, yet what if the car
was also able to be a camera, or a video, of a roadtrip,
or a landscape. then there is the surveillance aspect...
maybe there is not a 'mass' need for such a technology,
thought if a few could find it useful there may be ways
to see and attempt to capture otherwise impossible views.
===================================================
01) --top stories--
---------------------------------------------------
Molecular Electronic Device Shows Promise // nanoelectric effect
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031104064635.htm>
'Thanks to a team of materials scientists at Northwestern University,
molecular electronics may be one step closer to reality. The
researchers, led by Mark Hersam, assistant professor of materials
science and engineering, have become the first to measure a unique and
versatile nanoelectronic effect -- called resonant tunneling -- through
individual molecules mounted directly on silicon.' (short)
// interesting about the magnetic field alignment being critical.
Sun on Fire, Unleashes 3 More Major Flares // 9 and counting...
<http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solar_flares_031103.html>
'Early Monday, Paal Brekke, deputy project manager of the SOHO
spacecraft, was still digesting the significance of the three
additional outbursts on top of two back-to-back monster flares
Oct. 28 and 29.' .. '"I think the last week will go into the history
books as one of the most dramatic periods of solar activity we have
seen in modern time," Brekke told SPACE.com.' ... 'The new flares were
accompanied by coronal mass ejections of charged particles that take
anywhere from 18 hours to two or three days to reach Earth. These
CMEs represent the brunt of the storm unleashed by a flare.' .. 'A
storm's precise strength, however, cannot be known until about 30
minutes before it strikes and depends on the orientation of its
magnetic field. If that field is southward -- opposite the direction
of Earth's north-pointing magnetic field -- then the potential is
greatest for accelerating the local particles that can then damage
satellites and fuel aurora.'
// this might be the ultimate remote-controlled car or truck...
Tanker Truck Shutdown Via Satellite // via drudgereport.com
<http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-03zn.html>
'From S3's headquarters in San Diego -- 530 miles from the
demonstration site -- satellite communications were used to disable the
truck in seconds, proving S3's GlobalGuard and FleetGuard a viable
solution to the challenge of controlling rogue hazardous waste vehicles
that could pose a threat to homeland security.' ... 'FleetGuard is a
desktop application that works with GlobalGuard to view, command, and
control each vehicle in an entire fleet at once. GlobalGuard is a
security communications system, based on ReFLEX technology and Global
Positioning System (GPS), providing up-to-the-minute vehicle location
and control of fixed and mobile assets.'
Nanosprings breakthrough shrinks size of sensors // amazing. (& pill)
<http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20031106S0025>
'Because piezoelectric semiconductors are natural resonators, they
don't need all the support circuitry that normal semiconductors need to
make them process and emit signals. When stimulated physically, a
piezoelectric material will naturally oscillate at a known frequency.
Therefore, if its surface is treated to attract, for example, a protein
from a cancer cell, Wang said, then even a single molecule of that
protein could be detected with one of his nanosprings.' .. '"We just
developed our first application, called the positive resonance
technique for detecting biomolecules with nanosprings," Wang said. "If
you have a single molecule on the surface [of a nanospring], you can
detect a change in its resonant frequency, and by determining the
frequency, you can tell what molecule you have."'
// this is absolutely and fabulously absurd. per pound getting
// things to the moon would cost huge amounts of money, time,
// resources, FUEL of enormous proportions. this is like getting
// the energy-utopia visions of the 1960s-1970s space colonizing
// movement as senate-hearings for 'public' .US energy policy.
// how did this get to the front of the agenda, one is to wonder.
// instead, solar and other energy sources _could be redesigned,
// 'here on planet Earth' no less, to deal with things. so far
// very little if nothing has been done, but the moon is proposed
// as the closest and best and easiest solution. yikes. and scary.
// this is only matched by former USSRs Russia to plan to put a
// giant mirror in orbit to send sunlight to Siberia so that work
// could continue under 'daylight' even during the night time.
// there is massive and total incompetence in this approach...
Testimony of Dr. David R. Criswell:
Senate Hearing on "Lunar Exploration" // via drudgereport.com
<http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=10926>
'I am honored to have this opportunity to introduce a program for the
economic and environmental security for Earth, and especially for the
United States of America, by meeting Earth's real electrical power
needs.' .. 'By 2050, approximately 10 billion people will live on Earth
demanding ~5 times the power now available. By then, solar power from
the Moon could provide everyone clean, affordable, and sustainable
electric power. No terrestrial options can provide the needed minimum
of 2 kWe/person or at least 20 terawatts globally.' .. 'Solar power
bases will be built on the Moon that collect a small fraction of the
Moon's dependable solar power and convert it into power beams that will
dependably deliver lunar solar power to receivers on Earth. On Earth
each power beam will be transformed into electricity and distributed,
on-demand, through local electric power grids. Each terrestrial
receiver can accept power directly from the Moon or indirectly, via
relay satellites, when the receiver cannot view the Moon. The intensity
of each power beam is restricted to 20%, or less, of the intensity of
noontime sunlight. Each power beam can be safely received, for example,
in an industrially zoned area.' ... 'Engineers, scientists, astronauts,
and managers skilled in mining, manufacturing, electronics, aerospace,
and industrial production of commodities will create new wealth on the
Moon. Thousands of tele-robotic workers in American facilities,
primarily on Earth, will oversee the lunar machinery and maintain the
LSP System.'
---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------
Brain Maps Perceptions, Not Reality // this is common sense, no?
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031104063920.htm>
'Roe's team will continue to study how the brain processes sensory
input and illusions, though Roe cautions against misinterpretation of
that term. "Illusions are not unusual or strange--they are how we
interpret the world," Roe said. "We think we know what's out there in
the physical world, but it's all interpreted by our brains. Everything
we sense is an illusion to a degree."'
Groundbreaking IBM cancer trial begins
<http://salon.com/tech/wire/2003/11/04/ibm/>
'The case is expected to take at least six weeks and has riveted the
semiconductor industry, which says it has dramatically reduced workers'
exposure to chemicals.'
---------------------------------------------------
03-- electromagnetic trash & treasure
---------------------------------------------------
Traffic light remote controls on eBay have cops concerned
<http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4194680.html>
Signals From Space Enable Earthquake Detection // project SPECTRE
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031103070548.htm>
'The ionosphere is an atmospheric region filled with charged particles
that blankets the Earth between altitudes of about 75 to 1000 km. It
has a notable ability to interfere with radio waves propagating through
it.' ... 'But while such interference can be an inconvenience for
ordinary GPS users, it represents a boon for scientists. By measuring
even much smaller-scale shifts in GPS signal propagation time - caused
by variations in local electron density as the signal passes through
the ionosphere - researchers have at their fingertips a means of
mapping ionospheric fluctuations in near real time.' ... 'What the team
were able to do following the Denali quake was detect a distinctive
wavefront moving through the ionosphere...'
---------------------------------------------------
04-- electromagnetic security & surveillance
---------------------------------------------------
// MRIs plus near-infrared 'cognoscope'... phrenology anyone?
Terrorism lends urgency to hunt for better lie detector
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-11-04-lie-detect-
tech_x.htm>
'In labs across the nation, researchers are using technologies
originally developed to examine diseases, brain activity, obesity and
even learning disorders to try to solve some of the mysteries of human
conduct. The provocative idea behind some of the research is to go
beyond measuring the anxiety of a liar -- as polygraphs try to do --
and to catch the lies as they form in the human brain.' ... 'All the
projects are in their early stages, and they are shadowed by a glaring
fact: Scientists still haven't proven that there is a scientific way to
catch a liar. If a device such as Chance's were to become the standard,
a range of ethical and legal questions would pop up over how it should
be used.'
Security--why don't we get it?
<http://news.com.com/2010-7355-5101632.html>
Amorous ram jams spy signals // via TSCM-L (see photo- hah!)
<http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/04/offbeat.ram.ap/>
'GCHQ's in-house paper, the Daily Observer, said the noises were
unlike anything staff had encountered before and an investigating team
initially thought they were coming from spies or aliens.'
Are Digital Camera Phones Too High-Tech? // gizmodo.com
Digital camera phones spark enterprise security concerns.
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1369399,00.asp>
Start-up makes quantum leap into cryptography
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5103373.html>
'There are limits to quantum cryptography: It's slow and, because it's
based on the physical properties of photons, works only over relatively
short distances. Magiq's boxes can be separated by a distance of up to
about 75 miles and use the secure quantum link only to exchange a
cryptographic key, which a different type of conventional
encryption--one that does not suffer from the theoretical factoring
vulnerability--uses to set up the VPN.'
---------------------------------------------------
05-- electromagnetic power & energy
---------------------------------------------------
With Silicon's Help, a Change in Status for the Lowly Battery
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/technology/circuits/06howw.html>
'The same old electricity still comes out of the contacts, but now
computer chips and sensors help prolong battery life and speed the
charging cycle. Sensors monitor the temperature inside a battery as
chemical reactions during the recharging cause it to heat up. Chips
choreograph the power flow during recharging, allowing current to pour
in rapidly when the batteries are drained and then slowing it as the
batteries become fully charged.' ... [wow-->] 'Balu Balakrishnan, the
chief executive of Power Integrations , a company in San Jose, Calif.,
that makes chip-based power converters, said that many small gadgets,
including MP3 players, come with chargers that are several times larger
and heavier than the devices themselves. "They put all of the work into
the MP3 player," he said.' ... 'The converters that his company makes
are the size of a matchbox and operate more efficiently than a
transformer. When the devices they are connected to are off, the
converters use up to 95 percent less power than a transformer.' ..
'Chips are also being used to reduce the voltage inside the devices
themselves. The best lithium-ion batteries store more energy at higher
voltages, while chips use lower voltages than ever...'
---------------------------------------------------
06-- electromagnetic current & human affairs
---------------------------------------------------
Most Countries' Web Sites Are Ignored
<http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2003/nov/04/
110405041.html>
'Most of the world's nations have their own Web sites, but only 20
percent of people with Internet access use them, according to a U.N.
report released Tuesday.' .. 'Only 18 countries, many in Africa, remain
completely off-line.' ... 'Still, only 15 governments in the world
accept Internet comment on public policy issues and only 33 allow
government transactions, like filing forms or paying fines, over the
Internet.' .. 'At least 60 percent of all e-government projects in
developing countries fail, and about half waste some taxpayer money,
the report said.'
Voyager 1 Probes 'Final Frontier' // our intersteller ambassador
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/
0,1282,61106,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_6>
'"We do have enough electrical power, if nothing breaks on the
spacecraft, we can continue till 2020," said Edward Stone, a Voyager
project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, at a
briefing at NASA headquarters.' ... '... Voyager 1, carrying a gold
record bearing greetings, images and diverse information from Earth...'
[see the following url for contents of the Voyager 1's record]
The Voyager Interstellar Record (1)
<http://www.electronetwork.org/assemblage/zone3/voyager2.htm>
---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------
Silicon sees the light:
New infrared detector could unite fibre optics and microchips.
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/031103/031103-1.html>
'The photodiode, developed at Harvard University in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, converts light pulses into electronic signals. This
conversion is essential for optoelectronics - the combination of
fibre-optic signal-transmission networks and silicon-chip
microprocessors that underpins just about all of today's communication
networks.'
Digital TV: A clear, fuzzy future
<http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0311/04/technology-315442.htm>
'Bottom line: Millions of Americans might have to replace their TV
sets within the next three to four years because of mandates by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and it's not clear whether the
so-called digital-ready television currently being sold will do the
trick all by themselves.'
Pioneering Device Promises A Safer Future For Rail Travel // sensor
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031104064600.htm>
'Microlog is able to detect suspect areas on rail tracks where
problems could lead to train disasters, and can use its technology to
send a rapid warning signal to operators.'
Wristwatch phone turns your finger into an earpiece // gizmodo.com
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1539&ncid=1539&e=2&u=/
afp/20031105/sc_afp/science_phone_japan_031105212601>
// in relation of (computer) screens and the future of HDTV...
New external USB TV tuner from Canopus
<http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/009965.php#009965>
---------------------------------------------------
08-- electromagnetic matter & information
---------------------------------------------------
Honeywell develops parental alert system for schools
<http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4191945.html>
'Here's how the service works: Parents provide schools with e-mail
addresses and phone, pager and fax numbers on a designated Web site
where they can be contacted in the event of an emergency. They can
provide and update multiple contact numbers, including numbers of
guardians and caregivers.' .. 'If a school needs to get a message out,
a principal or other administrator sends an electronic or voice message
to one of Honeywell's data centers with the information it wants
parents to receive. The message can be as detailed as the school
chooses. "The intent is to be short and specific," said Laura Farnham,
vice president of global marketing for the building solutions unit. The
data center then broadcasts the message to parents using the contact
information they have provided.'
Holes in space are not empty
Universe may be full of great dark voids where rules are different.
<http://www.nature.com/nsu/031027/031027-14.html>
'Ostriker's team contends...that light is not necessarily a good way
of tracing matter. Their computer simulations of the structure of the
Universe indicate that light actually switches off rather abruptly as
the total density of matter in space falls.' .. 'Below a certain mass
density, they calculate, it becomes difficult for stars to form. Yet
this darkness should not be assumed to imply emptiness.'
Illinois researchers create world's fastest transistor ... again // via
drudgereport.com
<http://www.news.uiuc.edu/scitips/03/1106feng.html>
'Faster transistors would enable the creation of faster computers and
video games, more flexible and secure wireless communications systems,
and more rapid analog-to-digital conversion for use in radar and other
electronic combat systems.' ... 'The Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency [DARPA] funded the work.'
---------------------------------------------------
09-- electromagnetic trends & inventions
---------------------------------------------------
Qwest signals support of Net phone service // VoIP inroads...
<http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4194057.html>
'Qwest will offer Internet-based telephone service in Minnesota to
save on regulatory expenses and other costs, and to "break the massive
regulatory logjam that exists today," CEO Richard Notebaert said
Tuesday.'
---------------------------------------------------
10-- electromagnetic weaponry & warfare
---------------------------------------------------
Sensitive IAI missile launch recorded by Channel 10
<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/357662.html>
'Israel Aircraft Industries was frantically engaged in damage control
yesterday after an unprecedented security lapse allowed a Channel 10
television technician to capture an internal screening of a secret
missile test via an ordinary satellite dish.' .. 'The technician said
that he captured the unencrypted footage via an ordinary household dish
with a one-meter diameter - the kind owned by the tens of thousands in
Israel and by millions throughout the Middle East. Thus, as Channel
10's military correspondent, Alon Ben David, noted, the intelligence
services of any hostile country could have captured the film the same
way.'
---------------------------------------------------
11-- electromagnetic business & economics
---------------------------------------------------
Personal web surfing can benefit workers
<http://salon.com/tech/wire/2003/11/04/web_use/>
Microsoft Offers Reward to Stop Viruses // $.25 million
<http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031105/D7UKH9T01.html>
Adding style to substance // via gizmodo.com
MORE TECH COMPANIES REALIZING THAT LOOKS COUNT TOO
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/7171782.htm>
'Thinkers, you make the difference' // short speech...
(Bob Galvin is former chairman and chief executive of
Motorola Inc., and the man whose vision led to the
creation of the cellular telephone 30 years ago.)
<http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-galvin06a.html>
---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------
// would this rudimentary virtual book, then, transform ancient
// artifacts into 'interactive', digital, or even new media art?
Please Touch the Art // EM representations for (virtual) art
<http://nytimes.com/2003/11/02/arts/design/02KINO.html>
// not going to commment on the quality of thinking here,
// other than that it is very basic and representative...
Disconnected Urbanism: The cell phone has changed our sense of place
more than faxes, computers, and e-mail. By Paul Goldberger
<http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_1103/obj/>
'I don't know which is worse--the loss of the sense that walking along
a great urban street is a glorious shared experience or the blurring of
distinctions between different kinds of places. But these cultural
losses are related, and the cell phone has played a major role in both.'
I link, therefore I am // VR->AR. hmmmm. good, bad, and ugly.
William Mitchell tells Jim McClellan that networks should
become so important to us, we become part of them // (me++?)
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1078077,00.html>
Polarizer Necklace
<http://www.toolsforwellness.com/75103.html>
Stories of Electromagnetism: Displays of Curiosity, brian carroll // 60
photos...
<http://mnartists.org/
tourItemDetail.do?action=detail&pageIndex=3&rid=28921>
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