~e; Electromagnetic News & Views #83

[human being <human@electronetwork.org>]

===================================================
Electromagnetic News & Views -- #83
===================================================

00) Electronetwork.org Commentary (2/08/2004)

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--

Sometimes there is a spike in certain keywords in current
events which overlap many categories. For this newsletter
the words focus on 'nuclear' dynamics and .US VP 'Cheney'.


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

// many accounts have dirty bombs as a most plausible nuclear-threat.
// not sure where this analogy arose, or if it is accurate, yet it may
// have been said that 'like matches to an arsonist,' this type of
// radiation weapon is to terrorists (for inflicting massive damage).

U.S. Terror Expert Warns of Dirty Bomb // radiactive contamination.
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-terror- 
dirty-bomb,0,2279364.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines>

	'"We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a number of these groups, if  
they had it, would use it," said [Cofer Black, U.S. ambassador at large  
for anti-terrorism], who accompanied U.S. Attorney General John  
Ashcroft to an Asia Pacific anti-terror summit on the Indonesian island  
of Bali last week.' ... '"They've got the will. A lot of these guys  
seek the expertise, and there's a reasonable amount of that out there,  
but what you're really looking for is the coming together of all the  
factors: the will, the expertise and the materials," he said.' ...  
'Authorities fear terrorists could create a dirty bomb, which would use  
conventional explosives to disperse a plume of radioactive dust over a  
city. Unlike a nuclear weapon, a dirty bomb would not ignite an atomic  
chain reaction and would not require highly enriched uranium or  
plutonium, which are hard to obtain. The materials could be a  
lower-grade isotope, like those used in medicine or research.'

EM-quote from: The day Cheney was rocked to the core // the motherlode
<http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FB07Aa03.html>

	'While Tenet didn't say anything explicitly about Cheney, he certainly  
didn't do much to dispel the increasingly strong impression in  
Washington ... that, of all of Bush's senior advisers, Cheney and his  
staff worked hardest to hype what the intelligence community was saying  
about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass  
destruction programs.' ... 'While the intelligence community had  
concluded that Saddam wanted nuclear weapons, Tenet declared, it also  
made clear as of late 2002 that Saddam had none, and that he probably  
would not have been able to make one until some time between 2007 and  
2009, at the earliest.' ... 'That assertion, of course, raises a major  
question. If the intelligence community agreed that Saddam had no  
nuclear weapons, where did Cheney get the information that would  
substantiate his statement on the very day that the US launched its  
invasion last March: "And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted      
                      nuclear weapons."' ... 'The answer, according to  
Democratic members of the Congressional intelligence committees, who  
have become increasingly outspoken in recent days, is that Cheney and  
his staff had an independent source of "intelligence" outside the  
formal intelligence community.' ... 'In the legal profession, Tenet's  
reply ["the rest of it, I don't know."] is called a negative pregnant,  
an apparent denial that suggests that further questioning may be  
fruitful....' ... 'But if Cheney felt displeased by Tenet's  
performance, things only got worse - much worse - later in the  
afternoon.....' [outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame by staff, possibly  
Cheney himself, during time of forged Uranium docs...]

Mind Switch: brain wave activation of electronic devices // thanks *
<http://ats.business.gov.au/aws/NSW_273/>

	'People with profound disabilities resulting from quadriplegia,  
massive stroke, cerebral palsy or numerous other medical conditions  
will be able to regain a degree of independence following the  
development of the Mind Switch.' ... 'Researchers at the University of  
Technology Sydney have discovered a way to activate electronic devices  
using nothing more than brain waves.  The Mind Switch is unique in that  
it doesn't need biofeedback control. The switch relies on the increase  
in alpha waves which occurs when the eyes are closed. Sensors in a cap  
worn by the person detect this increase (or decrease when the eyes are  
opened again) and send radio-frequency signals to a microprocessor. The  
appliance needing to be adjusted is selected from a menu displayed by  
the computer, and then controlled as required. The great advantage with  
the Mind Switch is that it can be operated with very little training.  
Once a person is familiar with the technology, switching the  
television, lights or other electrical device on or off becomes quick  
and easy.' ... 'Mind Switch is a platform technology which could be  
used in a number of other applications....'

[&] The Mind Switch: Brain signals and control of electrical devices
<http://www.mindswitch.com.au/Papers/mind_switch%20paper%201.htm>
<http://www.mindswitch.com.au/> // .pdfs

	'Alpha electroencephalographic activity remains poorly understood.  
While it has been used in attempts to control devices like computers,  
to date, success has been limited. Our research has resulted in an  
advance in this area. We have shown participants can achieve rapid,  
reliable and remote control of an electrical device using alpha wave  
activity associated with reduced visual input.'

// ~irreversible shortage of oil~ and * geoostrategic energy policy *

'Out of Gas': They're Not Making More // book review of peak oil.
<http://nytimes.com/2004/02/08/books/review/08RAEBURT.html>

	'The age of oil is ending, [David Goodstein] says. The supply will  
soon begin to decline, precipitating a global crisis. Even if we  
substitute coal and natural gas for some of the oil, we will start to  
run out of fossil fuels by the end of the century. ''And by the time we  
have burned up all that fuel,'' he writes, ''we may well have rendered  
the planet unfit for human life. Even if human life does go on,  
civilization as we know it will not survive.''' ... 'Now Goodstein and  
many others have shown that the same methods [predicting peak oil  
production and decline], when applied to global oil production and  
resources, predict a Hubbert's peak in world oil supplies within this  
decade, or, in the best-case scenarios, sometime in the next.'

---------------------------------------------------
02-- electromagnetic health & safety
---------------------------------------------------

Nanopulses tweak the innards of cells // 'electroporation'
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994635>

	'The method involves exposing cells to an extremely powerful electric  
field for very brief periods. "The effects of these pulses are fairly  
dramatic," says Tom Vernier of the University of Southern California in  
Los Angeles, who will present some of his team's results at a  
nanotechnology conference in Boston in March. "We see it as reaching  
into the cell and manipulating intracellular structures."' ... 'But the  
latest technique involves more powerful electric fields, with gradients  
of tens of megavolts per metre, applied for much shorter periods. These  
nanosecond-pulsed electric fields are too brief to generate an electric  
charge across the outer membrane of cells, but they do affect  
structures within cells.'

Crystsal Lattice Structures // ** see: visualize structure (JMOL Applet)
<http://cst-www.nrl.navy.mil/lattice/>

Physicists Use Fractals To Help Parkinson's Sufferers // sensors
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040203232954.htm>

	'Researchers have previously tried to quantify the problems suffered  
by Parkinson's patients by studying their gait. Now [researchers] have  
devised a portable system based on a sensor placed on the patient's  
body that measures movements in three dimensions. The readings from  
this sensor, known as a tri-axial accelerometer, are fed to a computer,  
together with measurements of the patients walking speed, and analysed  
using a fractal system.'

Optic Nerve Disease May Cause Sleep Disorders
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040202064949.htm>

	'"In our basic research, we have demonstrated that animals that lack  
rods and cones in the retina still have very normal circadian, or body  
clock, functions," [Van Gelder] says. "But animals that lack the  
ganglion, or 'light meter' cells cannot synchronize their clocks to the  
outside world."'

'Mindsight' could explain sixth sense // perception
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994638>

	'Our visual system can produce a strong gut feeling that something has  
changed, Rensink says, even if we cannot visualise that change in our  
minds and cannot say what was altered or where the alteration occurred.'

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

After a Death, Con Ed Tests Show High-Voltage Dangers Lurking // yikes
<http://nytimes.com/2004/02/06/nyregion/06shock.html>

	'The highest voltage found was 140 at a lamppost at 53rd Avenue and  
Oceania Street in Bayside, Queens. A block from Times Square, on 43rd  
Street off Eighth Avenue - among the city's busiest areas - Con Ed  
found and corrected a street lamp with 110 stray volts. Any voltage  
above 50 can be fatal.' ... 'Manhattan had 53 electrified manholes and  
service-box covers, and 30 charged lampposts. The Bronx had 6  
electrified manhole and service-box covers and 25 charged lampposts. In  
Brooklyn, 25 manhole and service-box locations and 38 streetlights were  
cited, and in Queens, 34 faulty lampposts and 24 manholes and service  
boxes. For Westchester County, Con Ed said, there were only 2  
electrified service-box and manhole covers found and no faulty  
lampposts. (Locations for all the services boxes, lampposts and manhole  
covers can be found at nytimes.com/metro.)'

Texas toilet starts gushing oil:
Woman returns to crude-covered home // via drudgereport.com  
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4178647/>

Disposal of Nuclear Waste at Hanford, Circa 1950s // image
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/trench.htm>

Orbital tracking reveals thinning upper atmosphere
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994650>

	'Below the thermosphere, these gases are dense enough to trap the  
radiation from the Sun and that reflected from the Earth, which warms  
the planet. But at higher altitudes, the lower density makes the  
greenhouse gases efficient at siphoning heat into space.'


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

False Domain Info May Mean Jail 
<http://www.wired.com/news/politics/ 
0,1283,62198,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1>

US Army Engineering Manual for Remote Sensing // .PDF via cryptome.org
<http://www.usace.army.mil/usace-docs/eng-manuals/em1110-2-2907/toc.htm>

	Chapter 1 - Introduction to Remote Sensing
	Chapter 2 - Principles of Remote Sensing Systems
	Chapter 3 - Sensors and Systems
	Chapter 4 - Data Acquisition and Archives
	Chapter 5 - Processing Digital Imagery
	Chapter 6 - Remote Sensing Applications in USACE
	Appendix A - References
	Appendix B - Regions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
				 and Useful TM Band Combinations
	Appendix C - Paper Model of the Color Cube/Space
	Appendix D - Satellite Sensors (File size: 1.92 MB)
	Appendix E - Select Satellite Platforms and Sensors
	Appendix F - Airborne Sensors
	Appendix G - TEC's Imagery Office (TIO) SOP
	Appendix H - Example Contract - Statement of Work (SOW)
	Appendix I - Example Acquisition - Memorandum of Understand (MOU)
	
[or] excerpts of Remote Sensing Introduction and Appendices D, E, F
<http://cryptome.org/sensing-sats.htm>

	'b. Included in this work is a background of the principles of remote  
sensing, with a focus on the physics of electromagnetic waves and the  
interaction of electromagnetic waves with objects. Aerial photography  
and history of remote sensing are briefly discussed.' ... 'e. Examples  
of remote sensing applications used in the Corps of Engineers mission  
areas are presented. These missions include land use, forestry,  
geology, hydrology, geography, meteorology, oceanography, and  
archeology.'

[and] Glossary of Remote Sensing Terms
<http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/AppD/glossary.html>

// not sure what is going on yet there seems to be more reporting
// on Cold War encounters in the realm of truly frightening close-
// calls that could have hurdled humanity towards global catastrophe.
// this op-ed column goes further into another story's relation to
// current affairs in the .US yet the account is shared here for a
// sense of the danger that may forever now be lurking at every turn
// when the nuclear powers are now multipolarized, with more unknowns.
// NYT articles are archived quite fast, hopefully some get to read...

Secret Obsessions at the Top By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF // Safire followup
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/07/opinion/07KRIS.html>

	'In 1981, we now know, the K.G.B.  chairman said at a secret  
conference that President Ronald Reagan was planning to launch a  
nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. The Soviets became consumed  
with the U.S. threat, just as the Bush administration became  obsessed  
with the Iraq threat. The K.G.B. ordered all its offices in NATO  
countries to seek evidence of Mr. Reagan's plans for a pre-emptive  
nuclear strike, and they code-named the effort RYAN.' ... 'Once K.G.B.  
officers knew what Moscow wanted, they found "evidence" everywhere of  
Mr. Reagan's secret plans for a nuclear strike —  confirming Moscow's  
worst fears.' ... 'Then NATO held a nuclear launching  exercise in  
November 1983,  playing into the Soviet alarm. The K.G.B. mistakenly  
reported  to Moscow that NATO was on an actual alert. The Soviets  put  
their own forces on alert  and braced for a nuclear attack.' ... 'It  
was "one of the worst nuclear scares since the Cuban missile crisis —  
and Washington didn't even know it until after it was over," James  
Risen and Milt Bearden  write in their terrific  book about the spy  
wars, "The Main Enemy."'

Flaw likely to keep computer bug going // and going and going...
<http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,590040968,00.html>

	'The Mydoom computer virus, which brought down Lindon-based SCO Group  
Inc.'s Web site last weekend, has a flaw that may continue the attack  
past Feb. 12, the date it's set to end, said closely held anti-virus  
software maker Kaspersky Labs.' ... 'Mydoom probably won't stop sending  
waves of information requests to SCO's Web site as expected because the  
instructions that tell it to cease contain a programming flaw,  
according to Marc Blanchard, head of Moscow-based Kaspersky's  
anti-virus center in Paris.' ... '"The command that tells the virus to  
stop its attack does not work," Blanchard said. For that reason,  
regardless of what date the computer has, the virus may attack  
indefinitely, he said....'

Pentagon cancels Internet voting system
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2004/02/05/pentagon_voting/>

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

EM-quote from: Foes see flaws, but backers see ability in Cheney
<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/02/06/ 
democrats_eyeing_a_novel_target_vp/>

	'Asked if the vice president believes the hunting trip was  
inappropriate, Kevin Kellems, a spokesman for Cheney, declined to  
comment on an engagement that was not on Cheney's official schedule.'

[and] Murder Most Fowl by Maureen Dowd // slaying the unsayables...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/opinion/08DOWD.html>

	'Now, with the White House looking untrustworthy and desperate; with  
the national security team flapping around and pointing fingers at each  
other and, of course, Bill Clinton; with even the placid Laura getting  
testy; and with Newsweek reporting that the Justice Department is  
reviewing whether Halliburton was involved in paying $180 million in  
kickbacks to get  contracts in Nigeria at a time when Dick Cheney was  
chairman, anybody else would be sweating.' ... 'Not deadeye Dick. His  
heavy lids didn't blink when it turned out he'd blown up a half-century  
of American foreign policy alliances on a high-level hallucination.'  
... 'Here he was, fresh from presenting a crystal dove to an obviously  
perplexed pope, stolidly waiting for the club's pheasant wranglers to  
shoo the doomed birds into his line of fire. He had killed only 70 or  
so the last time out. But this time he was convinced that the bird  
population could sustain more casualties. Quack and Awe.' ... '"This is  
our due," Dick said. He fired a shot: BLAM!'

[and] Cheney: The Man in the Bubble // regarding Davos visit...
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op- 
schell8feb08,1,5130605.story>

	'This year, though, there was an exception to this momentary democracy  
of the elite, a participant who kept himself isolated in a personal  
bubble even within the bubble that is Davos. Vice President Dick Cheney  
did not so much attend as descend on Davos, roaring up the narrow  
valley in his helicopter, accompanied by a squadron of military  
choppers. On what was only his second trip abroad while in office, he  
brought with him the bubble of all bubbles.' ... 'Certainly, given our  
terrorized planet, one expected the vice president to be accompanied by  
a considerable security complement. But the measures taken for him,  
even in this new, security-conscious world, outstripped by a light-year  
those taken for any other participant. Also in attendance were such  
world leaders ... but their security details ... were dwarfed by  
Cheney's.' ... 'Helicopters swooped in, bombproof limousines appeared,  
caged attack dogs materialized, elaborate communications systems were  
set up and scores of bulky Secret Service agents, sporting American  
flag lapel pins and telltale earpieces, fanned out ahead of Cheney's  
every movement.' ... 'Cheney's arrival at the five-star Steigenberger  
Belvedere hotel left the world's elite suddenly experiencing periodic  
lockdowns, in some cases confined to their rooms as the vice president  
entered or left the building. ...  Officious aides with clipboards  
bustled around, security guards fanned out and yellow tape mysteriously  
blocked off certain spaces. It was as if the emperor himself had  
suddenly appeared....'

Plants Give Up Their Secret of Splitting Water // via ae-l
<http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20040205_503.html>

	'Researchers said on Thursday they had taken another step toward  
understanding how plants split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms --  
which may provide a cheap way to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel.'

[and] Seeing How Plants Split Water Could Provide Key
To Our Future Energy Needs // X-ray crystallography...
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040206085311.htm>

Slaying the Gorgon
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,11319,1142101,00.html>

'Rule-breaking' Molecule Could Lead To Non-metal Magnets
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040203235638.htm>

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

Iran's Most Wanted: Filmmakers // free expression, at great cost...
<http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/ 
0,1412,62179,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3>

	'Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the country's only sanctioned  
filmmaking has come about through government agencies. Within this  
system, world-renowned filmmakers including Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen  
Makhmalbaf have built an artful, innovative stream of movies. In terms  
of aesthetics, Iranian cinema has been an unqualified success.' ...  
'But Mansouri indicated that these state-sponsored filmmakers do not  
have the freedom to explore the important issues facing Iranians.  
Underground filmmakers like Mantini, on the other hand, strive to  
tackle, head-on, Iran's societal ills.' ... 'More and more may be doing  
just that, using consumer cameras and editing systems.'

If you kick a robotic dog, is it wrong? // aibo-ethics.
<http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0205/p18s01-stct.html>

	'Among those celebrating the ability to forget a pet without  
consequence is a national animal rights group, People for the Ethical  
Treatment of Animals (PETA).' ... '"The turn toward having robotic  
animals in place of real animals is a step in the right direction,"  
says PETA spokeswoman Lisa Lange. "It shows a person's recognition that  
they aren't up to the commitment of caring for a real animal.  
Practically speaking, from PETA's perspective, it really doesn't matter  
what you do to a tin object."'

Sex In The Brain: How Do Male Monkeys Evaluate Mates?
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/01/040130080948.htm>

	'"We were surprised to observe high levels of neural activity in areas  
of the brain important for decision-making, as well as in purely sexual  
arousal areas, in response to olfactory cues," Snowdon says. "Lighting  
up far more brightly than we expected were areas associated with  
decision-making and memory, emotional processing and reward, and  
cognitive control."' ... 'The marmoset fMRI findings add strong weight  
to the mounting evidence that, when faced with a novel, sexually  
attractive and receptive female, males even in monogamous species  
aren't necessarily just acting on some primal urge to procreate,  
without a second thought. Rather, they exhibit highly organized,  
complex neural processes.'

---------------------------------------------------
07-- electromagnetic transport & communication
---------------------------------------------------

Smart switching could solve communication tangle
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994640>

	'The new system, which IBM calls Mercury, will track where you are at  
work, at home, in the street and plug you into the medium you prefer in  
that location, whether it be cellphone, email, instant messaging, pager  
or landline phone.' ... 'Despite Mercury's Big Brother overtones,  
communications experts are convinced that this kind of smart system  
will soon be in demand.'

// this same concept could be used for painted metal 'stopsigns'
// that are at intersections where cars usually speed through
// without seeing the red stop sign. a light-shifting paint,
// used on some cars, could be developed which shifts the 'stop
// sign' from one spectrum of red to another, even to white so
// as to flash if it is to be like a blinking light (if one is
// to approach around a corner or down a hill, towards a sign.

The Dynamap // multiple maps, per vantage point.
<http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/the_dynamap.php>

How Car Computers Work -
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/car-computer.htm>

Report Questions Bush Plan for Hydrogen-Fueled Cars
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/06/politics/06HYDR.html>

	'President Bush's plan for cars running on clean, efficient  hydrogen   
fuel cells  is  decades away from commercial  reality,  according to a  
report by the National Academy of Sciences.' ... 'The Bush  
administration anticipates mass production of hydrogen cars by 2020.  
But the  academy study, released Wednesday, said some of the Energy  
Department's goals were "unrealistically aggressive."'


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

Dazzling New Light Source Opens At
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040202065611.htm>

	'Synchrotron light has revolutionized our view into the  
sub-microscopic world and has contributed to major innovations in  
fields including solid-state physics, materials science, environmental  
sciences, structural biology and chemistry. Synchrotron light is  
created when electrons traveling the speed of light take a curved path  
around a storage ring--emitting electromagnetic light in x-ray through  
infrared wavelengths. The resulting light beam has characteristics that  
make it ideal for revealing the intricate architecture and utility of  
many kinds of matter.'

MIT's Nanoruler Could Impact Space Physics, More // *
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040203233840.htm>

Oops at Post shuts down E-mail // via drudgereport.com
<http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/whisphome.htm>

// note: stardust traces of now-extinct technetium atoms...

Counting Atoms That Aren't There, In Stars That No Longer Exist
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/01/040130075555.htm>

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

NTT shows-off new 3D Nanofabrication // 60 nanometer
<http://www.i4u.com/article1101.html>
<http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news04e/0402/040202_1.html>

	'The world's smallest globe (nano-globe). It displays coastlines and  
rivers, and there is some contrast between land and sea areas. The  
patterning (EB exposure) of the entire world map only took about 2  
minutes.'

Traditional take on data clutter // Executive Dashboard...
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3452315.stm>

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

Bush says Saddam had capacity for nukes
<http://salon.com/news/wire/2004/02/08/bush/>
	
// of reporting about the nuclear blackmarket, one account said
// that nuclear information for bomb building was of a 'grab bag'
// sort of exchange, where more information about more things is
// traded, almost some kind of bootlegging of the nuclear trade and
// an accumulation of various kinds of information sold together.

PAKISTAN & DANGERS OF NUCLEAR JIHAD // via cryptome.org
<http://www.saag.org/papers10/paper904.html>

	'... Pakistan is the original birth place of the concept of the  
nuclear jihad, which highlighted the need for an Islamic atomic bomb  
and advocated  the right and the religious obligation of the Muslims to  
acquire  weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and use them, if necessary,  
to protect their religion...'

// have thought enough about the shoulder-fired missile issue
// to think it is ludicrous to approach the problem from a
// plane-based perspective, and not that of the airports, or
// ports themselves. likewise, it would be like putting an
// x-ray machine on every shipping container, versus at ports
// for cargo rail/trucking/ship transfers. the ideas that seem
// just as possible, if on an airplane, would be dumping fuel in
// some preplanned method, and igniting it. or maybe a gigantic
// capicitor could charge up from onboard engines to be able to
// send out some pulse of energy, directed by a control system.
// else, why not have airports, each airport in the .US as an
// example, set up 'the perimeter' with IR and laser outposts,
// to be able to triangulate or more, from the ground, to any
// launched missile, and to hand off the missile one laser to
// another until it is heading for a predetermined crash site.
// not sure if it is feasible, today, yet guessing that large
// airports are dealing with hundreds of planes a day in traffic,
// one airport setup would offer one or several protective layers
// while in flight systems could use additional means, especially
// if the missiles are run by complex computers, to deceive the
// systems into not seeing the heat. or, using stealth paint and
// other new designs on planes to counter possibly easy targeting.
// maybe engines could send out a packet of explosive wire, also,
// which would create a giant net of heat to divert any missiles.
// plus, the spaceshuttle uses ceramics to keep cool in re-entry,
// maybe engines could use new materials to lower heat signature.

How to Make a Missile Miss // airplanes vs. shoulder launched missiles
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/magazine/08MISSILE.html>

	'.... another approach has emerged as an attractive political option:  
the outfitting of every American passenger jet with a complex system to  
elude shoulder-launched missiles. (It would not be possible to  
quarantine every airport out to a point beyond their range.) The  
Department of Homeland Security has set aside $120 million to study  
that possibility.' ... 'All these complications have led a number of  
people in Washington to question whether defending against shoulder-  
fired missiles is worth all the trouble. Are they really a serious  
enough threat to merit the $7 billion to $10 billion it would cost to  
outfit all U.S. passenger planes?'

// just heard it said that the .US knew of this for 'some time'...

The nuclear supermarket
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/06/ 
wnuke06.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/02/06/ 
ixportaltop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=115123>

The Trestle Electromagnetic Pulse Simulator // img. via cryptome.org
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/trestle.htm>

	'The facility is the largest wood-and-glue laminated structure in the  
world. Aircraft tested here are subjected to up to 10 million volts of  
electricity to simulate the effects of a nuclear explosion and assess  
the "hardness" of electrical and electronic equipment to the EMP pulse  
generated by a nuclear burst.'

Caterpillar tractors haul "Jumbo"
across the New Mexico desert, May 1945
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/jumbo.htm>

Troops Observing the "Dog" Nuclear Weapons Test, November 1, 1951//img
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/dog.htm>

[and] The "Mike" Test, November 1, 1952 // images
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/mike.htm>

[and] B-52H bomber with Advanced Cruise Missiles // image
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/b52h.htm>

[and] Nike Defensive Missiles // image
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/nike.htm>

[and] PAVE PAWS Early Warning Radar
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/radar.htm>

THE U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS COST STUDY PROJECT -- Atomic Audit:
The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940
<http://www.brook.edu/FP/PROJECTS/NUCWCOST/WEAPONS.HTM>

[and] U.S. Nuclear Weapons Photo Gallery
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/photos.htm>

50 Facts About U.S. Nuclear Weapons // 67,500 missiles! .US lost 11...
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/50.htm>

	'35.  Number of nuclear tests in the Pacific: 106
	'36.  Number of U.S. nuclear tests in Nevada: 911
	
[and] U.S. Nuclear Weapons Research, Development, Testing,
and Production, and Naval Nuclear Propulsion Facilities
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/sites.htm>

[and] Bombs in the Backyard:
Bases and Facilities with Significant Current or Historical
U.S. Nuclear Weapons or Naval Nuclear Propulsion Missions
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/basesize.htm>


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

ATTN: inventors // some advice. by way of googlenews alert for EM...
<http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=628>

China lifts its ban on foreign TV production // via drudgereport.com
<http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/ 
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1075982374751&p=1012571727085>

	'The move also underlines Beijing's determination to commercialise  
media organisations ranging from newspapers to television stations -  
all of which have long been run as arms of the state and its ruling  
Communist party. Under the new policy, "strong and influential" foreign  
com- panies will be able to hold minority stakes in Chinese production  
companies, said Zhu Hong of the State Administration of Radio, Film and  
Television (Sarft).' ... 'Beijing is hoping a dramatic increase in  
private sector involvement in the television business will raise the  
quality and quantity of the content produced for the local market.'

---------------------------------------------------
12-- electromagnetic artworks & artifacts
---------------------------------------------------

"A Charged Place" - Powerline-circle by Mikael Richter // thanks *
<http://www.konst.org/eng/ladd.htm>

	'The work of art consists of seven power-line pylons placed in a  
circle with a diameter of 60 metres. A 40 kV powerline is led in a  
circle and the current is allowed to take an extra turn before in  
continues south at a higher level.'

[and] Halos over Fredgatan by Mikael Richter // EM artwork. ***
<http://www.konst.org/eng/glorior.htm>

[and] Light House by Mikael Richter // EM artwork. ***
<http://www.konst.org/eng/lyshus2.htm>
<http://www.konst.org/eng/lyshus.htm>

// 1998 hypothesis of EM home-theaters: Deconstructing the Wherehouse.
// next with HDTV & computer screen integration-- interfacing media...
// architects could do a lot with these issues, if studies and then
// conceptualized in relation to how houses and spaces work in the
// realm of EM yet also information systems, infrastructures, details.
// also, Feng Shui apparently was proposed for California building
// code, or proposed to be. this is an energy-based conceptualization
// of space that is taught in school, yet is far from its originating
// context or cultural understanding. whereas EM forces do exist in
// inhabited spaces, and without going into the complexities of EMFs
// and pending public health debates that someday will arrive, spaces
// could still be developed which optimize safety from these devices
// which, the larger they are, likely have more EM effects. buildings
// could be redesigned around e-systems such as plugs and sockets and
// central cores for distribution or ceiling or other distributions,
// to keep sockets away from little peoples hands and sleeping heads.
// none of which is being done today, only more of the Big Media Room.
// maybe, instead, consumer electronics divisions will just design an
// inhabitable Home Entertainment System that can double as a house...

Let's All Gather Round the Screen // audiovisual entertainment hearth
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/05/technology/circuits/05thea.html>

	'The VCR and the DVD player have changed where and how Americans watch  
movies, and now home theaters are further transforming the experience.  
As setups like the Slotkys' become commonplace, TV watching is becoming  
more of a communal ritual, shared with family and friends.' ...  
'"People really congregate around it. It's what people do now," said  
Mike Orio, who designs and installs home theater systems in the New  
York area and is the host of frequent movie gatherings at his Brooklyn  
home. "It's an American temple and the screen is the altar."' ... 'Some  
home-theater owners find that their living room has become a gathering  
place for neighbors to watch big games and other special events. Others  
prefer more intimate movie viewings with a few friends.'  
...'"Everybody's doing it, said David Bruce Mann, an architect in  
Manhattan....' ... 'Home theaters generally have a television with a  
screen of at least 30 inches combined with surround-sound speakers, but  
there are plenty of other permutations.'

Putting A Shine On 'The Apple'// international streetlight competition
<http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-streetlights.story>

	'Called "City Lights," the competition is open to designers,  
architects, engineers, urban planners and the like.  Specific criteria  
for the competition go out Monday and entries will be accepted until  
May 14. A winner will be announced  Oct. 15.' ... 'The "City Lights"  
competition appears to have a more forward-looking bent.' ... 'An  
introduction to the competition posted on the city government's Web  
site states that the city wants "an innovative, state-of-the-art design  
that responds to the unique diversity of the city's architecture and  
urban landscape."'

// note: no jurists appear to have knowledge of EM & architecture.
// this could have been an interesting thing to consider, by all
// architecture schools, dealing with EL technologies, bio.sensors,
// signage, information relays, LEDs, fiberoptic lighting, etc.
// such a 'competition' should be open-sourced so all can benefit
// from innnovative ideas and experiments to co-develop new options
// that could be used, competitively and collaboratively, all over.
// also, the cobra head streetlight may be the most ubiquitous object
// ever designed in terms of infrastructures, around the world it is
// an artifact of 'modernism' that bring unity to places as diverse
// as Africa, the Middle-East, Asia, Americas, Antarctica even. the
// streetlight fixture has symbolism and a utility that transcends
// one city, which is rare and also needed today, in new lighting,
// at the same time as various lighting systems co-exist. that there
// are global connections and local connections with infrastructures.
// (plus, electricity and its cultural aspects are not dealt with in
// today's study and research in architecture, so there is absolutely
// no expertise with regard to what would make a 21st century light,
// or lighting infrastructure, when there is no knowledge of such
// lights in an architectural understanding. a jury is an absurdity.
// instead, schools should begin exploring these issues as questions
// beyond modernist design-styling based on visual aesthetics, and
// start a networked research project on such infrastructures, there
// components, how they relate to architecture, how they could now
// function given the present enviornment and experiences of cities,
// networks, etc. today, one could make glowing cement as a system,
// or luminscent wiring as building detailing. street-light? question.
// NYC and NJ had 'centralized' lighting systems, via Thomas Edison.
// there's a lot here that could be explored, some day in some future.

City Lights competition // $100 registration, unfortunate decision.
<http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/ddc/html/citylights/home.html>

	'This is a two-stage, international design competition. The  
competition format asks competitors to submit their concept ideas in  
Stage I, and for a jury to select three competitors who will receive an  
honorarium to produce more detailed designs in Stage II. Stage I of the  
competition is open to the entire design community including  
architects, artists, engineers, landscape architects, planners, urban  
designers, lighting designers, product and industrial designers, and  
manufacturers. Recognizing that the apparent simplicity of a  
streetlight design belies its technical complexity, the Sponsor  
encourages multi-disciplinary teams to participate. Stage II  
competitors will be required to include on their team at least one  
individual licensed to practice structural engineering in the country  
or state of their residence.'

	COMPETITION JURY
	ELIZABETH DILLER, Architect
	Diller + Scofidio, New York, NY
	PETER EISENMAN, FAIA
	Eisenman Architects, New York, NY
	GUY NORDENSON, Structural Engineer
	Guy Nordenson and Associates, New York, NY

Some "modern" technology is a lot older than you think // *
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2004-02-06- 
kantor_x.htm>

Construction of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)
(Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado) // image. nuke-shock absorbers
<http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/nucwcost/spring.htm>

// effects from sonar systems on whales are an issue related to this.

Computers power Cirque spectacle -- BBC ClickOnline's Ian Hardy
goes behind the scenes at the Cirque Du Soleil show, O, in
Las Vegas to see how computers help create the performance.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3465711.stm>

	'After six years in production, the routinely sold out show runs like  
a finely-tuned engine, yet thrives on the unexpected.' ... 'The  
sophisticated technology can follow along with a perfect routine, but  
at a moment's notice can be re-programmed to allow any act to repeat a  
death-defying leap should it go wrong.' ... 'The lights and music can  
all be altered in a split second.' ... '"Our audio department was  
working with Nasa and the Navy to figure out how to broadcast low  
frequencies through our pool," said Mr Ricotta.' ... '"Part of the  
problem that we have here is that although we can communicate it has to  
be really driven. The ideal way would be to use very low frequencies  
the way that whales do, and we're trying to work that out."'


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