LYCOS UPS VoIP ANTE WITH FREE NUMBERS & CALLS Internet portal/e-commerce provider Lycos Inc. has partnered with India-based softphone developer Globe7 to introduce a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application platform that will be downloadable for free and that offers a free U.S. phone number, unlimited free incoming calls and penny-per-minute domestic U.S.

calls after a free call allowance. Overseas long distance is cheap,too - very cheap.

CYBERZONE

New technology can cram the equivalent of 14 DVDs into one square inch of disk space.

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe511178706c0d7f7d15-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

PROFESSOR FORBIDS LAPTOPS, STUDENTS GRUMBLE

June Entman, a law professor at the University of Memphis, has banned laptops from her classes for first-year law students, telling them they must take notes with pen and paper. "The computers interfere with making eye contact," said Entman. "You've got this picket fence between you and the students." She said she wants her students to spend less time taking down everything she says and spend time "thinking and analyzing" instead. Students responded by circulating a petition to have the decision overturned and by submitting a complaint to the American Bar Association, which has since dismissed the complaint. Student Jennifer Bellott said she worried that Entman's decision would spawn a "snowball effect," prompting other professors to do the same. Cory Winsett, another student at the university, said, "If we continue without laptops, I'm out of here. I'm gone; I won't be able to keep up." James Smoot, dean of the law school, said that Entman's decision will stand but that the school will review technology policies.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-03-21-professor-laptop-ban_x.htm

FLU ZONE

WHY BIRD FLU DOESN'T SPREAD BETWEEN HUMANS

Virologists say they understand why bird flu in its present form does not spread among humans.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1598755.htm

WILL THE BIRD FLU JUMP TO HUMANS?

Scientists have new tools to predict how the virus might make the leap, but it may be more difficult than they thought.

<http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe5e11787760007b7716-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

BIRD FLU RESIDES DEEP IN LUNGS, PREVENTING HUMAN TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION

To date, roughly 103 people have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus--or bird flu. Yet few, if any, of them have spread the disease to other humans. A virus's ability to spread is the key to its ability to create a pandemic. New research shows that this bird flu currently lacks the protein key to unlock certain cells in the human upper respiratory tract, preventing it from spreading via a sneeze or a cough.

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe591178706405787c11-fdfb15737467027b72147874-ff3310707762

TRACKING EPIDEMICS

Using the popular "Where's George?" Internet game that traces the travels of dollar bills, scientists have unveiled statistical laws of human travel in the United States, and developed a mathematical description that can be used to model the spread of infectious disease in this country. Like viruses, money is transported by people from place to place. The scientists found that the human movements follow what are known as universal scaling laws. Using the game data, they developed a powerful mathematical theory that describes the observed movements of travelers amazingly well over distances from just a few kilometers to a few thousand. "We were confident that we could learn a lot from the data collected at the bill-tracking website, but the results turned out far beyond our expectations," said Lars Hufnagel, a post-doctoral fellow at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20060316A2

SCIENCE ZONE

METHANOL: THE NEW HYDROGEN

Advances in methanol synthesis, coupled with improved fuel cell technology, could make it a viable alternative to gasoline.

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe5d11787760007b7717-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

FAKE MUSCLES WORK LIKE REAL THING

Artificial muscles made in the lab are 100 times stronger than the real thing, a recent study shows.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_1597849.htm

LASER MAKES SOLID DISAPPEAR

A laser-like beam of light shone at a unique solid makes the material appear to disappear, according to a new study.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/tech/InnovationRepublish_1598153.htm

BABIES CAN LEARN WORDS AS EARLY AS 10 MONTHS

A two-year-old can quickly link an object--whether a flashy rattle or a boring latch--to a word. Even a one-year-old can follow a parent's gaze to an object and match it with a word being spoken. But although anecdotal evidence seems to show that babies younger than one year can learn words, it remains unclear whether they are in fact mastering language. Now a new study reveals that 10-month-old infants can link words and objects, but only if the object is already interesting to them.

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe571178706405787c13-fdfb15737467027b72147874-ff3310707762

BIO BRIEFS

Mass High Tech--Mentoring moves biotech vet into CSO role at Cytonome

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042665

Albany--Company's ultimate goal is to be acquired

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042666

Atlanta--Downtown Market Report: A bioscience beginning: Buoyed by

Georgia State's $500 million University Science Park, a formal

bioscience district could become a reality.

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042667

Atlanta--Biotech takes the lead in attracting VC dollars

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042668

Boston--Antigen working with FDA to fast-track flu vaccine

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042669

Kansas City--Lenexa company hopes to bring HIV treatment to market

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042670

Philadelphia--Genaera eyes elusive prize

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042671

Portland--Tax breaks lure Genentech packaging center to town

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042672

San Antonio--TEKSA is working to hatch tech success stories in S.A.

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042673

San Francisco-- Bid for Chiron highlights CEO's uncertain future at company

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042674

Seattle--Amnis infused: Firm gets $11 million

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22042675

ASIA-PACIFIC ZONE

LETTER FROM SHANGHAI: BEHIND THE U.S. DECLINE OF INFLUENCE IN CHINA

SHANGHAI It is as established a part of the relationship as the purchase of new airliners and other big-ticket trade items. A Chinese leader's arrival in the United States is prepared through gestures meant to clear the air on issues relating to human rights. Long-held prisoners may be released, exiles allowed to return home, publications allowed to reappear. When President Hu Jintao visits Washington soon, there may well be more of this sort of thing, but the tradition as a whole would not seem to have long legs.

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2006/03/22/news/letter.php

R&D funds rise

SHANGHAI's R&D FUNDS RISE

SHANGHAI'S investment in research and development grew an average 22.7 percent during each of the past five years, reaching 70.32 billion yuan (US$8.79 billion) at the end of last year, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau reported. The investment was nearly triple the total from 1996 to 2000, acccording to the report. R&D investment accounted for 2.34 percent of the city's economy last year, not far off the level for developed countries, the bureau said.

FULL ARTICLE

FROM SHANGHAI DAILY

TERRORISM ACCELERATES PREPAID REGISTRATION IN MALAYSIA

Malaysia threatened to cut the unregistered lines of the prepaid cellular phone users, if the users do not register by December 31, 2006. The registration received additional push amid fears that terrorists were using mobile phones to detonate bombs in Thailand's troubled southern region. In Thailand's troubled region, at least one unregistered Malaysian mobile phone was believed to have been used to trigger the bomb. In Malaysia, only 10% of the 18 million prepaid subscribers have registered their addresses and names, though this plan started in late 2005. Malaysia's Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik said the country would move forward with the registration and he added the country is intending make the registration compulsory through law. Thailand has made registration mandatory for prepaid connections after finding cellular phones had triggered the explosions in the country's restive south. The Thai government has said militants' were crossing over into Malaysia to purchase cheap prepaid wireless phone connection to prevent detection.

NTT DoCoMo BEGINS PAYMENT SERVICES WITH WALLET PHONE

NTT DoCoMo will pay $76.9 million (9 billion yen) for a 2% stake in Japan's second-largest convenience store chain to expand the use of new mobile phones that function like credit cards. The deal will allow users of DoCoMo's new credit card payment service "Osaifu-Keitai," or wallet phone, to use their mobile phones to pay for goods at 100 outlets of Lawson, Tokyo-based DoCoMo said in a statement. The service will be expanded to all Lawson's 8,300 stores nationwide by March of next year. DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile phone company with 50 million subscribers, is banking on the new service to drum up new revenue as it fends off tougher competition and falling phone rates. The company said it will buy about 2.09 million shares in Lawson on April 14.

Holograms Break Storage Record

WIRELESS ZONE

Hughes Looking At Rural Internet - Hughes Network Systems LLC] is trying to reposition itself after the sale of its DirecTV satellite television business, announced a campaign aimed at selling Internet access to small businesses and consumers in rural parts of the country.

http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W2RT03064268709A7C77F32919B570

Cognitive Radio

To avoid future wireless traffic jams, Heather "Haitao" Zheng is finding ways to exploit unused radio spectrum.

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe52117773620579721d-fdec1573716c0d7f72137473-ff011674776105

GEORGIA RESEARCHERS DEVELOP HYBRID NETWORK

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing a network technology that promises increased access to high-speed Internet service. The technology would carry both wired and wireless signals on the same fiber-optic cable, allowing both kinds of service in facilities such as conference centers and offices with just one set of wiring. The signal would be split to accommodate connections through wall outlets as well as through wireless access points. Users could connect through either channel and achieve access speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps. The network would also allow so-called wave division multiplexing, which would divide the connection into as many as 32 channels, each capable of the same 2.5 Gbps speed.

http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?NewsID=5640

SITE CITE

CLEOPATRA AVOIDED BAD HAIR DAYS Egyptian queen Cleopatra used her hairstyles to enhance her power and fame, says a professor of art history and classics.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1595873.htm