FUTURE ZONE

THE WAY WE WILL BE 50 YEARS FROM TODAY

In the new book The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today: 60 Of The World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision Of The Next Half-Century (Thomas Nelson, April 2008), Mike Wallace asks a group of visionaries, including 15 Nobel Prize winners, to describe the next half-century.

Among the forecasts:

• Our grandchildren will live to be 140 years old.

• Diseases such as breast cancer and heart disease will be preventable or even wiped out.

• Each of us will have a copy of our own complete DNA sequence, incorporated into a highly accurate electronic medical record and can be accessible from anywhere.

• Schizophrenia and bipolar disorders will be well understood and treatable.

• People will be forced to marry others based on genotypes and those who are not authorized will be subject to tremendous tax burdens for any sick or disabled children.

• Humans will have exhausted most of the coal and oil reserves of the planet and added many pollutants to the environment.

• We may have lived through a nuclear war.

Essayists in the book include Nobel-prize-winner George Smoot, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, Internet co-creator Vint Cerf, and futurist Ray Kurzweil.

HOMELAND SECURITY ZONE

BLOODSHED IN LOS ANGELES: DOMESTIC TERRORISM?

Pointing to "what the Los Angeles Police Department is categorizing as 'random acts of gang violence,'" the Los Angeles Sentinel says that "the body count in American communities has escalated while the killings in Iraq have decreased. Los Angeles homicides have increased 27 percent with at least 75 killings so far in 2008"-"what the Sentinel this week is chronicling as domestic terrorism," saying that the bloodshed meets the accepted definition as "the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological." [View article] http://www.lasentinel.net/Terrorism-in-Los-Angeles.html

NATURAL DISASTER ZONE

UNUSUAL EARTHQUAKE SWARM OFF OREGON COAST PUZZLES SCIENTISTS

Scientists have recorded more than 600 earthquakes in the last 10 days off the central Oregon coast in an area not typically known for a high degree of seismic activity. This earthquake "swarm" is unique, according to marine geologists, because it is occurring within the middle of the Juan de Fuca plate -- away from the major, regional tectonic boundaries.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080413184801.htm

AGENCY IS UNDER PRESSURE TO DEVELOP DISASTER HOUSING

The government said it will no longer use travel trailers to house the victims of future disasters, but its effort to develop a replacement has not impressed housing experts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/us/13trailers.html?th&emc=th

HOW STRONG IS THAT HURRICANE?

Knowing how powerful a hurricane is, before it hits land, can help to save lives or to avoid the enormous costs of an unnecessary evacuation. So far, there's only one surefire way of measuring the strength of a hurricane: Sending airplanes to fly right through the most intense winds and into the eye of the storm, carrying out wind-speed measurements as they go. Researchers think there may be a better, cheaper way of determining how powerful a hurricane is. The technique involves listening for the storms with acoustic sensors.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410115330.htm

EARTHQUAKE CONFERENCE NEXT WEEK IN SEATTLE

Earthquake experts from around the nation will be attending a conference in Seattle focusing on tsunami dangers. The five-day National Earthquake Conference that begins Tuesday will include field trips to sites that show evidence of the Seattle fault and previous tsunamis. There are still signs of the Cascadia offshore earthquake of 1700 that created a tsunami wave that reached Japan. Participants also will tour of the Washington State Emergency Response Center near Tacoma and take a look at seismic retrofit projects in the Seattle area.

FULL ITEM FROM AP

CYBERZONE

ONLINE VIDEO DOWNLOADS SURPASSED 10 BILLION IN FEBRUARY

More than 130 million U.S. Web browsers spent an average of 204 minutes in February watching 10.1 billion online videos, according to a report from comScore. The number of downloaded videos was a 66% increase over the comparable month in 2007.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6552003.html

E-PAPER DISPLAYS MOVE A STEP CLOSER TO REAL PAPER

A new electronic paper display could allow users to annotate pages in electronic books, make amendments to documents, and erase parts of the page with as much ease as using a real pen and paper.

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3143017/121438482/108858/0/

UK's OFCOM PONDERS FUTURE OF FAST NET

Water and electricity pipes could be utilised to deliver superfast broadband, says Ofcom.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/technology/7350431.stm

BAY AREA TOPS NATION IN FAST INTERNET ACCESS

The Bay Area leads the country in adopting high-speed Internet, according to a report released today by the Bay Area Council. The business group's latest survey estimates that 76 percent of the region uses high-speed...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/04/14/BUH3103EIR.DTL

JUDGE PUTS STOP TO MORE 'VISTA CAPABLE' INSIDER E-MAILS

A case against the software  giant is put on hold while a court reviews Microsoft's appeal. The move temporarily  blocks disclosure of any new e-mails by Microsoft employees.

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3087339/121438485/107073/0/

SCIENCE ZONE

EVOLUTION: 24 MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS

Since the publication of Origin of Species, evidence for evolution has been overwhelming - it is the foundation of all biology. But most people around the world are not taught the truth about evolution and alternatives often appear convincing. So New Scientist has put together a guide to a few common myths and misconceptions about evolution, including: "All characteristics are due to natural selection" - male nipples aren't "Nature is limitlessly inventive" - but there aren't any flying plants "Natural selection always leads to perfection" - no it doesn't...

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn13620?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=dn13620

DARWIN's FIRST DRAFT GOES ONLINE

The first draft of Charles Darwin's highly influential book on evolution is made available  online for the first time.Full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/7351980.stm

WIRELESS EEG SYSTEM SELF-POWERED BY BODY HEAT & LIGHT

Scientists have developed a battery-free wireless 2-channel EEG system powered by a hybrid power supply using body heat and ambient light which could be used to monitor brain waves after a head injury or for other applications. The hybrid power supply combines a thermoelectric generator that uses the heat dissipated from a person's temples and silicon photovoltaic cells. The entire system is wearable and integrated into a device resembling headphones. The system can provide more than 1mW on average indoor, which is more than enough for the targeted application.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080412172006.htm

ENERGY ZONE

OF "POPCORN BALLS" AND SOLAR CELLS

University of Washington researchers have created "popcorn balls" out of nanometer-sized kernels of light-absorbing material to capture more light on solar collectors by clumping hundreds of minuscule grains into clusters of large grains. The small grains provide a large surface area for maximum absorption, while the large grains are closer to the wavelength of visible light and so ricochet the light into the smaller grains.

http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-04/circles-and-solar-cells

ENVIRONMENT ZONE

DEVELOPING NATIONS RIP BUSH EMISSION-CUT PLAN

U.S. President George W. Bush's new plan to cut greenhouse gases drew fire Thursday at a meeting of the 16 largest polluting countries, as some developing nations in the group criticized his proposal as a step backward in fighting climate change.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120845683885323553.html?mod=googlenews_wsj