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VOL III No 40 March 14, 2004: CYBERZONE/BIOZONE CALENDAR

A SERVICE OF CREATIVE RESOURCES, INC. by MARTY PLOTNICK

HAWAI’I CALENDAR:

 

****NEW****Thursday, March 18,-- 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM HTDC’s Incubation Services Seminar:Globalize Your E-Business—Debasis Bhattacharya and Chelsea Hil Manoa Innovation Center, 2^nd Floor Conference Room, 2800 Woodlawn Drive Free for HTDC Incubation Center Tenants & Clients; all others $20

 

****May 10-12, Asia Pacific Conference on Emerging

Technologies: The Challenge of the Mobile Revolution and the Digital Divide. Sponsors:  East-West Center and the Korea Information Strategy Development Institute (KISDI). Renaissance Hotel in Seoul, Korea. Early Registration Deadline  April 26,

For more information and registration materials:  http://www.eastwestcenter.org/sem-bp.asp

Registration Online: http://www.eastwestcenter.org/index.asp

UH CALENDAR http://dbserver.its.hawaii.edu/calendar/

HTDC CALENDAR

http://www.hitechhawaii.com/webevents.asp

IF YOU HAVE CALENDAR ITEMS, SEND THEM TO martycri@lava.net

PARADOX ZONE

MYSTERY OF THE MISSING U.S. JOBS

The U.S. economy is expanding nicely; corporate profits are strong; Wall Street is robust enough that some economists are beginning to worry about another “asset bubble.” In short, it’s a time when American companies ought to be optimistic about expanding their businesses, building new factories . . . and, yes, hiring more workers.

So where are the jobs? That remains the great economic paradox of this election year, and it deepened Friday with the release of another set of miserable employment numbers. The Labor Department reported that the economy added a paltry 21,000 jobs in February—and that’s at a time when low interest rates and solid economic growth ought to have investors positively roaring with “animal spirits.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A41696-2004Mar8?language=printer

IS THE JOB LOSS A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT?

On March 5, the U.S. Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy had created only 21,000 new jobs in February, far below the 150,000 that economists had predicted. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.6%, but only because many people have given up on finding jobs.

Economists and other employment experts offer a host of possible explanations but no definitive answers. What is clear, however, is that technology, productivity gains, and job shifting on a global basis are all contributing to new trends in hiring.

<http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/955.cfm>http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/955.cfm

CYBERZONE

FINALLLY, THE DISPOSABLE COMPUTER

A disposable paperboard computer has been developed and is already in use in Sweden. Developed by Cypak AB, the paperboard computer can collect, process, and exchange several pages of encrypted data, the company says.

Initially, it will be used in industrial-specific applications as an enhanced and secure RFID device,” said Cypak marketing director Strina Ehrensvard. “Today, in pharmaceutical and courier packaging as a data-collection device; tomorrow maybe for interactive books, lotteries, passports, and voting cards.”

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040304S0005

REMOTE PIANO LESSONS, IN REAL TIME

High-speed internet connections put music teachers within  reach of talented faraway students.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/technology/circuits/11pian.html

CHINA ISSUES ALERT FOR DENGUE FEVER FROM INDONESIA China’s State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has ordered strict quarantine checks of passengers, planes, ships and containers from Indonesia to prevent dengue fever entering the country.  The World Health Organization says as many as 19,000 people had contracted the disease in Indonesia by March 1, and 336 had died.

http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200403/08/eng20040308_136894.shtml

The death count has exceeded 400 since this item appeared.

THE GARDEN WHERE PERFECT SOFTWARE GROWS

Most of us reluctantly put up with the frustration of rebooting our PCs and redoing the work lost in a software crash. But what if the faulty software is in the microprocessor controlling your car’s brakes? What if it’s in a power station or an air-traffic controller’s computer?  Computing researchers have been aware of this problem for decades, and have been exploring alternative approaches.

Now a shift in thinking about software is happening that could replace the programming methods of today with an entirely different way of producing software. You could say we are going back to nature.

http://archive.newscientist.com/secure/article/article.jsp?id=mg18124374.100

BIO/NANO/MEMS ZONE

POOP POWER

What you flush down the toilet could one day power the lights in your home. Researchers have revealed a microbial fuel cell that can generate electricity from sewage. The device harnesses chemical techniques similar to those the body uses to break down food.

Furthermore, it also breaks down harmful organic matter, thereby acting as a sewage treatment plant at the same time. The team hopes that a scaled up version of the system could produce 51 kilowatts on the waste from 100,000 people

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994761

SMART CATALYSTS DETECTS, TRAPS AND DEACTIVATES AIRBORNE BUGS An environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis with his doctoral student has patented a device for trapping and deactivating microbial particles. The work is promising in the war on terrorism for deactivating airborne bioagents and bioweapons such as the smallpox virus, anthrax and ricin, and also in routine indoor air ventilation applications such as in buildings and aircraft cabins.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-04za.html

MONITORING BIOLOGY

If “regulation” of the biosciences in the traditional sense is nearly impossible, it no longer makes sense to leave all decisions about potential research to  individual scientists.

http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W2RT0593CE6100E3B2B653E6FF743

BIOTECH MAGNET

Loudoun County hopes the Janelia Farm Research Campus, which will bring 300 scientists together to share ideas rather than work isolated in university...

http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W2RT059C5F6590E3B2B653E6E1A7C

PUSHY ANTS AVOID TRAFFIC CONGESTION

Just as people can get fed up in traffic jams, so, too, can ants. Scientists report that congestion on ant routes prompts the insects to shove one another around, leading some of them to take alternate routes. The findings could help researchers design novel algorithms for routing data traffic over networks.

http://cl.extm.us/?fe8711767c670c7a77-fe20167073670d7c7c1c79

FUEL CELL REACHES MILESTONE

A five-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) undergoing testing in Fairbanks has reached the 5,000-hour milestone since its start-up eight months ago. During each hour of operation the fuel cell produces approximately four kilowatts of electricity totaling 20,000 kilowatt hours for the duration, enough to power two average houses for a full year.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-04m.html

BIO BRIEFS ZONE

Boston—Cambridge bio-startup Alnylam files for IPO

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759466

Kansas City—State legislation may jeopardize life sciences gains

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759467

Memphis—Biotech evolution: GTx journey began as idea

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759468

Memphis—Transnetyx grabs genetic automation process by tail

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759469

Philadelphia—PharmaStem sees red over blood patents http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759470

Phoenix—Web portal designed to help bio connections

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759471

San Antonio—Universities working jointly to bolster research funding

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759472

San Francisco—Lawmakers eye biotech incentives

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759473

San Francisco—East Bay neighbors Chiron, Xoma collaborate on cancer products

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759474

St. Louis—Monsanto bet on biotech yields broad product mix:

Company’s $400 million R&D budget for 2004 continues to feed pipeline of biotech products

http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/759475

CHINA ZONE

RISING GENDER DISPROPORTION SPARKS CHINA’s CONCERN Some 30-40 million marriage-age men in China would live a singles life by 2020 if the practice of CT gender screening in the embryo stage is not held in check, said Li Weixiong, vice-chairman of the population, resources and environment committee of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200403/08/eng20040308_136868.shtml

CHINESE TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS?

It was interesting to note in a recent article concerning technology trends in Fortune Magazine that China is projected to be the 21^st century global technology standards setter.

http://www.it-director.com/article.php?articleid=11737&si=6417340513

EMIGRANTS MAY BE ABLE TO TAKE ASSETS OUT OF CHINA China may soon allow emigrants to take their assets out of the country, under a plan currently awaiting approval by the State Council, China’s cabinet. Concern exists that the ensuing capital outflows may be bigger than regulators expect, but top foreign exchange official Guo Shuqing confidently stated that a “fairly mature” scheme was in place to implement the change.  The Beijing Youth Daily quoted State Administration of Foreign Exchange Director Guo as saying that the scheme will cover both assets owned by Chinese emigrants and those inherited in the country by non-residents, which largely means foreigners. The plan is expected to allow emigrants to sell their assets like real estate and convert the renminbi proceeds into foreign currency, which is currently prohibited.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/09/content_1353771.htm

CHINA LEADS WORLD IN VACCINE DEVEOPMENT

With a SARS vaccine already undergoing clinical trials, China has taken the lead in the global race to develop a remedy for the deadly illness. Global scientists are competing to develop severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) vaccines and get them into the clinical trial stages, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said.

At least 10 different types of SARS vaccines are under development, according to the ministry. Four of them, developed by Canada and the United States, will go into clinical trials by the end of this year.

Vaccines developed by France and Austria will likely go the same stage next year.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/09/content_1353044.htm

WIRELESS ZONE

BARNES & NOBLE GOES Wi-Fi

Multiple providers will offer access in the national bookstore chain by September, courtesy of the first national rollout by by hotspot wholesaler Cometa.

http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,rpa,1,1uqo,l2fe,jcj3,9ffi

FOR RURAL PENNSYLVANIA, WIRELESS IS THE TICKET TO THE 21^st CENTURY

Lehigh engineering professor is testing the usefulness of multitier networks in remote areas that lack digital and cable-modem access When the providers of Internet services look at a map of Susquehanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania, they see a hilly, lightly populated region that offers little financial incentive to install the wires necessary for digital or cable-modem access.

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-04y.html

WIRELESS SURPASSES LONG DISTANCE SPENDING For the first time, consumers spent more on wireless services last year than on long-distance calling plans. The findings reveal a trend in the communications sector that will see wireless spending dwarf traditional wireline local and long-distance services in terms of compound annual growth rate, according to a new study.

http://email.wirelessweek.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/efkR0C1swl0B4I0CPkN0Ad

SITE CITES

JUST HOW DO MOLES DO IT?

Mole hills can create a lot of extra work for a gardener. But it’s little in comparison to how much effort the moles put into creating them. Find out what could be going on underneath your lawn.

http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw1069